Audio Streaming Information

MP3 vs. WMA


There are just a few audio compression formats out there, just like there are only a few image compression formats (you may have heard of them: JPG, GIF, BMP). Two of the most popular audio formats are WMA, or Windows Media Audio, and MP3 (Short for MPEG, Moving Pictures Experts Group, Audio Layer 3). WMA is the older audio format, produced by Microsoft, to work with Microsoft's Windows media player. The WMA compression format was designed specifically for this format, and thus can not be converted to other audio formats.

The audio quality of WMA and MP3 audio formats tends to be noticeably different. WMA is a decent quality audio format when streaming at phoneline speeds (maybe 30kbps or so). At such speed WMA almost reaches an FM level of audio quality, although not quite. At 128kbps, Microsoft claims the WMA is nearly CD-quality, although many would deny this. WMA, however, is not to be completely looked over. The compression provides relatively small audio files and they require less processing power to execute. It thus retains a deminishing niche as MP3 has become more popular and widely used.

The MP3 audio compression was developed in Germany in 1991 by the Fraunhofer Institute. MP3 typically provides higher quality sound than WMA because it uses perceptual audio coding to compress CD-quality sound by a factor of 12. As a result, MP3 has become almost the universal standard among audio usage and broadcasting. It provides CD-quality sound at reasonable compression sizes and high streaming speeds. Watch out, however, at low bitrates, as MP3 quality will likely suffer.

Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on MP3 and WMA audio formats, please visit our MP3 vs. WMA webpage.


MORE RESOURCES:

CNET News

JVC El Kameleon KD-AVX44
CNET News, CA - 8 hours ago
We were surprised to learn that the unit also supports A2DP-audio streaming from Bluetooth devices. We were easily able to control playback of music stored ...


Harding Sporting Events to be Streamed Over the Web
ArkansasSports360.com, AR - 8 hours ago
For fans with dial-up connections, Harding will continue to provide live audio streaming of all football and basketball games with Billy Morgan handling ...


TrustedReviews

IFA 2008: New Philips Streamium Hi-Fi System Breaks Cover
TrustedReviews, UK - 17 hours ago
Wireless is only 802.11g unfortunately, but this is more than sufficient for audio streaming even if it does limit the wireless range. ...


Mascom Wireless makes 3G and 3.5G product offerings
Sunday Standard, Botswana - Aug 27, 2008
“The remaining service that can be offered in addition includes, video/audio streaming, mobile TV which is online broadcasting, High Speed push-email as ...


Sony SNC-P1 network colour camera - advancing to the next level
SourceSecurity.com, UK - 18 hours ago
... the efficient MPEG-4 compression format, which provides smooth video/audio streaming via ordinary broadband network environments such as DSL or CATV. ...


Sensory's BlueGenie Voice Interface(TM) Powers First Voice ...
MarketWatch - Aug 26, 2008
BlueAnt's product portfolio includes hands-free, stereo audio streaming and wireless communication products offering cutting-edge technology, ...


The Air This Week
Boston Globe, United States - Aug 26, 2008
Schedules and dial-ups for audio-streaming sites worldwide are available at www.publicradiofan.com and classwebcast.googlepages.com/Station_ Listings.html . ...


Meet the Squeezebox’s big brother
PC Pro, UK - Aug 6, 2008
We love the Squeezebox Duet even more - when it comes to audio streaming its difficult to imagine a device as intuitive and gorgeous coming along to topple ...


Marauders Open Football Season Under the Lights Thursday Night ...
University of Mary, ND - Aug 27, 2008
Audio streaming of U-Mary football and basketball games is also available free online. Go to www.umary.edu/marauderslive for further information. ...


Grooveshark Autoplay: Pandora for the rest of us
The Inquisitr, Australia - Aug 26, 2008
However, Pandora (despite its brilliance) hasn’t been available outside of the United States now for over a year, so great contextual audio streaming has ...

Audio-Streaming - Google News

home | site map
© 2006