Audio File Extensions

As with videos, audio files too have become increasingly diversified with the passage of time. And the PC Beginner may find it tough to remember all of them. So, here is a list of the common audio formats in use currently :

Audio Extension	Type of Format	Description
MP3	MPEG Layer-3	The standard audio extension which is used widely in music, having a high compression ratio
WAV	Waveform Audio	The basic uncompressed audio format.
WMA	Windows Media Audio	The audio format created for Windows by Microsoft.
MIDI / MID	Musical Instrument Digital Interface	The audio format used for musical instruments. It’s size is low as it does not contain the sound itself but just the information for the CPU about the sound to be played .
AMR	Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrow Band	The file format used by sound recorded in Nokia Mobile Phones
AAC	Advanced Audio Coding	The format that is used by Apple, Sony & Nintendo which is designed to be a successor to MP3.
RA	Real Audio	The audio format created by Real Networks.

---

E-mail this article ↑Back to Top