Home  ›  News  ›

VCAST Music Disables MP3 Playback

Article Comments  

all discussions

show all 7 replies

Why is WMA a "lossy" format?

mycool

Jan 11, 2006, 12:11 PM
SystemShock said:
Welcome to yesterday. ☹️

Yes, all of that is known. What you may not know is that when WM10 auto-converts your mp3s, AACs, and whatever else you have to WMA, you take a hit on sound quality due to WMA being a lossy format.


WMA: WMA (Windows Media Audio) files use a Microsoft format, that, like MP3, is usually lossy (there is a lossless version available, but it is rarely used). It isn't as ubiquitous as MP3, due in part to the fact that it is perceived as a proprietary format and is supported on fewer devices and DVDs than MP3. On the positive side, though, WMA files have noticably better quality than MP3 files encoded at equivalent bitrates.

http://www.mediamonkey.com/mp3-o »...
(continues)
...
kvazzz

Jan 11, 2006, 12:43 PM
Amen brotha! 😁

He's right. Check the Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Audio »
...
VZWrep1906

Jan 11, 2006, 12:44 PM
mycool said:
SystemShock said:
Welcome to yesterday. ☹️

Yes, all of that is known. What you may not know is that when WM10 auto-converts your mp3s, AACs, and whatever else you have to WMA, you take a hit on sound quality due to WMA being a lossy format.


WMA: WMA (Windows Media Audio) files use a Microsoft format, that, like MP3, is usually lossy (there is a lossless version available, but it is rarely used). It isn't as ubiquitous as MP3, due in part to the fact that it is perceived as a proprietary format and is supported on fewer devices and DVDs than MP3. On the positive side, though, WMA files have noticably better quality than MP3 files encoded at equivalent bitrates.

...
(continues)
...
SystemShock

Jan 11, 2006, 6:48 PM
Why is WMA a 'lossy' format? Because thats simply part and parcel of the compression technology used in WMA. From Wikpedia:

A lossy data compression method is one where compressing data and then decompressing it retrieves data that may well be different from the original, but is "close enough" to be useful in some way. This type of compression is used frequently on the Internet and especially in streaming media and telephony applications. These methods are typically referred to as codecs in this context. Contrast with lossless data compression.

Depending on the design of the format lossy data compression often suffers from generation loss, that is compressing and decompressing multiple times will do more damage to the data than
...
(continues)
...
kvazzz

Jan 12, 2006, 1:07 AM
correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that AAC doesn't support 5.1 surround.

STOP IT! I fear this discussion is gonna end up in "Win - Mac" of "Win - Open Source" battle...
...
SystemShock

Jan 12, 2006, 6:08 AM
Doesn't sound quite right... AAC is part of the MPEG-4 specs, and supports multichannel. Its also got some backing from Dolby, so I'd find it hard to believe that it wouldn't support what Dolby is doing:

AAC or 'Advanced Audio Coding' forms part of the latest specifications from the MPEG committee, and is their official successor to the popular MP3 format. As with MP3, the AAC format is an international standard, and is backed by several big-name companies, including Dolby, Sony and Nokia.

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=AAC »
...
txjeep91

Jan 19, 2006, 1:40 PM
The official response to that is this - because it helps with the quality - what is what they said. However I think it has to do with the large quantity of ppl buying songs which are all WMA format. And the licensing information that everyone is using at this time of Pay for Play music. So techincally if someone buys any music from any online store verizon or otherwise they can play the music on the device. I dont agree with it but hey with all the free music floating around just figure out how to reenable the MP3 cemplatibilty of the device -
...
SystemShock

Jan 19, 2006, 6:22 PM
A lot more people are buying AAC songs than WMA, as iTunes is AAC, and iTunes has like 70-80% of the online music store market.

Also, iPods don't play WMA, and iPods have the majority of the portable music player market.

If the goal is to be compatible with the most people/players, you wouldn't go WMA.
...

This forum is closed.

Please log in to report a message to the moderator.

This forum is closed.


all discussions

Subscribe to Phone Scoop News with RSS Follow @phonescoop on Threads Follow @phonescoop on Mastodon Phone Scoop on Facebook Follow on Instagram

 

Playwire

All content Copyright 2001-2024 Phone Factor, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Content on this site may not be copied or republished without formal permission.