wma, wav, mp3?

[anotheoldgit]

What is the difference between a WMA, WAV and MP3 music files?

Will music recordered in all three formats play on CD players and on Computers Windows Media Player?

[vehelpfulguy]

I am sure someone knows more about this than me, but as no one else has answered I will have a go.

All 3 formats are compression formats, where the music is compressed to reduce the file size (and hence sound quality) although many may not notice the difference.

WAV was first I think, but the file sizes are still quite large so it is not popular with people on the internet due to time it takes to download a file.

MP3 was next and these files are very small, hence the popularity on the internet. I think this is pretty open standard.

Microsoft then developed WMA which I think are smaller than MP3 but not sure by how much.

I think all devices will support mp3.

Many will support WMA (and of course Windows Media Player supports it because Microsoft wrote both)

Not sure about WAV, but my GUESS (no more than that) is that most devices like mp3 players will not support it (but willing to be proved wrong)

If you stick with mp3 files you cant got wrong, but many devices now also support WMA.

[rojash]

Wav is raw digital - it's not compressed, and thus is the best format for editing, and the worst for storage. After editing most programs will allow export to many other formats. You can transfer wav files direct to audio cd for playing in ANY cd player. Some later model cd players will also play mp3 and other formats. All of these formats can be played by Windows Media Player.

[anotheoldgit]

Thanks for both your very good answers, vehelpfulguy and rojash, things are alot clearer now.

[pug100]

Wav files are the closest in terms of quality to CD audio. CD audio is encoded as a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation )file and is uncompressed. For compatability amongst audio equipment CDs need to adhere to the red book specification set out in 1980 by Philips and Sony.
The spec states the maximum playing time is 78 minutes, minimum duration for a track is 4 seconds, maximum number of tracks is 99, maximum number of index points is 99 and International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) should be recorded on CD-Rs.

[anotheoldgit]

You too pug100, thanks very much.