File Types and Sound Formats

Sound Format:  

When creating sound, these turn into different sound formats which are used for different purposes such as for distributing on the web, using it in a studio or playing it on a digital playlist. These are the different file formats that the sound can be saved as. 

WAV - This file format is a lossless which means that the compression of data in the original file still remains and has not lost any quality from the original recording. It is uncompressed and has a high quality sound which makes it suitable for using for music production and music videos. 

AIFF - This is a file you can only get on Apple softwares and is a lossless format file type which directly copies the original audio source. 

FLAC -  Just like WAV and AIFF, this file type is compressed and lossless, however it takes up a lot less space tan the other two files. It is beneficial and is becoming the most popular lossless format as it is an open source. Being an open source means this material can be changed and altered by individuals and companies. 

PCM - It stands for Pulse-mode Modulation represented for sampled analog samples The sound has been used for the audio in computers,compact discs and digital telephony. Not many people use this file anymore as it uses too much disk space.

MP3 - This file format is the most lossy, meaning it reduces any loud sounds but the quality sound is reduced by permanently getting rid of some elements. It is used on smartphones and stored in playlists for music because it takes up a lot less space than a lossless file and majority people store a lot of music files on their devices so will need a file that take up less space. 

MPEG - This file is used for encoding and compressing video images and audio. It produces better quality videos for Windows and QuickTime.

WMA - This is especially for Microsoft software formats and is similar to MP3. It is not well supported and is not as better as the other formats I have mentioned above and does not offer a lot of advantages. 

 

Compression:

Compression is very important in audio production because it makes the sound levelled and controlled to make the sound professionalised. It gets rid of any loud noises whilst quiet sounds are unaffected. This all depends on the dynamic range which is the signal levels between the quietest musical instrument and the loudest.

 Dynamic Range Compression (DRC) ensures a level sound by not making the recording sound uneven. This is controlled by upwards and downwards compression. The upwards compression is a form that increases the loudness of sounds below a certain threshold while leaving louder sounds unaffected whereas, downwards compression decreases loud sounds. Both reduce the dynamic range of an audio signal. 

 

Storage:

Sound files can be stored on digital drives which can be plugged into the computer or laptop in order to transport the audio file. It is important to have a back-up on the files in case it all gets erased and should create a folder on the device you are using that has all the raw audio files. When importing them to any video software (i.e Adobe Premiere) which has to be saved to the same folder as the raw file. 

The storage devices they have are Flash Drives, Hard Drives, Solid State Drives and the Cloud. USB or Flash Hard Drives are a portable stick or a card that lets you access all your work easily which is all saved in one place but can be accessed onto different devices. A Solid State Drive is recommended if you are doing a lot of production work and the Cloud is used for softwares such as Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Apple iCloud and Cloud9 which allows you to save all your work online which is considered the safer option of saving all your work as it automatically saves as well. 

 Size vs Quality

Bit Rates are the number of bits per second that can be transmitted along a digital network - 1 byte consists of 8 bits.