What Is Audio Ducking and How to Use It in Filmora: A Beginner-Friendly Guide

What is Audio Ducking and How to Use it in Filmora: A Beginner-friendly Guide

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you are a content creator, you might already know the importance of having the right audio component in a video. For attaining a perfect balance between voiceovers and the background audio, the concept of “ducking” is implemented. I have come up with this post to help you know more about audio ducking and its importance. I will also include a detailed guide for implementing audio ducking on a video in a stepwise manner. Let’s begin!

• Part 1: What Is Audio Ducking?
• Part 2: When to Use Audio Ducking?
• Part 3: How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

Audio Ducking: What Is It All About?

In nutshell, it is a process that “ducks” or lowers the background volume when a voiceover appears. For instance, let’s consider that we already have a background score in our video playing. When we would add a narrator’s voice or apply a voiceover, it would create a lot of confusion. Therefore, we implement the audio ducking process to lower the background audio and amplify the voiceover instead.

In most cases, it is achieved through a side-chain compression technique. A control channel is set up that enables the compression of one sound (the background) while amplifying another (the voiceover).

When Do You Need to Implement Audio Ducking?

Since the concept of audio ducking is pretty useful, it can be implemented in different ways during the video editing process. While you can apply the process to any video, here are some of the major instances where it is used.

Travel Vlogs

If you are a travel vlogger, you might already know how tough it can be to make yourself heard in a video. When there are too many background noises, your voice can be diminished. This is exactly where you can apply audio ducking to decrease the background noise and focus on your voice.

Make-up Tutorials

While creating make-up video tutorials, most of us use a background track to keep our viewers engaged. At the same time, you need to let them know about the process by speaking clearly. If you use audio ducking, then you can easily attain a perfect balance between both sounds.

Other Instances

Ideally, if you are creating any other tutorial video for your audience, then audio ducking can be useful. From making video game tutorials to coming up with video lectures on a crucial topic, the concept would come in handy time and time again.

How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

To implement audio ducking in your videos, you can use a reliable editing tool like Wondershare Filmora . It is a user-friendly and powerful video editing application that lets you “duck” the background sound and easily amplify voiceovers.

• Without undergoing any complicated process, you can implement audio ducking and even scale it (from 1 to 100) to attain the right balance in your videos.
• Filmora also offers tons of powerful audio features for video editing. It has a dedicated audio mixer that would let you split, detach, split, or mute the audio.
• The application can also be used to add voiceovers to your video on its native interface. You can also use its inbuilt operations like noise remover, fade in/fade out, equalizer, etc. to make the needed changes.
• Besides audio ducking, you can also access tons of advanced editing features in Filmora like motion tracking, color grading, keyframing, and so much more.
• The application also offers a wide range of filters, presets, effects, stickers, and royalty-free music that you can easily use in your videos.

To learn how to implement audio ducking in your videos using Filmora, you can go through these basic steps:

Step 1. Import Your Videos on Filmora

To begin with, you have to install Wondershare Filmora on your computer and launch it. Now, go to the “Import” feature from the top, choose to add files, and browse and load your videos. After adding the video, you can drag it to the timeline below to start editing.

Step 2. Import An Audio or Record Voiceovers

Let’s suppose that your video already has an audio track in the background, and now you wish to add another audio component. Most of the people would like to record their voices in the video. For this, you can click on the voiceover (mic) icon at the bottom of the preview panel. This will open a dedicated window so that you can start recording your voice for the video.

Apart from that, you can also go to the “Import” feature to add any other audio component to the project. Besides that, Wondershare Filmora also has a wide range of royalty-free audio files that you can easily add to your projects.

Step 3. Apply Audio Ducking to Your Video

After adding the second audio component, you can view it under the video timeline on Filmora. Now, you need to select the audio track you wish to amplify (like your voiceover) and not the track that already has a prominent volume.

Once you have selected the audio you wish to amplify, right-click to get its context menu. Just select the “Adjust Audio” feature from all the available options.

This will launch a dedicated window on the screen with various audio options to apply. Go to the “Ducking” option here and enable the “Lower the volume of other clips” feature. You can also use a slider here to adjust how much you wish to lower the volume of other clips in the project.

That’s it! Once you have selected the value, click on the “OK” button. You can now preview the results on Filmora and check that the volume of other audio components has been ducked. You can later go to the “Export” option and save the project in the format of your choice.

After reading this post, I’m sure that you will know more about audio ducking and how we can implement it. Since many content creators encounter issues while working on their videos, audio ducking would certainly be a helpful feature. With an application like Wondershare Filmora, you can easily implement audio ducking on multiple files and further edit your videos like a pro!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you are a content creator, you might already know the importance of having the right audio component in a video. For attaining a perfect balance between voiceovers and the background audio, the concept of “ducking” is implemented. I have come up with this post to help you know more about audio ducking and its importance. I will also include a detailed guide for implementing audio ducking on a video in a stepwise manner. Let’s begin!

• Part 1: What Is Audio Ducking?
• Part 2: When to Use Audio Ducking?
• Part 3: How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

Audio Ducking: What Is It All About?

In nutshell, it is a process that “ducks” or lowers the background volume when a voiceover appears. For instance, let’s consider that we already have a background score in our video playing. When we would add a narrator’s voice or apply a voiceover, it would create a lot of confusion. Therefore, we implement the audio ducking process to lower the background audio and amplify the voiceover instead.

In most cases, it is achieved through a side-chain compression technique. A control channel is set up that enables the compression of one sound (the background) while amplifying another (the voiceover).

When Do You Need to Implement Audio Ducking?

Since the concept of audio ducking is pretty useful, it can be implemented in different ways during the video editing process. While you can apply the process to any video, here are some of the major instances where it is used.

Travel Vlogs

If you are a travel vlogger, you might already know how tough it can be to make yourself heard in a video. When there are too many background noises, your voice can be diminished. This is exactly where you can apply audio ducking to decrease the background noise and focus on your voice.

Make-up Tutorials

While creating make-up video tutorials, most of us use a background track to keep our viewers engaged. At the same time, you need to let them know about the process by speaking clearly. If you use audio ducking, then you can easily attain a perfect balance between both sounds.

Other Instances

Ideally, if you are creating any other tutorial video for your audience, then audio ducking can be useful. From making video game tutorials to coming up with video lectures on a crucial topic, the concept would come in handy time and time again.

How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

To implement audio ducking in your videos, you can use a reliable editing tool like Wondershare Filmora . It is a user-friendly and powerful video editing application that lets you “duck” the background sound and easily amplify voiceovers.

• Without undergoing any complicated process, you can implement audio ducking and even scale it (from 1 to 100) to attain the right balance in your videos.
• Filmora also offers tons of powerful audio features for video editing. It has a dedicated audio mixer that would let you split, detach, split, or mute the audio.
• The application can also be used to add voiceovers to your video on its native interface. You can also use its inbuilt operations like noise remover, fade in/fade out, equalizer, etc. to make the needed changes.
• Besides audio ducking, you can also access tons of advanced editing features in Filmora like motion tracking, color grading, keyframing, and so much more.
• The application also offers a wide range of filters, presets, effects, stickers, and royalty-free music that you can easily use in your videos.

To learn how to implement audio ducking in your videos using Filmora, you can go through these basic steps:

Step 1. Import Your Videos on Filmora

To begin with, you have to install Wondershare Filmora on your computer and launch it. Now, go to the “Import” feature from the top, choose to add files, and browse and load your videos. After adding the video, you can drag it to the timeline below to start editing.

Step 2. Import An Audio or Record Voiceovers

Let’s suppose that your video already has an audio track in the background, and now you wish to add another audio component. Most of the people would like to record their voices in the video. For this, you can click on the voiceover (mic) icon at the bottom of the preview panel. This will open a dedicated window so that you can start recording your voice for the video.

Apart from that, you can also go to the “Import” feature to add any other audio component to the project. Besides that, Wondershare Filmora also has a wide range of royalty-free audio files that you can easily add to your projects.

Step 3. Apply Audio Ducking to Your Video

After adding the second audio component, you can view it under the video timeline on Filmora. Now, you need to select the audio track you wish to amplify (like your voiceover) and not the track that already has a prominent volume.

Once you have selected the audio you wish to amplify, right-click to get its context menu. Just select the “Adjust Audio” feature from all the available options.

This will launch a dedicated window on the screen with various audio options to apply. Go to the “Ducking” option here and enable the “Lower the volume of other clips” feature. You can also use a slider here to adjust how much you wish to lower the volume of other clips in the project.

That’s it! Once you have selected the value, click on the “OK” button. You can now preview the results on Filmora and check that the volume of other audio components has been ducked. You can later go to the “Export” option and save the project in the format of your choice.

After reading this post, I’m sure that you will know more about audio ducking and how we can implement it. Since many content creators encounter issues while working on their videos, audio ducking would certainly be a helpful feature. With an application like Wondershare Filmora, you can easily implement audio ducking on multiple files and further edit your videos like a pro!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you are a content creator, you might already know the importance of having the right audio component in a video. For attaining a perfect balance between voiceovers and the background audio, the concept of “ducking” is implemented. I have come up with this post to help you know more about audio ducking and its importance. I will also include a detailed guide for implementing audio ducking on a video in a stepwise manner. Let’s begin!

• Part 1: What Is Audio Ducking?
• Part 2: When to Use Audio Ducking?
• Part 3: How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

Audio Ducking: What Is It All About?

In nutshell, it is a process that “ducks” or lowers the background volume when a voiceover appears. For instance, let’s consider that we already have a background score in our video playing. When we would add a narrator’s voice or apply a voiceover, it would create a lot of confusion. Therefore, we implement the audio ducking process to lower the background audio and amplify the voiceover instead.

In most cases, it is achieved through a side-chain compression technique. A control channel is set up that enables the compression of one sound (the background) while amplifying another (the voiceover).

When Do You Need to Implement Audio Ducking?

Since the concept of audio ducking is pretty useful, it can be implemented in different ways during the video editing process. While you can apply the process to any video, here are some of the major instances where it is used.

Travel Vlogs

If you are a travel vlogger, you might already know how tough it can be to make yourself heard in a video. When there are too many background noises, your voice can be diminished. This is exactly where you can apply audio ducking to decrease the background noise and focus on your voice.

Make-up Tutorials

While creating make-up video tutorials, most of us use a background track to keep our viewers engaged. At the same time, you need to let them know about the process by speaking clearly. If you use audio ducking, then you can easily attain a perfect balance between both sounds.

Other Instances

Ideally, if you are creating any other tutorial video for your audience, then audio ducking can be useful. From making video game tutorials to coming up with video lectures on a crucial topic, the concept would come in handy time and time again.

How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

To implement audio ducking in your videos, you can use a reliable editing tool like Wondershare Filmora . It is a user-friendly and powerful video editing application that lets you “duck” the background sound and easily amplify voiceovers.

• Without undergoing any complicated process, you can implement audio ducking and even scale it (from 1 to 100) to attain the right balance in your videos.
• Filmora also offers tons of powerful audio features for video editing. It has a dedicated audio mixer that would let you split, detach, split, or mute the audio.
• The application can also be used to add voiceovers to your video on its native interface. You can also use its inbuilt operations like noise remover, fade in/fade out, equalizer, etc. to make the needed changes.
• Besides audio ducking, you can also access tons of advanced editing features in Filmora like motion tracking, color grading, keyframing, and so much more.
• The application also offers a wide range of filters, presets, effects, stickers, and royalty-free music that you can easily use in your videos.

To learn how to implement audio ducking in your videos using Filmora, you can go through these basic steps:

Step 1. Import Your Videos on Filmora

To begin with, you have to install Wondershare Filmora on your computer and launch it. Now, go to the “Import” feature from the top, choose to add files, and browse and load your videos. After adding the video, you can drag it to the timeline below to start editing.

Step 2. Import An Audio or Record Voiceovers

Let’s suppose that your video already has an audio track in the background, and now you wish to add another audio component. Most of the people would like to record their voices in the video. For this, you can click on the voiceover (mic) icon at the bottom of the preview panel. This will open a dedicated window so that you can start recording your voice for the video.

Apart from that, you can also go to the “Import” feature to add any other audio component to the project. Besides that, Wondershare Filmora also has a wide range of royalty-free audio files that you can easily add to your projects.

Step 3. Apply Audio Ducking to Your Video

After adding the second audio component, you can view it under the video timeline on Filmora. Now, you need to select the audio track you wish to amplify (like your voiceover) and not the track that already has a prominent volume.

Once you have selected the audio you wish to amplify, right-click to get its context menu. Just select the “Adjust Audio” feature from all the available options.

This will launch a dedicated window on the screen with various audio options to apply. Go to the “Ducking” option here and enable the “Lower the volume of other clips” feature. You can also use a slider here to adjust how much you wish to lower the volume of other clips in the project.

That’s it! Once you have selected the value, click on the “OK” button. You can now preview the results on Filmora and check that the volume of other audio components has been ducked. You can later go to the “Export” option and save the project in the format of your choice.

After reading this post, I’m sure that you will know more about audio ducking and how we can implement it. Since many content creators encounter issues while working on their videos, audio ducking would certainly be a helpful feature. With an application like Wondershare Filmora, you can easily implement audio ducking on multiple files and further edit your videos like a pro!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you are a content creator, you might already know the importance of having the right audio component in a video. For attaining a perfect balance between voiceovers and the background audio, the concept of “ducking” is implemented. I have come up with this post to help you know more about audio ducking and its importance. I will also include a detailed guide for implementing audio ducking on a video in a stepwise manner. Let’s begin!

• Part 1: What Is Audio Ducking?
• Part 2: When to Use Audio Ducking?
• Part 3: How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

Audio Ducking: What Is It All About?

In nutshell, it is a process that “ducks” or lowers the background volume when a voiceover appears. For instance, let’s consider that we already have a background score in our video playing. When we would add a narrator’s voice or apply a voiceover, it would create a lot of confusion. Therefore, we implement the audio ducking process to lower the background audio and amplify the voiceover instead.

In most cases, it is achieved through a side-chain compression technique. A control channel is set up that enables the compression of one sound (the background) while amplifying another (the voiceover).

When Do You Need to Implement Audio Ducking?

Since the concept of audio ducking is pretty useful, it can be implemented in different ways during the video editing process. While you can apply the process to any video, here are some of the major instances where it is used.

Travel Vlogs

If you are a travel vlogger, you might already know how tough it can be to make yourself heard in a video. When there are too many background noises, your voice can be diminished. This is exactly where you can apply audio ducking to decrease the background noise and focus on your voice.

Make-up Tutorials

While creating make-up video tutorials, most of us use a background track to keep our viewers engaged. At the same time, you need to let them know about the process by speaking clearly. If you use audio ducking, then you can easily attain a perfect balance between both sounds.

Other Instances

Ideally, if you are creating any other tutorial video for your audience, then audio ducking can be useful. From making video game tutorials to coming up with video lectures on a crucial topic, the concept would come in handy time and time again.

How to Use the Audio Ducking Feature in Filmora?

To implement audio ducking in your videos, you can use a reliable editing tool like Wondershare Filmora . It is a user-friendly and powerful video editing application that lets you “duck” the background sound and easily amplify voiceovers.

• Without undergoing any complicated process, you can implement audio ducking and even scale it (from 1 to 100) to attain the right balance in your videos.
• Filmora also offers tons of powerful audio features for video editing. It has a dedicated audio mixer that would let you split, detach, split, or mute the audio.
• The application can also be used to add voiceovers to your video on its native interface. You can also use its inbuilt operations like noise remover, fade in/fade out, equalizer, etc. to make the needed changes.
• Besides audio ducking, you can also access tons of advanced editing features in Filmora like motion tracking, color grading, keyframing, and so much more.
• The application also offers a wide range of filters, presets, effects, stickers, and royalty-free music that you can easily use in your videos.

To learn how to implement audio ducking in your videos using Filmora, you can go through these basic steps:

Step 1. Import Your Videos on Filmora

To begin with, you have to install Wondershare Filmora on your computer and launch it. Now, go to the “Import” feature from the top, choose to add files, and browse and load your videos. After adding the video, you can drag it to the timeline below to start editing.

Step 2. Import An Audio or Record Voiceovers

Let’s suppose that your video already has an audio track in the background, and now you wish to add another audio component. Most of the people would like to record their voices in the video. For this, you can click on the voiceover (mic) icon at the bottom of the preview panel. This will open a dedicated window so that you can start recording your voice for the video.

Apart from that, you can also go to the “Import” feature to add any other audio component to the project. Besides that, Wondershare Filmora also has a wide range of royalty-free audio files that you can easily add to your projects.

Step 3. Apply Audio Ducking to Your Video

After adding the second audio component, you can view it under the video timeline on Filmora. Now, you need to select the audio track you wish to amplify (like your voiceover) and not the track that already has a prominent volume.

Once you have selected the audio you wish to amplify, right-click to get its context menu. Just select the “Adjust Audio” feature from all the available options.

This will launch a dedicated window on the screen with various audio options to apply. Go to the “Ducking” option here and enable the “Lower the volume of other clips” feature. You can also use a slider here to adjust how much you wish to lower the volume of other clips in the project.

That’s it! Once you have selected the value, click on the “OK” button. You can now preview the results on Filmora and check that the volume of other audio components has been ducked. You can later go to the “Export” option and save the project in the format of your choice.

After reading this post, I’m sure that you will know more about audio ducking and how we can implement it. Since many content creators encounter issues while working on their videos, audio ducking would certainly be a helpful feature. With an application like Wondershare Filmora, you can easily implement audio ducking on multiple files and further edit your videos like a pro!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Comparing Titans in Digital Audio Workstations: Is MAGIX Samplitude at the Pinnacle?

These days, the importance of having a good Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) in your music production arsenal cannot be understated. With the ever-expanding demand for better-quality music, the competition in the DAW market is fierce. However, there is one excellent DAW standing out from the music production market - MAGIX Samplitude.

Samplitude is a music production software, first released in 1992 by the German company MAGIX. This DAW is available for 32/64-bit Windows 10/11 and has a wide range of features that make it suitable for both beginner and experienced music producers. When you search for an appropriate DAW for your music production, you possibly have seen this music production software many times. And you may wonder: is MAGIX Sampltitude really that good?

In this MAGIX Samplitude review, we will discuss its numerous features. By the end, you’ll have a good idea of whether or not this music software is worth your time and money.

Part 1. What Is MAGIX Samplitude?

MAGIX Samplitude is a digital audio workstation that lets you create, edit, and produce professional-quality audio recordings. Since its release, the software has evolved into the most popular DAW among music producers and audio engineers. We will show you its history which demonstrates its fast development in recent 30 years below.

History of Samplitude’s Development

The first version of Samplitude was created for the Amiga platform, and since then, it has become a staple in the music production industry. Today, Samplitude is used by some of the world’s top producers for creating and editing unique musical sounds.

Here’s a quick history timeline of MAGIX Samplitude:

• 1992: MAGIX Samplitude is released.
• 1995: Samplitude released version for Microsoft Windows 3.1
• 1998: Samplitude 2496 version is released with a new interface and improved workflow and supports 24-bit recording with sample rates of up to 96 kHz.
• 2002: Samplitude Professional is released, aimed at professional producers and engineers.
• 2005: Samplitude version 8.0 was released.
• 2006: Samplitude 9.0 was presented with a de-esser, advanced dual CPU support, and VSTi manager.
• 2011: Samplitude Pro X with 64-bit system requirement. Since its release, the Pro X version has been further upgraded into Pro X2, Pro X3, Pro X4, Pro X5, Pro X6, and Pro X7.

The Difference Between Samplitude Pro X’s Three Versions

As presented above, the newest version of Samplitude is Pro X which offers three popular versions for purchase, each with its own unique set of specifications and features:

• Samplitude Pro X: This DAW version includes 47 virtual instruments and the main features.
• Samplitude Pro X Suite: This version comes with all the Samplitude Pro X7 features, a copy of the audio editor Sound Forge Pro 11 audio editor, a 70 GB soundset for independent instruments, and five additional VSTs.
• Samplitude Pro X365: A subscription-based version that includes all the Samplified Pro X7 features, a Spectra Layers Pro 5, and a visual, audio editor spectral analysis.

Part 2. MAGIX Samplitude Review

As we have mentioned in the beginning, MAGIX Samplitude is a perfect and great choice for both beginner and advanced users. Then what features make it?

Below we’ve provided a quick review of MAGIX Samplitude to give you a better idea of the software.

Price

MAGIX Samplitude is available for purchase from the MAGIX website. The Pro X7 version costs $299.00 as a one-time purchase, the Pro X365 costs $14.99/month, and the Suite edition costs $419.00.

Features

• The Core Feature Set: MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7 features include up to 384kHz 32-bit recording, advanced MIDI editing, 999 tracks, virtual instrument support, ultra-low-latency recording, non-destructive audio editing, and 256 physical inputs.

• The Object Editor: The Object Editor provides control over your plug-ins and can assign EQ and time/pitch settings to your clips to make the automation process easier. You can also easily cut and record your audio recordings.

• Amplitude Bundles Melodyne 4 Essential: Samplitude Pro X7 supports Melodyne 4 Essential with ARA technology that helps with pitch correction on a single track without sending it out and back in again.

• Virtual Instruments: The software comes with 47 virtual instruments (both classic and modern), spurring musicians on to new ideas for creating ethereal musical sounds.
• The Mixer View: Samplitude offers a mixer view that appears in a separate window, making it easy to access the built-in parametric EQ and plug-ins.
• Vocal Recording Correction: The software offers the Vocal Tune 2 feature to quickly correct your voice recordings. Additionally, you can adjust your audio recordings in detail using the pitch curves and practical waveform display.
• A Faster Workflow With ARA2 Support: The new ARA2-compatible plug-ins allow you to edit audio files faster and more efficiently. You can create seamless clip borders, perform multiple tasks at the same time on different tracks, and work with the interface more intuitively.

Minimum System Requirements

To run MAGIX Samplitude smoothly, your computer must meet the following minimum system requirements:

• Windows: 8 or 10.
• Processor: Intel Dual-core processor with 1.5 GHz.
• RAM: 2 GB for 32-bit and 4 GB for 64-bit.
• Storage Space: 2 GB of free hard disk space.
• Sound Card: Must be compatible with ASIO.
• Graphic Card: Onboard, minimum 1280 x 768 resolution.

Review on the Third-Party Website

Samplitude has been well-received by critics on the platforms like PCMag, Softexia, and Top Ten Reviews, with many praising its ease of use, powerful features, and great sound quality.

However, the software has not received any ratings or scores on the G2, a well-known software review platform. This means the users have yet to review MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7 on this platform.

Part 3. Video - MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7, Testing the Features

To help you better understand the features of MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7, we prepared a video which tests the functions. You can watch it to better make the decision whether Samplitude Pro X7 worths your time and money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxzjnWRvfrk

Conclusion

MAGIX Samplitude is advanced audio software with almost every element you can think of when it comes to editing music. All in all, the software has an impressive scope and can prove to be a versatile tool if you are a multi-instrument musician looking to produce your own music in various styles.

In this article, we’ve provided an in-depth review of MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7 to help you understand the program in detail. We discussed what the software is, its history, and the difference between its latest three versions.

Additionally, we explored the pricing plan of MAGIX Samplitude Pro X and its various features. We hope you found this review helpful in deciding whether or not to purchase this software.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Audioscapes Unveiled: Selecting the Optimal Audio Codecs and Formats

How to Choose Best Audio Formats

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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