Chapter 4. Understanding Digital Audio File Formats

When you download or rip a music track, that track is stored in a digital data file of a given format. There are many different file formats that can be used to store digital audio; some sound better or worse than others, some are larger or smaller than others, and some are more or less common than others.

Which file format you choose will affect just about everything you do as a digital music collector. The file format you centralize on determines which music player programs you can use, which portable music players you can work with, even which online music stores you can buy from. That’s because these are not universal file formats; some formats are not compatible with some software and music players, and each online music store specializes in just one format.