Digital sound is nothing more than numbers. What separates one container from another is how those numbers are packed, how much data (if any) is thrown away, and which devices understand the result.

The MP3 made the iPod possible. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac July 14, 1995: The MP3 file format receives its official name as the new .bit file extension gets changed to .mp3. The technology allows ...

MP3 file format (short for MPEG Audio layer 3) is a lossy audio data compression format, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This format is used to compress normal ...

If you stream music (and who doesn't these days) you've obviously come across abbreviations at the end of the audio files. The acronyms reading WAV, FLAC, MP3 and so on, are called audio codecs. You ...

Audio files come in a number of different formats. Some are lossy, such as AAC and MP3; they save space compared to the original files, but some of the original data is lost during compression. Some ...

Mobile phones support a wide variety of audio file formats. Some compatibility issues require the prior conversion of audio files to make them readable on multiple devices. Here's an overview of the ...

Files in the FLAC format are around 6 times larger than what they would be in the MP3 format. Thus, users prefer to convert FLAC audio files to MP3 format. Here are 5 of the most popular audio file ...

I regularly get questions about lossless audio files, or files compressed in a lossless format, for my Ask the iTunes Guy column. These questions come from people who seek to listen to the best ...

The makers of the AV1 video format have started the Open Audio Codec.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. A file’s format—the way that it’s saved and encoded ...

We’ve been hearing a lot about lossless audio lately. Apple Music says it has it. So does Amazon Music. Tidal and Qobuz have it too, but Spotify doesn’t. (Yet. Or still.) Is lossless audio a big deal?

PowerPoint supports a number of common audio and video formats. We’ll go through the details and show you how to incorporate audio and video files into your presentation slides. The current versions ...