A Crash Course in Digital Audio Formats
2nd in a series about new audio technologies used in education
As our culture continues to integrate digital files, schools and classrooms have similarly expanded their use of audio-related content. For those who have relied on traditional analog content until now but would like to experiment with the new digital world, they’re confronted with several different types of files they must work with in order to access the same content. Gone are the days when wanting to play a song meant simply choosing between a record and a cassette.
The introduction and widespread acceptance of first CD players and then computers ushered in a new generation of how and where the same analog content could be digitized, stored, transferred, and ultimately played. Just like earlier generations of audio formats had their own dedicated equipment (phonograph players for instance), all digital files have their own file formats which determines their use, and audio files are no different. Each digital audio file has its own filename extension (a suffix attached to the name of that file to indicate the particular format of its contents).
The shift to a digital platform in schools means that at least for audio files, it’s important to be at least familiar with the most commonly used format types since newer audio equipment is integrating the ability to play many of these format types. It’s important to be aware of which audio equipment can play the audio files your class, school, or district is producing (or planning to make) could determine which equipment you’re going to purchase. So whether the envisioned equipment will be used by teachers who’ll be downloading lessons, for playing student-generated content, or recording a speech, there are at least three most commonly used audio file formats you should be know about.
A .wav file is one of the three most common digital audio file formats. It is a larger, compressed file format used by most Windows® systems and Macintosh® programs and is commonly used for storing CD-quality sound files, which means that they can (but don’t have to) be large in size. The Califone PowerPro™ SD, 2396, and 8101 MP3 player / recorder can all play WAV files.
The second is the .wma file, which is used by Windows Media Player as the default file type. It was designed with Digital Rights Management (DRM) for copy protection abilities. and is another common format used to make digital voice recordings. The Califone 2396, Spirit SD, 8101 MP3 player / recorder, and PowerPro™ SD can all play WMA files. The 8101 and PowerPro SD can also record WMA files.
The .mp3 (MPEG Layer-3) file is the third, and the most widely used format for downloading and storing music since it can be played on virtually any type of audio player. An MP3 file eliminates portions of the audio file that are essentially inaudible and are compressed to about one-tenth the original file size while maintaining good audio quality. The Califone PowerPro™ SD portable PA, 2396, 1886, 2385-03, and the 8101 MP3 player / recorders can all play MP3 files.
No matter which file format you use to save your digital audio files, the 8101, Music Maker USB media players and the PowerPro SD PA can all be used to play each file type to give you the convenience and compatibility necessary to undertake whatever task you are presented with.
Read the next article or go back to the first article in this series.
