Audioformaat

Audioformaat refers to the specification for encoding sound data for storage or transmission. It defines how audio samples are converted into a digital representation, how compression is applied, and how metadata is stored. Audioformaat may specify parameters such as sampling rate, bit depth, number of channels, and the file or stream structure.

Formats are typically categorized as lossy or lossless. Lossless formats preserve original data (e.g., WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC). Lossy formats compress data to reduce size by discarding some information (e.g., MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus). Key technical parameters include sampling rate (e.g., 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz), bit depth (e.g., 16-bit, 24-bit), and bitrate. Lossy formats trade some fidelity for smaller files; lossless formats aim for bit-for-bit recreation.

Common formats: MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus. MP3 and AAC are widely supported in streaming and portable players. FLAC and ALAC are popular for high-quality archives. Some formats operate as containers (e.g., MP4, MKV, WAV) that may carry audio streams encoded with a codec; others are strictly codecs.

Licensing and patents have historically influenced the adoption of some formats; many modern codecs use standardized licensing models. Metadata, such as ID3 tags in MP3 or Vorbis comments in Ogg, allows storage of title, artist, album, and track data. Audio formats support streaming and progressive download through various protocols, and the choice of format depends on fidelity requirements, efficiency, compatibility, and licensing.