There are several types of audio file formats that can be categorized as uncompressed, lossless compressed, and lossy compressed. Uncompressed formats like WAV and AIFF store audio with no loss of quality but have large file sizes. Lossless compressed formats like FLAC and ALAC reduce file size without losing audio quality. Lossy compressed formats like MP3 and AAC significantly reduce file size by permanently removing audio data, resulting in some loss of quality. Common file extensions include .wav, .mp3, .m4a, and .flac. The best format depends on the intended use, such as lossless formats for editing and car stereos or compressed formats for websites and mobile devices.

1. Audio FormatsAparna S.

2. Audio format
• Audio / sound elements
• Audio file format : A file format for storing digital audio data
on a computer system.
• Audio coding format : The bit layout of the audio data
(excluding metadata) is called the audio coding format.

3. HISTORY
• First recording device in 1855
• Thomas Edison(invented 1877) Phonograph
• Emile Berliner(patented in 1887) Gramophone
• James Clerk Maxwell(1873) Radio
• Willam Powell Lear (1960) 8 track
• (1950)Cassette tape
• Ray Dolby (1968)Dolby noise reduction

4. History
In Digital era,
• Compact Disc (C.D.)
C.D. launch 1982
C.D. Rom reading device
• Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable (DVD)
DVD burner supports the DVD-RW format.
• Digital audio Tapes(DAT)1987
• MiniDisc(MD)(1991)
• MP3(1981 in Germany)
• AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)developed by Dolby, The
Fraunhofer institute ,2001

5. • Uncompressed :
not compressed
capable of having a large file size.
e.g. Wav, AIFF, AU
• Lossless : compressed
does not lose any quality to the file.
e.g. WMA, SHN,FLAC
• Lossy : The lose some quality when being compressed
e.g. mp3 ,AAC,WMA lossy, vorbis(.ogg)
Three categories of audio files

6. Audio file formats extension
• .mid : MIDI(Music instrument digital interface)
• .Wav : Wave form Extension
• . Aif : Audio Interchange format
• . Mp2 : Motion Picture Expert Group Audio
MPEG1 layer -2, MPEG -1 Layer -3
• .ra
.ram
.rpm : Real Audio

7. Types of audio format
.Wav (Window media audio)
• The main format used on windows systems for raw and typically
uncompressed audio format.
•Microsoft & IBM audio file format
•Widely supported in many browsers
•Record your own .wav files
•But very large file sizes severely limit the length of the sound clips
.AIF(Audio interchange file format)
•Comman format for storing and trasmiting sampled sound.
•Format was developed by Apple computers
•Standard audio format for Macintosh computers and also used by
Silicon graphics incorporation(SGI).
•But does not support data compression
•Another format AIFF- C, compression ratio(6:1)

8. Types
.au- (audio)
•Comman file for sound files on unix machines
•Introduced by Sun microsystem
•Also standard audio file format for the Java programming language.
.FLAC (Free loseless audio codec)
• Audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality.
•Development in loseless compression formats aims to reduce processing
time while maintaining a good compression ratio.
•Best format for full of low bass tracks.
ALAC (Apple loseless audio codec)
•Absolutely identical as FLAC
•Sound better with high quality
•For play back on i tunes and quick time and on Apple ios
•Sources under Apache license

9. Types
.wma(Windows Media Audio)
• Microsoft file format for encoding digital audio files
• compress files at a higher rate than MP3.
• any size compressed to match many different connection
speeds, or bandwidths.
.mp3
•Designed by Moving picture experts group.
•Layer 3 uses perceptual audio coding and psychoacoustic
compression to remove all superfluous information more
specifically, the redundant and irrelevant parts of a sound
signal.
•It also adds a MDCT (Modified Discrete Cosine Transform)

10. .AAC( Advanced Audio Codec)
• AAC is sometimes referred to as MPEG-2 NBC
(not backwards compatible) because it is not compatible with the MPEG -
1 coding scheme.
• Achieves better quality than mp3 at similar bit rates, lower the rate, the
smaller the file.
• Also referred to mp4 files
Types
.rpm /.ra/.ram(real audio)
• To play digital audio files in real-time.
• To use this type of file you must have RealPlayer
• Developed by Real Networks.
.Ogg Vorbis
• Free, open and unpatented.
• Specification is in the public domain .
• An open source multimedia initiative, while Vorbis is the actual
compression format.

11. .MIDI - Pronounced middy ( musical instrument digital interface)
• Adopted by the electronic music industry for controlling devices, such as
synthesizers and sound cards, that emit music.
• At minimum, a MIDI representation of a sound includes values for the
note's pitch, length, and volume.
•The MIDI standard is supported by most synthesizers.
• They offer a variety of functions.
Types

12. • What is the best audio file format for car CD player?
If car stereo support FLAC or WAV files, these files give maximum quality.
• What is the best sounding audio maximum file format?
To achieve maximal sound quality use lossless files.
• What best audio file format for editing?
It is lossless non-compressed PCM file formats(WAV,AIFF).
• What best audio file format for website and web?
In general, it is compressed formats: mp3, m4a, ogg, flac.
• What best audio file format for mobile phones, iPhone, iPad?
If internal phone/tablet's DAC is used, lossless PCM formats are preferable.
Thank you!