OTHER AUDIO FILE FORMATS:
CD-DA (compact disc-digital audio)	standard format for compact discs; 70-80 minutes of storage time ...since audio is uncompressed CDs are considered full fidelity
WAV (waveform files)	standard system for recording uncompressed digital audio on Microsoft® Windows computers...the second most common type of audio file found on the Internet behind MP3
BWF (Broadcast Wave Form)	format used at some radio stations to provide a seamless exchange of audio among different types of equipment...these files contain metadata, or basic info about the file contents, so they are suitable for automation or software databases that need to extract song titles, artists, length and other info
MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3)	most personal computers and CD burners use this format that can store 14 hours on a single disc. MP3 files are compressed by a factor of 10 or higher by using a mathematical technique known as perceptual noise shaping; it removes parts of a sound that the human ear can't easily hear. MP3 files are the most common found on the Internet because they are much smaller than WAV files.
WMA (Windows Media Audio)	a compressed format found on Microsoft® computers; may have trouble transferring to a mobile phone or portable device.
AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)	uncompressed format developed by Apple in 1988, commonly found on Apple Macs
AU	introduced by Sun Microsystems and commonly found on early web pages...also found on Unix & Java systems
RA or RM (Real Audio)	proprietary Real Audio streaming files
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)	a way of communicating performance information from one piece of software/hardware to another or from an external device like an electronic keyboard