Digital sound is nothing more than numbers. What separates one container from another is how those numbers are packed, how much data (if any) is thrown away, and which devices understand the result.

In previous installments of the AudioFile, we've talked about basic PCM audio, which encodes audio into a series of numbers that a computer can play or manipulate. We've also discussed the process of ...

iTunes is a powerful audio player that supports a variety of formats, including the space-saving MP3 and AAC, the uncompressed AIFF and WAV, and the proprietary Apple Lossless. But as you explore the ...

Since its standardization in 1991, MP3 has gone from being a little-known portion of a video file format to the kind of ubiquity that most brands can only dream of having. It's both widespread, with ...