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OTHER
AUDIO FILE FORMATS: |
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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
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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 |