Audio formats explained
MP3, AAC, WAV and FLAC all store sound, but they make different trade-offs between size and quality. Knowing the basics helps you pick the right format and settings.
Lossy and lossless
Lossy formats such as MP3, AAC and OGG throw away sound the ear is unlikely to notice, which makes files much smaller. Lossless formats such as WAV and FLAC keep every detail. Converting from lossy to lossless keeps the quality you have but can't bring back what was removed.
Common formats
| Format | Type | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | Lossy | Music and podcasts, plays everywhere |
| AAC / M4A | Lossy | Apple devices, YouTube, streaming |
| OGG / OPUS | Lossy | Games, web, voice calls |
| WAV | Uncompressed | Recording and editing |
| FLAC | Lossless | Music archives |
Bitrate and sample rate
- Bitrate is how much data each second uses. Higher means better quality and bigger files.
- Sample rate is how many times per second the sound is measured. 44.1 kHz covers everything people can hear.
- Mono halves the size and is fine for speech.
- Each lossy re-encode loses a little more quality, so keep an original.