These days, digital audio is everywhere and MP3 and WAV files are the most known formats. These are the two main audio formats which all of us tend to download our audios in, as they can be downloaded easily and give us the best quality. There are many online websites that can help us convert our favourite videos into these audio formats. There are many YouTube Videos to MP3 and YouTube to WAV converters that make our work easier.
But the question is how do MP3 and WAV formats differ and which one is better for what purpose can they be used?
The WAV file:
Despite being an older format, the WAV file has several major advantages when it comes to professional, high fidelity recording applications:
It is an accurate, lossless format – in a nutshell, this means that the format reproduced the recording accurately without losing audio quality due to the format itself.
It is a very simple format – as a result of the files’ simplicity, files are relatively easy to process and edit.
They do have drawbacks however:
File size – WAV files are large. The large file size makes WAVs impractical for portable devices and streaming.
The MP3 file:
The format was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group. Encoding audio to MP3 will reduce its quality, but also reduce its file size. It is the manner in which it achieves this that makes it so clever.
How does MP3 work?
Firstly, the way in which an MP3 encodes knows that there will be certain frequencies that ear will not hear, and so it gets rid of this data. Secondly, it knows that if there are sounds that are loud, they will mask certain quieter sounds, so it gets rid of the ‘hidden’ sound. Finally, it exploits the fact that the ear will hear some frequencies better than others. It’s all tied in with the ‘threshold of audibility’.
Once the MP3 has decided which data to keep, this is then compressed again with more traditional data compression techniques. This gets the files down to a fraction of the size of WAV files- usually around 1/10th, but at the expense of some quality.
The advantages of MP3 files are:
Small file format – Because files are so small, they can be easily distributed over the Internet, and huge libraries can be stored on computers or handheld devices. Because of this, they have become the consumer standard for converting music.
To compress the file, audio quality is sacrificed – though it’s very clever, MP3 encoding is not perfect. While compressing the audio, it may compromise a bit on the quality if the same. It compresses the video to a very small size but the quality is not as good as the WAV format.
This audio inaccuracy means that MP3s are not suitable for pro audio work.
The MP3 lends itself very well to distribution, streaming, and promotion, due to its tiny file size.
So, for critical audio recording, mixing and mastering, you can use WAV, and for less critical work and distribution, MP3s are just the ticket.
However, while downloading videos from any social media platform, the user should take care of all the copyright norms to avoid getting into trouble.
These are online tools that have made video downloading from various social platforms a lot easier. With just a click you can have your favourite digital audios such as your favourite songs, audiobooks, podcasts, and what not, available at your device in the desired format and optimal quality. You can then use these offline videos as per your convenience, from editing to using it in your projects, anything you want! So, go ahead and convert any video you like and watch it at your convenience anytime anywhere!
These online converters have made our work a lot easier. Every format has some drawbacks but now has become very easy to compare and analyse the different options we have. So, look at the advantages and see which format would be perfect for your work!
Comments
Post a Comment