your survival guide for today’s audio formats

Sound Test

This is the sound test that goes along with my article, WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC… WTF? The original audio file I used was is a song name “How I Learned to Love the Bomb” from one of my favorite Buffalo punk bands, To Be Announced, off of their Posthumous album.

The first thing I would like to compare is the difference between MP3 and AAC.  To keep things fair I used LameXP, which has the best MP3 converter, for the MP3s and iTunes for the AACs.  Both programs have the most recent updates.  At the higher bit rates both programs seem to have about the same audio quality, if there is a difference it must be subtle because I don’t hear it.   As you move down to the lower bit rates, the AAC files have a brighter cleaner sound and the MP3s have a dullness to them.  Even though AAC files have a better quality about them, MP3s are the industry norm, so if you want your files to play on everything stick with them.

MP3 vs. ACC

320mp3
256mp3
192mp3
128mp3
96mp3
64mp3

320ACC
256ACC
192ACC
128ACC
96ACC
64ACC

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