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What Is Audio Quality?

Digital audio is digital information. This message can be big or small, high or low. Bit rate is a term used to describe the amount of data transferred in audio. A higher audio bitrate usually means better audio quality. 

To understand the bit rate, you need to know what the audio file is and what the different audio file formats are.

What Does All This Mean? 

When we talk about audio files, we use terms like audio formats, extensions, and codecs. In simple words, this format is just a file type, identified by its extension (*.mp3, *.wav, *.ogg, *.wma, etc.), which usually tells us how to put the code., or its codec. For example, files in the MP3 format have the *.mp3 extension and the MPEG-1 Audio Layer III codec.

Understanding Audio Bitrate and Quality

These extensions are mixed, but the important thing to know is that, like video, files with one type of extension do not have the same codec as another. This information is useful so that you don’t get lost if you don’t understand why the software you usually use to call your *.m4a file suddenly refuses to call another one with the same extension, for example.

This situation may indicate that the codecs used are different. In this case, the solution will be to use another software to play the file or do the conversion (re-encoding), which will be done in video editors.

These audio formats and codecs depend on the choice of the company that produces the software that plays the file. This is where many things come in, such as technical specifications and even patent relations. 

Regarding files, they are usually divided into two types: uncompressed or compressed. 

Uncompressed

Dedicated backup tools often give us the ability to back up files without losing information. These files can be created without problems in many formats and extensions, such as WAV, AIFF, FLAC, and ALAC. For those familiar with photography, they are RAW or DNG.

However, even if you don’t want to end the process with WAV (one of the most common), this uncomplicated process can be useful during the process. Because they contain a lot of information, they support dramatic changes without noise.

Therefore, using plugins, conversion, and configuration, you can manage them for free, making them look good, even if the files are linked. 

Compressed

Many devices on the market such as cameras, mobile phones that you can play at Black Lotus on, and even audio recorders offer pre-loaded files. These files are compact, easy to organize, and require less storage space, with smaller file sizes (in bytes). 

Some examples of these formats are 3GP, AAC, M4A, OGG, WMA, and MP3, which are undoubtedly the most well-known. These files are in JPEG or GIF format which is images. Thanks to a complex algorithm, these files are created that keep only the information in our ears.

Depending on the compression mode, you can create an MP3 from a WAV file and have a file ten times smaller, without noticeable sound changes.