Audio File Formats  | Audio File  |  Top 6  | Audio File Formats List  | in 2021 

 

Audio file formats

Audio Formats can easily be understood as the ways of interpreting audio and sounds digital. These Audio File Formats have been debated among audiophiles to choose between different audio formats for better quality audio. For instance, if you are a casual audio listener, various audio formats may sound the same. Also, if you choose to select from varieties of audio formats, your most obvious pick would be MP3 format because that's all you must be aware of. So here in this article, I will discuss with details about top 6 audio file formats list with complete details.

 

The advancement of technologies has opened up the gate for the world to get to know more HI-RES sounds that would enhance a listener's experience. As a result, different varieties have been thrown at an audiophile like WAV Audio File, AAC Audio File, OGG Audio File, ALAC Audio File, WMA Audio File, etc.

 

When we dive deeper into the hobby of audiophiles, we can think of one common question altogether: "What's the best audio format to choose from?". So if this question pops into your mind, we have selected the top audio formats in 2021 for you to choose from.      

While selecting from various formats, different factors may create a contrast between simple audio and a well-sounding HI-RES audio. System adaptability, Perception, and science are amidst these factors. Look at this article to learn more.

 

All the audio formats are designated in three classified groups that are Uncompressed, Lossless, and Lossy. We can give a brief idea of these groups to easily choose a more desirable format that may match the requirement of a listener.

 

These audio formats are fairly popular these days, but the question stands out which audio format is popular. To list a few of these formats, we have brought up six popular formats from the given categories this year. So this is the top 6  Audio File Formats List in 2021 

 

1.  WAV Audio File 

WAV stands for Waveform Audio File, and it is one of the most common audio formats known to the audience. It comes under the Uncompressed audio format category.

 

WAV has been used for a long time, and most of the time, it is the go-to choice for music creators and sound engineers to work on this format. It has been used since 1991 developed by Microsoft and IBM.

 

For the audiophiles or us, WAV formats work efficiently in storing the HI-RES audio files on the windows system. Moreover, it is easy to use, gives good results, and is considerably well known in the mass, and therefore it comes under popular audio formats to work with.

 

 

2.  OGG or Ogg Vorbis Audio File 

OGG is an open-source file audio format, works the same as other audio formats but with more sound and less audio file size. You can compare it to one of the better versions of an MP3 format. OGG is considered the smallest audio format with better quality than other audio formats. In addition, it has longer bandwidth for Bluetooth transfer and internet use of audio.

OGG audio format is mostly used in the commercial area of the music industry. It doesn't get mentioned too often due to not being associated with a major operating system. Surprisingly Spotify, a well-known music listening format for the general masses, uses the OGG audio platform.

 

3.  AAC Audio File 

AAC is known for its comparableness with the MP3 audio format. It stands for Advanced Audio Coding and is recognized widely for its similarities with MP3. An AAC audio file takes less space than any other audio format. It falls under the lossy category of audio format, where sound quality is much better than MP3 without any loss of audio with a significantly smaller file size. It is a great choice for the creators for creating and sharing small audio files with better quality.

It is a platform-independent audio format and can work on any system whatsoever, and it is becoming more popular day by day.

 

4.  ALAN Audio File 

The audio format developed by Apple in 2004 was initially designed solely for Apple products, but later on, it became an open-source file format. In recent times the rapid rise in the Apple Industries, this audio is getting its recognition as deserved.

 

It is considered a lossless audio format, and it provides less compression of audio and audio quality. Even though lossless files use more internet bandwidth to stream, the advantage over lost format upholds the audio quality.

 

If you play your music from a computer, there will be no issues with this format. However, mobile playback options need more consideration. ALAC is largely supported on any of the Apple devices. In addition, both IOS and iTunes provide native recognition to this audio format.

 

5.  WMA Audio File 

WMA stands for Windows Media Audio. It was a take on an audio format by Microsoft in response to ALAC. It is a windows only audio format and is not supported on Android devices. WMA brought it up to succeed the MP3 format. The bitrate of WMA is comparatively less than MP3, with better quality and improved bandwidth. You can consider that WMA addressed the flaws in compression in the MP3 format, and therefore in terms of compression quality, WMA audio format is considered more efficient.

 

6.  MP3 Audio File 

MP3 file format is one of the most popular audio formats presented on the list. It is a well-known audio format for the listeners. It is considered the only audio format that comes into the mind of a casual listener of music. The MP3's popularity is due to its versatility. If you listen to music, you have almost probably listened to an MP3 regardless of the device.

 

No matter what platform, the operating system, or software, an MP3 will most likely play, ultimately making it a unique choice for people looking to have their music instantly playable.

 

Here are the top audio formats in 2021. Unfortunately, this list had few technical terms in understanding different audio formats, but this is a go-to list for an audiophile to determine the top audio format.