CDs were originally able to store more data than computer hard drives but hard drives now far exceed CD capacity. By 2007, over 200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide, though sales have declined as digital storage and distribution has increased. CD pros include not being able to crash and easy use, while cons are being scratchable and having a small storage capacity. MP3s use lossy compression to reduce file sizes but also reduce audio quality somewhat. MP3 pros are small file sizes and wide compatibility, while a con is potential quality loss. WAV files are uncompressed to maintain high quality but have very large file sizes, making them good for mastering but worse for storage and importing multiple files.

2. CD (Compact disc)
At the time of the technology's
introduction, an individual CD had greater
capacity than a typical personal computer
hard drive. The reverse is now true, with
personal computer hard drives having
capacities far exceeding the capacity of a
CD.
In 2004, worldwide sales of CD audio,
CD-ROM, and CD-R reached about 30
billion discs. By 2007, 200 billion CDs
had been sold worldwide CDs are
increasingly being replaced by other
forms of digital storage and distribution,
with the result that audio CD sales rates
in the USA have dropped about 50%
from their peak; however, they remain
one of the primary distribution
methods for the music industry.

3. CD (Compact Disc) Pro’s & Con’s
Pro’s
• It won't crash
• Very easy to use
• Liner notes you can read at
your leisure
• Higher quality sound (in
most cases)
• Cheap to buy
Con’s
• They can be scratched or
broken
• Hard to carry a large
collection around
• Smaller storage space

4. MP3 (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer
III)
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as
MP3, is an audio file which has be compressed (usually compressed
WAV files) which uses a form of lossy data compression . It is a
common audio format commonly used for audio streaming or storage.
The compression works by reducing accuracy
of certain parts of sound that are considered
to be beyond the auditory resolution ability of
most people. This method is commonly
referred to as perceptual coding. It uses
psychoacoustic models to discard or reduce
precision of components less audible to
human hearing, and then records the
remaining information in an efficient manner.

5. MP3 Pro’s & Con’s
Pro’s
• MP3 files are small and can
be compressed into very
small files.
• MP3 is ubiquitous across all
platforms, they have been
around for a while now and
can be used on nearly any
platform.
Con’s
• When the file gets
compressed it loses certain
aspects of the audio which
can make the quality suffer.
• MP3 is technically not free
to use.

6. WAV (Waveform Audio File Format)
Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE,
or more commonly known as WAV due
to its filename extension, rarely, Audio
for Windows) is a Microsoft and IBM
audio file format standard for storing
an audio bit stream on PCs. It is an
application of the Resource
Interchange File Format (RIFF) bit
stream format method for storing data
in "chunks", and thus is also close to
the 8SVX and the AIFF format used on
Amiga and Macintosh computers,
respectively. It is the main format used
on Windows systems for raw and
typically uncompressed audio. The
usual bit stream encoding is the linear
pulse-code modulation (LPCM) format.

7. WAV Pro’s & Cons
Pro’s
• Its perfect for mastering
high quality audio and
getting the best audio there
is.
• it's the windows standard,
making it widely supported
by audio editors and
applications that can
important sound.
Con’s
• The files are very big and
can take up lots of space, or
if you are importing them it
might take a while to do.

8. Conclusion
To conclude, the research I have done today I have
explained what each audio format does and what
there pros and cons are, form this I can then get a
better understanding of what they do and will aid
me when I go to make my own radio programme. I
will use WAV files for Better audio but they carry
lots of data, I can use MP3 because I could import
multiple files but they would lose some quality. Or
finally I could use CD’s because they are reliable
and faster then files but can only hold a small
amount of data and can be easily broken.