What is the difference between a Waveform file (WAV) and the MPEG Layer 3 file (Mp3)? There are very important and distinct differences for using each one on these audio files over the other. It depends on how you plan on using the file, what you plan on doing with the file, where the file is being saved/located, how many files alike are being saved, and how important or rare is the file.
The WAV file was created by Microsoft with the sole purpose of storing audio. Sound, when recorded, is captured as waves varying in size and steepness. A WAV file is categorized as a “lossless” audio file. A WAV means that the quality of the file isn’t disrupted in any way when saved. This makes a WAV file perfect for keeping on your computer as the original copy of the musical piece. The sound difference of a WAV and Mp3 can is very little on a typical song to an average person; however, if you have a specialty for hearing those differences then the quality is definitely an issue when converting to Mp3. If you plan on using the file for your musical library and don’t plan on copying the file then either would do. The only problem stemming from a WAV file would be the file size, which, is huge compared to its Mp3 counterpart. The file space on your hard drive can be an issue, as well as, file transferring. If you will be transferring music/sound files it would be wise to use Mp3 for saving transfer time and disk/media space.
The Mp3 file is the most widely used form of music files. The reasons for this are it’s much smaller size compared to WAV files, and it does so without losing the music’s quality for the average listener. It does this by compressing, encoding the data, and eliminating low sounds, usually not heard by the ear. This file is used on almost all mass produced sound forms, such as CDs and is the form used for Mp3 players, hence the name of the device. It allows the distribution of the file to be transferred faster than a WAV, and also takes up much less space. I will demonstrate burning a CD with Mp3 files and WAV files to show the comparison in size to see just how BIG a difference in size their actually is between WAV and Mp3 files. The screen shots below are clear evidence that the Mp3 is compressed and does lose some quality, but the upside is more files can be put in the same amount of space as its opposition the WAV file.
Below are several website for FREE software for file conversion of WAV and Mp3:
Exact Audio Copy
Monkey's Audio
MP3Decode
http://www.etalonsoft.com/mp3decode.html
No comments:
Post a Comment