Lossy vs Lossless Audio
Lossy formats (MP3, M4A, OGG) achieve compression by discarding audio data that's less audible to humans. Once discarded, that data is gone — you can't recover it. Lossless formats (WAV, FLAC, AIFF) preserve all original data.
Format Comparison
- MP3: Most universal. 128-320 kbps. Good for music sharing. Works everywhere.
- WAV: Uncompressed, lossless. Very large (10× MP3). Best for recording and editing.
- M4A/AAC: Apple format. Better quality than MP3 at the same bitrate. Excellent for streaming.
- FLAC: Lossless compression. ~50% size of WAV. Best for archiving high-quality audio.
- OGG Vorbis: Open-source, excellent quality. Less compatible than MP3 but technically superior.
- AIFF: Apple's WAV equivalent. Uncompressed, large files.
Which Format Should You Use?
- Sharing/streaming: MP3 at 320kbps or M4A at 256kbps
- Archiving original recordings: FLAC or WAV
- Editing: WAV or AIFF
- Podcasts: MP3 at 128kbps (mono) or 192kbps (stereo)
Convert between formats using the Audio tools on Doit Connect.