Format Matters: Why Choosing One Audio Format Over Another Is Important

The digital revolution has transformed the way most people listen to music. Previously, the most portable methods of listening to music were nonetheless bulky, and it was difficult to carry more than a single album. Modern audio devices, however, can carry thousands of songs – literally the entire library of whole genres, much less the complete works of specific musicians.

Listeners are now spoiled for choice, and so other aspects of the music become important. This is why format begins to matter: the size and audio quality inherent in the audio file’s format genuinely affect the way the music sounds. This effect is even more pronounced when using high definition headphones.

Most websites that let you download music for free, and many websites which charge for the music, provide the music in a format known as MP3. Developed in the late 1990s, MP3 is an excellent format for most listeners because it provides good quality while remaining compact.

Most MP3 files are between 3 and 5 megabytes, enabling thousands of them to be placed on any one device. However, mp3 files are not high fidelity, and bitrates above 128kpbs offer almost no increase in audio quality. Therefore, on devices which can handle much greater audio quality, it is best to use a lossless audio format like FLAC.

This does not mean that MP3s are “bad,” however. Currently the vast majority of headphones are not capable of making noise faster or more accurately than 128kpbs, and the small size of MP3s makes them ideal for certain devices. This makes the MP3 format ideal for listening to music or other recordings on the go, where portability is more important than audio quality.

This necessitates the conversion of many older or alternative audio files to the Mp3 format in order to improve quality and portability. A wav to mp3 converter can turn older or more traditional music files into ones which are small, portable and can be heard on just about any sort of portable device. Additionally, the vast majority of audio devices can play MP3s, making them the ideal format for someone who listens to a number of different devices.

There are a great number of audio file conversion programs available, with differing features and prices. This enables users to get the most out of their audio files in terms of content and quality, by choosing a conversion service that works best. This also enables consumers to have more choice, since they can buy files from anywhere, then convert them to MP3 and listen to them on any device.