The document discusses the history and specifications of several audio file formats including wav, aiff, au, ogg, mpc, raw, gsm, and dct. Wav was created by Microsoft in 1991 and can store both uncompressed and compressed audio. AIFF was co-developed by Apple and supports multiple channels and bit depths. Au files are typically created on Unix systems and use u-law encoding. Ogg is an open container format for compressed and uncompressed audio, suitable for streaming. Mpc was created in 1998 for higher quality than MP3. Raw contains uncompressed audio without headers. Gsm files were developed for mobile networks to balance quality and size. Dct is a specialized format used exclusively for dictation software.
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The document discusses the history and specifications of several audio file formats including wav, aiff, au, ogg, mpc, raw, gsm, and dct. Wav was created by Microsoft in 1991 and can store both uncompressed and compressed audio. AIFF was co-developed by Apple and supports multiple channels and bit depths. Au files are typically created on Unix systems and use u-law encoding. Ogg is an open container format for compressed and uncompressed audio, suitable for streaming. Mpc was created in 1998 for higher quality than MP3. Raw contains uncompressed audio without headers. Gsm files were developed for mobile networks to balance quality and size. Dct is a specialized format used exclusively for dictation software.
The document discusses the history and specifications of several audio file formats including wav, aiff, au, ogg, mpc, raw, gsm, and dct. Wav was created by Microsoft in 1991 and can store both uncompressed and compressed audio. AIFF was co-developed by Apple and supports multiple channels and bit depths. Au files are typically created on Unix systems and use u-law encoding. Ogg is an open container format for compressed and uncompressed audio, suitable for streaming. Mpc was created in 1998 for higher quality than MP3. Raw contains uncompressed audio without headers. Gsm files were developed for mobile networks to balance quality and size. Dct is a specialized format used exclusively for dictation software.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
The document discusses the history and specifications of several audio file formats including wav, aiff, au, ogg, mpc, raw, gsm, and dct. Wav was created by Microsoft in 1991 and can store both uncompressed and compressed audio. AIFF was co-developed by Apple and supports multiple channels and bit depths. Au files are typically created on Unix systems and use u-law encoding. Ogg is an open container format for compressed and uncompressed audio, suitable for streaming. Mpc was created in 1998 for higher quality than MP3. Raw contains uncompressed audio without headers. Gsm files were developed for mobile networks to balance quality and size. Dct is a specialized format used exclusively for dictation software.
Copyright:
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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Waveform Audio File History
wav
Initial Release Format Type Compression
1991 Standard audio file or container Uncompressed or Compressed
Format created by Microsoft and introduced with Windows 3.1. Adopted as basis for European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Broadcast Wave standard. What is wav? The 'wave' file format is the native file format for storing audio in Microsoft windows platform. Wav can store uncompressed audio using LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation). It can also be used as a wrapper format that can store compressed audio using any ACM codec. (Audio Compression Manager). It uses the RIFF file structure and stores data in chucks Wav file are widely used in the professional audio sector as it can store hi-quality uncompressed audio. References http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000001.shtml http://www.sonicspot.com/guide/wavefiles.html http://www-mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/documents/audioformats/wave/wave.html
Waveform Audio File History
aiff
Initial Release Format Type Compression
1988 Standard audio file or container Uncompressed or Compressed
Was co-developed by Apple and Electronics Arts during 1988 and gained much popularity due to its heavy implementation on the Macintosh computer systems. What is aiff? The AIFF file systems in itself is also a container file developed as an interchange file format. As defined by Apple, it provides a standard for storing sampled sounds. The format is designed to be very flexible and can store multiple channels at varying bit depths. Further, the aiff format has the ability to store musical instrument information. References http://muratnkonar.com/aiff/index.html http://www-mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/documents/audioformats/aiff/aiff.html http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000005.shtml http://www-mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/documents/audioformats/aiff/Docs/AIFF-1.3.pdf
Audio File History
au
Initial Release Format Type Compression Simple Audio File Compressed
Developed by Sun Microsystems and most commonly used on the Unix platform during its day. What is au? au files are audio files are an obscure file format typically created on a Sun or a Unix based machine such as the NeXT. It usually consists of waveform data compressed with an 8bit u-law encoding scheme at 8KHz sampling rate. However it does support many encoding scheme but implementations are scarce. References http://www.opengroup.org/public/pubs/external/auformat.html http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/au
Waveform Audio File History
ogg
Initial Release Format Type Compression
1993 Container file format Uncompressed or Compressed
The Ogg project started in 1993 as audio compression component of a larger project. In 1997, Xiph.org planned to make the ogg project "an attempt to create a flexible compressed audio file format to be used in modern computers. What is ogg? Ogg is a free open source audio file format which is maintained by Xiph.org. As with open source tools, all associated technology of ogg files are free. Ogg is also a container file format capable of storing compressed and uncompressed data. In addition to encapsulation and interleaving of multiple data streams, Ogg provides packet framing, error detection, and periodic timestamps for seeking. Further, Ogg is a stream oriented format, meaning that it can be written and read in a single pass, making it a natural fit for internet streaming and use in processing pipeline. This steam orientation is a major difference from other file based file formats. References http://xiph.org/ogg/ http://www.vorbis.com/
Waveform Audio File History
mpc
Initial Release Format Type Compression
1998 Standard audio file Compressed
MPC or Musepack was created by Andree Buschmann in 1998 because he was not satisfied with the MP3 audio quality which was becoming popular at the time. What is mpc? Musepack is yet another open source lossy audio compression file format that was designed with strong emphasis on quality. It is lossy but has designed with a certain transparency so that the quality between original and compressed is nearly indistinguishable. The format is built upon the MPEG-1 layer 2 algorithms but with significant improvements. The format doesn't compete well at the lower bandwidths, but outperforms other competing file formats in the high bandwidth arena. Mpc is said to have very fast encoding and decoding and designed to be very good when encoded with the default settings. References http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=gen http://www.coolutils.com/formats/mpc http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Musepack
raw raw audio file What is raw?
Initial Release Format Type Compression Raw audio file Uncompressed
RAW audio files contain uncompressed Pulse Code Modulated audio in binary format. Does not contain any headers and does not use any codec. The biggest difference from raw to any other file format is that the information is stored in a way so that it preserves information without having to decode it. Mostly Raw is used by specialized applications or embedded systems that require simple playback. References http://www.ehow.com/how_6709650_convert-raw-audio.html http://www.cyanwerks.com/raw-audio-file-formats.html
Specialized Audio File History
gsm
Initial Release Format Type Compression
90's Specialized audio file Compressed
This file type is associated with the widespread introduction of the GSM cellular systems in the early 90s. The typical output of a voice stream would be 64Kbps but utilizing certain techniques, the bandwidth was brought down to around 13Kbps. What is gsm? The gsm audio file system is a specialized file type developed specifically to facilitate audio transmission and recording on mobile GSM networks. The audio quality is somewhat inferior but provided an excellent compromise between quality and computational complexity. References http://www.quut.com/gsm/ http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria/GSM/gsmreport.html
specialized audio file What is dct?
dct
Initial Release Format Type Compression Audio file Compressed
An isolated and somewhat specialized file format used exclusively for dictation by NCH Software. Designed for the specialized need for header encryption in the medical community. Has only limited playback capability via few tools. References http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=gen http://www.coolutils.com/formats/mpc http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Musepack
