Comparison of audio coding formats
The following tables compare general and technical information for a variety of audio coding formats .
For listening tests comparing the perceived audio quality of audio formats and codecs, see the article Codec listening test .
Audio compression format
Creator
First public release date
Latest stable version
Cost
Proprietary implementations (codecs)
Open-source implementations (codecs)
Uses(other than consumer audio)
Music reproduction (consumer audio)
Telephony app
Lossless audio compression
Patented
DRM
Encoder
Player
AAC
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
1997
ISO/IEC 14496-3
Non-free[ 1]
Nero Digital Audio , Apple CoreAudio (via QuickTime , iTunes or afconvert[ 2] )
FAAC (encoding only), FAAD2 (decoding only), FFmpeg , Audiocogs[ 3] (decoding only), Fraunhofer FDK AAC
Digital TV service, Digital Radio, Internet streaming
Yes
AAC-LD /AAC-ELD
MPEG-4 SLS
Yes
FairPlay (.m4p only, discontinued)
AC-3
Dolby Laboratories
1992
ATSC A52:2018
Free
DVD players , digital television , Camcorder
FFmpeg , liba52 (decoding only), Aften (encoding only), libavc (2.0 channels max)
Theatrical movie presentation, Digital TV service & home-video (personal recorders, DVD, etc.)
No
No
No
No
?
AC-4
Dolby Laboratories
2014
ATSC A342:2022-03
Non-free
Digital television , Harmonic Inc. , DS Broadcast, Ateme , Synamedia , Dolby Media Encoder & Dolby Encoding Engine
ExoPlayer (decoding only for supported mobile devices)
Digital TV service
No
No
No
Yes
?
ALAC
Apple Inc.
2004-04-28
QuickTime 7.6
Free
QuickTime , iTunes , RealPlayer
MacOSforge, FFmpeg , Audiocogs[ 4] (decoding only)
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
Free
Possible, but never implemented
ALS
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
2005
ISO/IEC 14496-3
Free
MPEG-4 ALS
FFmpeg (decoding only)
-
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
?
AMBE
Digital Voice Systems
?
?
Non-free
?
mbelib
Low bandwidth HF/VHF digital radio, VoIP trunking
No
No
No
Yes
?
AMR
3GPP
1999-06-22
ETSI TS 126 071 V9.0.0 (2009)
Non-free[ 5] [ 6]
QuickTime , RealPlayer
FFmpeg (decoding only), FFmpeg with OpenCORE libraries,[ 7] Android [ 8]
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
AMR-WB (G.722.2)
3GPP
2001-04-10
ETSI TS 126 190 V8.0.0 (2009-01)
Non-free
QuickTime , RealPlayer
FFmpeg (decoding only),[ 7] FFmpeg with VisualOn libraries, Android (decoding only),[ 8] opencore-amr for both encoding and decoding
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
AMR-WB+
3GPP
2004-06-14
ETSI TS 126 290 V8.0.0 (2009-01)
Non-free[ 9] [ 10]
?
?
voice recording
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
aptX
Qualcomm
1989
2007
Non-free
Broadcast audio codecs: 2wcom systems, Systembase, APT, AVT, Harris Corporation , MAYAH, Prodys, Qbit; wireless headphones: iSkin, JayBird Gear, DTS discs for movies
FFmpeg
Low latency Studio/transmitter link , Bluetooth A2DP stereo, digital wireless microphone
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
ATRAC
Sony Corp.
1991
ATRAC3plus
Non-free
MiniDisc , Walkman , VAIO , Clie , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , PlayStation Portable , PlayStation Vita , SDDS , SonicStage, SoundForge , RealPlayer , ConnectPlayer
FFmpeg (decoding only, ATRAC Advanced Lossless is only partially supported)
voice recording , theatrical movie presentation
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
BroadVoice (BV16, BV32)
Broadcom
2009-08-19
1.2
Free
?
?
Speech, VoIP, Low latency, voice recording
No
Yes
No
Free
No
CELT
Xiph.Org Foundation , Jean-Marc Valin
2007-12-08
0.11.1 (merged into Opus )
Free
?
libcelt, FFmpeg with libcelt library (decoding only)
Speech, VoIP, Low latency, Studio/transmitter link , wireless audio
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Codec2
David Rowe
2010-08-25
1.2.0
(2023-07-14)
Free
?
c2enc, c2dec
Low bandwidth HF/VHF digital radio, VoIP trunking
No
Yes
No
No
No
Encodec
Facebook
2022-10-25
v0.1.1
(2022-10-26)
Free
?
Encodec
Speech, VoIP , voice recording
Yes
Yes
No
?
No
Enhanced AC-3 (E-AC-3)
Dolby Laboratories
2004
ATSC A52:2018
Non-free
Digital television
FFmpeg
Theatrical movie presentation, digital TV service & home-video (personal recorders, DVD, etc.)
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
EVS
Fraunhofer , JVC Kenwood , NTT , NTT Docomo , Panasonic , Ericsson
2014
?
Non-free
?
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
FLAC
Xiph.Org Foundation , Josh Coalson
2001-07-20
1.4.3
(2023-06-23)
Free
FLAC ,[ 11] Flake[ 12] (encoding only), FFmpeg , FLACCL[ 13] (encoding only), Audiocogs[ 14] (decoding only)
Music archival[ 15]
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
G.711
ITU-T
1972 (ITU-T standard from 1988)
G.711 Appendix II (02/00)
Free
Various proprietary VoIP software
FFmpeg , Ekiga , Asterisk (PBX) and almost any VoIP software
voice recording
No
Yes
No
No
No
G.722
ITU-T
1988-11
Free
Various proprietary VoIP software
Asterisk (PBX) , QuteCom , FFmpeg
voice recording
No
Yes
No
No
No
G.722.1
ITU-T
1999-09
G.722.1 (05/05)
Free[ 16] [ 17]
Various proprietary VoIP software
FreeSWITCH ,[ 18] PJSIP , etc
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
G.722.2 (AMR-WB)
ITU-T (adopted directly from 3GPP)
2002-01
G.722.2 (07/03)
Non-free
QuickTime , RealPlayer
FFmpeg (decoding only),[ 7] FFmpeg with VisualOn libraries, Android (decoding only)[ 8]
voice recording , audio
No
No
No
Yes
No
G.723.1
ITU-T
1996-03
G.723.1 (05/06)
Non-free
Various proprietary VoIP software
FFmpeg
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
G.726
ITU-T
1990-12
Free
Various proprietary VoIP software
FFmpeg , Ekiga and other VoIP software
voice recording
No
Yes
No
No
No
G.728
ITU-T
1992-09
Non-free
Various proprietary VoIP software
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
G.729
ITU-T
1996-03
G.729 (06/12)
Free[ 19]
Free
Various proprietary VoIP software
FFmpeg (decoding only)
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Expired[ 19]
No
G.729.1
ITU-T
2006-05
G.729.1 Am.8 (03/13)
Free[ 19]
Free
Various proprietary VoIP software
voice recording , DECT telephony
No
Yes
No
No
No
GSM-FR
ETSI Special Mobile Group
1990-1994 (ETS 300 580-2)
ETSI EN 300 961 V8.1.1 (2000–11)
Free
FFmpeg (decoding only), FFmpeg with external library libgsm, Ekiga and other VoIP software
voice recording
No
Yes
No
?
No
HE-AAC
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
2003
ISO/IEC 14496-3
?
?
?
Fraunhofer FDK AAC
?
Yes
No
No
?
?
iLBC
Global IP Solutions
2002
RFC 3951
Free
Cisco IP Communicator ,[ 20] old versions of Skype [ 21]
Ekiga , Asterisk (PBX) and other VoIP software, FFmpeg with libilbc library
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Free[ 22]
No
iSAC
Global IP Solutions
?
Free
Yahoo! Messenger
WebRTC
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes[ 23]
?
LA
Michael Bevin
2002-09-07
0.4b
(2004-02-08)
Free
Winamp with old plugin version, foobar2000 with old plugin version
?
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
LC3
Bluetooth SIG
2022-04-11
1.03
(2023-05-09)
Free
?
liblc3 , Android 13 , BlueZ
Speech
Yes
Yes
No
?
No
LDAC
Sony Corp.
2015-04
?
Non-free
Sony Walkman, Sony Products, mobile phones
libldacdec , Android 8 (encoding only), BlueZ (encoding only)
Bluetooth audio
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
LHDC
Savitech
2017
5.0.6 (2022-08-03)
Non-free
Mobile phones, Bluetooth headphones, Home receivers
Android 10
Bluetooth audio
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
L2HC
Huawei
2020
3.0 (2023-09-19)
Non-free
Huawei products, EMUI , HarmonyOS
Android 10 , OpenHarmony , Oniro OS
Bluetooth audio
NearLink audio
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Lyra
Google
2021-04-06
1.32 / V3
(2022-12-21)
Free
Google Duo
Lyra
Speech, VoIP , voice recording
Yes
Yes
No
?
No
Monkey's Audio
Matthew T. Ashland
2000
10.92
(2025-01-24)
Free
Monkey's Audio , FFmpeg (decoding only)
Music Archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
MP1 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer I)
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
1991-12-06
ISO/IEC 11172-3, ISO/IEC 13818-3
Free
?
FFmpeg (decoding only)
-
Yes
No
No
Expired
No
MP2 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer II)
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
1993
ISO/IEC 11172-3, ISO/IEC 13818-3
Free[ 24]
various DVD software, video software, audio software
TooLAME (encoding only), TwoLAME (encoding only), FFmpeg
DAB , DVB , DVD , VCD , SVCD
Yes
No
No
Free[ 25]
No
MP3 (MPEG-1/2/2.5 Audio Layer III)
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
1993
ISO/IEC 11172-3, ISO/IEC 13818-3
Free
FhG , l3enc , MP3enc, (old implementations: Xing TOMPG, SCMPX)
LAME (encoding only), FFmpeg (decoding only), libmad (decoding only), Audiocogs[ 26] (decoding only), (old implementations: BladeEnc)
-
Yes
No
No
Expired[ 27]
Yes (optional, rarely used)
MPEG-H 3D Audio
ISO /IEC MPEG Audio Committee
2013-01
ISO/IEC 23008-3
Non-free
FhG , MainConcept (encoding only)
libmpegh , mpeghdec (decoding only)
Digital TV service, voice recording
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Musepack
Frank Klemm/MDT
1997
1.30
(2009-04-02)
Free
Musepack ,[ 28] FFmpeg (decoding only)
-
Yes
No
No
No
No
Nellymoser Asao
Nellymoser Inc.
2002
?
Non-free
Adobe Flash , Flash Player
FFmpeg
voice recording
No
No
No
Yes
?
OptimFROG
Florin Ghido
2001-12-16
5.100 (2016-09-02)
Free
OptimFROG and some media players (decoding only).
Some media players (decoding only)
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Opus
Xiph.Org Foundation , Internet Engineering Task Force
2012-09-11
RFC 6716 (libopus 1.5.1)
Free
libopus, FFmpeg
Speech, VoIP , Low latency, Studio/transmitter link , wireless audio, voice recording, WebRTC
Yes
Yes
No
Yes[ 29]
No
OSQ
Steinberg
2002
?
Free
WaveLab
FFmpeg (decoding only)
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
QOA
Dominic Szablewski
2023-02-02
1.0
(2023-04-24)
Free
qoa, FFmpeg (decoding only)
-
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Sac
Sebastian Lehmann
2006-09-01
v0.7.6 (2024-07-04)
Free
Sac
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Satin
Microsoft
2020
?
Non-free
Microsoft Teams , Skype
?
Speech, VoIP , voice recording
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
SBC
Bluetooth SIG
2003
A2DP 1.3 (2012-07-24)
Free for Bluetooth
A2DP
BlueZ, FFmpeg
Bluetooth audio
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Shorten
Tony Robinson
1993-03-30
3.6.1
(2007-03-19, final release)
Free
Shorten
FFmpeg (decoding only)
-
Yes
No
Yes
No (with commercial use restriction)[ 30] [ 31]
No
SILK
Skype Limited
2009-01-07
Merged into Opus
Free
Skype
SILK Speech Codec
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
?
Siren 7
PictureTel Corp. (now Polycom Inc.)
1999
?[ 16] [ 17]
Microsoft Office Communicator
FreeSWITCH (libg722_1,[ 32] aMSN (libsiren - part of libmsn),[ 33] [ 34] FFmpeg (decoding only)
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
?
SNAC
Hubert Siuzdak
2024-02-20
1.2 (2024-04-04)
Free
SNAC
Speech, VoIP , voice recording
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Speex
Xiph.Org Foundation , Jean-Marc Valin
2003-03-24
1.2.0 (obsoleted by Opus )
Free
Adobe Flash Player 10
Speex ,[ 35] FFmpeg with libspeex library
voice recording
No
Yes
No
No
No
SVOPC
Skype Limited
2007-03-28
2008-09-23 (Skype 3.8) (replaced by SILK )
Non-free
Skype
voice recording
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Tom's lossless Audio Kompressor (TAK)
Thomas Becker
2007-01-26
2.3.3
(2022-06-30)
Free
Winamp with TAK plugin, foobar2000 with plugin, XMPlay
FFmpeg (decoding only)
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
TSAC
Fabrice Bellard
2024-04-08
2024-04-08
Free
No
TSAC, Linux: [2] , Windows (experimental): [3] . Does encoding and decoding in one app, no separate encoder and decoder
Speech, VoIP , voice recording
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
True Audio (TTA)
TAU Software
1999
2.3
(2015-02-24)
Free
TTA,[ 36] FFmpeg
-
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
TwinVQ
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
1996 (?)
Non-free
Winamp with VQF plugin, NTT TwinVQ player/encoder, Yamaha SoundVQ player, Nero Media Player
FFmpeg (decoding only)[ 37]
speech
Yes
No
No
Yes
?
USAC
Fraunhofer IIS
2012
4.4.0
(2023-06-21)
Non-free
?
EZ CD Audio Converter, FFmpeg with Mainconcept plugin (encoder only), Sonnox, Apple (decoder only), QuickTime (Mac version & decoder only).
Exhale (encoder only), FFmpeg (decoding only with Fraunhofer FDK AAC library enabled for manually command, native decoding only), Android (decoder only)
-
Yes
No
No
No
No
Vorbis (Ogg )
Xiph.Org Foundation
2000-05-11
1.3.7
(2020-07-04)
Free
libvorbis ,[ 38] aoTuV ,[ 39] FFmpeg
-
Yes
No
No
No
No
WavPack
Conifer Software
1998
5.7.0
(2024-02-29)
Free
WavPack ,[ 40] FFmpeg
Music archival
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Windows Media Audio
Microsoft
1999
11.0
Free for consumer licensees of the Windows operating system[citation needed ]
Free for licensees of the Windows operating system[ 41]
Windows Media Player , Windows Media Encoder
FFmpeg (decoding only for Pro , Lossless and Voice )
internet streaming
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Optional[ 42]
Audio compression format
Creator
First public release date
Latest stable version
Encoder
Player
Proprietary implementations (codecs)
Open-source implementations (codecs)
Uses(other than consumer audio)
Music reproduction (consumer audio)
Telephony app
Lossless audio compression
Patented
DRM
cost
Notes
The 'Music' category is merely a guideline on commercialized uses of a particular format, not a technical assessment of its capabilities. For example, MP3 and AAC dominate the personal audio market in terms of market share, though many other formats are comparably well suited to fill this role from a purely technical standpoint.
First public release date is first of either specification publishing or source releasing, or in the case of closed-specification, closed-source codecs, is the date of first binary releasing. Many developing codecs have pre-releases consisting of pre-1.0 versions and perhaps 1.0 release candidates (RCs), although 1.0 may not necessarily be the release version.
Latest stable version is that of specification or reference tools.
If there happens to be OSI licensed software available for a particular format, this does not necessarily permit one to use said codec free of charge. Likewise, if there is only proprietary licensed software available for a particular format, one might be able to use the codec free of charge.
Operating system support
Codec
Windows
macOS
Linux
BSD
Unix
Palm OS
Symbian OS
Rockbox [ 43]
iOS
Android [ 44] [ 45]
Chromium [ 46]
HarmonyOS [ 47]
OpenHarmony
Oniro OS
AAC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
AC-3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
ALAC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
ALS
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
aptX
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
?
?
CELT
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
E-AC3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
FLAC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
LC3
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
L2HC
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Monkey's Audio
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
MP3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Musepack
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Opus
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
RealAudio [ 48]
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Speex
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
True Audio (TTA)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
USAC
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
?
?
?
Vorbis
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
WavPack
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
WMA [ 48]
Yes
Yes[ 49]
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
?
?
Technical details
Lossy formats
Audio compression format
Algorithm
Sample rate
Bit rate
Latency
CBR
VBR
Stereo
Multichannel
AAC
MDCT , Hybrid Subband (AAC-HE)
8–192 kHz,[ 53] also: 7.35 kHz, but used rarely.
8–529 kbit/s (stereo, 44.1 kHz)
8–576 kbit/s (stereo, 48 kHz)
20–405 ms[ 54]
Yes
Yes
Yes: Dual, Mid/Side, Intensity , Parametric
Yes: Up to 48 channels
AC3
MDCT
32, 44.1, 48 kHz
32–640 kbit/s
32–48 ms
Yes
Theoretically; no good encoders exist which support VBR
Yes
Yes: Up to 6 channels
AC4
MDCT
48 kHz
24-1536 kbit/s
?
Yes
No
Yes
Yes: Up to 24 channels
AMBE
?
8 kHz
2-9.6 kbit/s
?
?
?
?
?
AMR
ACELP
8 kHz
4.75, 5.15, 5.90, 6.70, 7.40, 7.95, 10.20, 12.20 kbit/s
25 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
AMR-WB (G.722.2)
ACELP
16 kHz
6.60, 8.85, 12.65, 14.25, 15.85, 18.25, 19.85, 23.05, 23.85 kbit/s
25 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes: only in MPEG-4 Part 12 container
No
AMR-WB+
ACELP
8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1, 48 kHz
6–36 kbit/s (mono) 7–48 kbit/s (stereo)
60–90 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
aptX
Subband ADPCM
24–48 kHz (stereo)
192–384 kbit/s (stereo)
2 ms
Yes (4:1)
No
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
ATRAC1
MDCT -Hybrid Subband
44.1 kHz
292 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
No
Yes: Dual Only
No
ATRAC3
MDCT -Hybrid Subband
44.1 kHz
66, 105, 132, 146, 176, 264, 352 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
No
Yes: Dual (LP2), Mid/Side (LP4)
No
ATRAC3plus
MDCT -Hybrid Subband
44.1, 48 kHz
32–768 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
No
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
ATRAC9
MDCT -Hybrid Subband
12, 24, 48 kHz
36-672 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
No
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
BroadVoice (BV16, BV32)
Two-Stage Noise Feedback Coding (TSNFC)
8, 16 kHz
16, 32 kbit/s[ 55]
5 ms
Yes
No
No
No
Codec2
Speech
8 kHz
0.7, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.4, 3.2 kbit/s
20–40 ms
Yes
No
No
No
E-AC3
MDCT
32, 44.1, 48 kHz
32–6144 kbit/s
5.33–48 ms
Yes
No
Yes
Yes: Up to 15 channels
E-aptX
Subband ADPCM
15–48 kHz
60, 384, 767, 1024 kbit/s, 1.28 Mbit/s
?
Yes (4:1)
No
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
Encodec
Neural networks
24 kHz (Mono)
48 kHz (Stereo)
1.5 (Mono only), 3, 6, 12, 24 kbit/s
?
Yes
No
Yes
No
EVS
Speech
8, 16, 32, 48 kHz
5.9, 7.2, 8, 9.6, 13.2, 16.4, 24.4, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128 kbit/s + AMR-WB bitrate modes
20 ms
Yes
Only 5.9 kbit/s with DTX on
Yes
No
GSM-HR
VSELP
8 kHz
5.6 kbit/s
25 ms
Yes
No
No
No
GSM-FR
RPE-LTP
8 kHz
13 kbit/s
20–30 ms
Yes
No
No
No
GSM-EFR
ACELP
8 kHz
12.2 kbit/s
20–30 ms
Yes
No
No
No
HE-AAC
?
22 ~ 96 kHz (also 16 kHz, but used somewhat rarely)
16 ~ 80 kbit/s (other bitrates, but used somewhat rarely: 3 ~ 264 kbit/s)
~130 ms[ 56]
Yes
Yes
Yes: Dual, Mid/Side, Intensity , Parametric
Yes: Up to 48 channels
HVXC
Speech
8 kHz
2, 4 kbit/s
36 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
iLBC
Block Independent LPC
8 kHz
13.33, 15.20 kbit/s
25, 40 ms
Yes
No
No
No
iSAC
Transform coding
16, 32 kHz
10–52 kbit/s
33, 63 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
LC3
Speech
8, 16, 24, 32, 48 kHz
16-320 kbit/s
7.5-10 ms
Yes
No
Yes
No
LDAC
Subband ADPCM
44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz
303, 606, 909 kbit/s (44.1/88.2/176.4 kHz)
330, 660, 990 kbit/s (48/96/192 kHz)
?
Yes
No
Yes
No
LHDC
Subband ADPCM
44.1, 48, 96 kHz
400, 560, 900 kbit/s
?
Yes
No
Yes
No
L2HC
Subband ADPCM
44.1, 48, 96, 192 kHz
400, 560, 960, 1920 kbit/s
?
Yes
No
Yes
?
Lyra
Speech
8, 16, 32, 48 kHz
3.2, 6, 9.2 kbit/s
20 ms
Yes
No
No
No
MP3 (MPEG-1, 2, 2.5 Audio Layer III)
MDCT , Hybrid Subband
8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 kHz
8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160, 192, 224, 256, 288, 320 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes: Dual, Mid/Side, Intensity
No
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2)
Subband
32, 44.1, 48 kHz
32, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 320, 384 kbit/s
Yes
Yes: but decoders are not required to support it
Yes: Dual, Intensity
No
MPEG-2 Audio Layer II (MP2)
Subband
16, 22.05, 24 kHz[ 58]
8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160 kbit/s
Yes
Yes: but decoders are not required to support it
Yes
Yes: up to 5 full range audio channels and an LFE-channel with MPEG Multichannel
Musepack
Subband
32, 37.8, 44.1, 48 kHz
20–350 kbit/s
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
Opus
MDCT , LPC , LTP
8–48 kHz
6–510 kbit/s
5–66.5 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes: Up to 255 channels[ 59]
RealAudio
MDCT
Varies (see article )
Varies (see article )
Varies
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes: Up to 6 channels
Satin
Speech
8, 16, 32, 48 kHz
6-36 kbit/s
?
Yes
No
Yes
No
SILK
LPC , LTP
8, 12, 16, 24 kHz
6–40 kbit/s
25 ms
Yes
?
?
?
Siren 7
Derived from PT716plus, MLT
16 kHz
16, 24, 32 kbit/s
40 ms
Yes
No
No
No
Siren 14
MLT
32 kHz
24, 32, 48 kbit/s (mono) 48, 64, 96 kbit/s (stereo)
40 ms
Yes
No
Yes
No
Siren 22
MLT
48 kHz
32, 48, 64 kbit/s (mono) 64, 96, 128 kbit/s (stereo)
40 ms
Yes
No
Yes
No
SNAC
Neural networks
24, 32, 44.1 kHz
0.98 (24 kHz), 1.9 (32 kHz), 2.6 (44.1 kHz) kbit/s
?
Yes
No
No
No
Speex
CELP
8, 16, 32, (48) kHz
2.15–24.6 kbit/s (NB ) 4–44.2 kbit/s (WB )
30 ms (NB) 34 ms (WB)
Yes
Yes
Yes: Intensity
Yes
TSAC
Neural networks , modified version of Descript Audio Codec, extended for stereo with a transformer model to shrink even more while keeping the quality high.
44.1 kHz (Mono and Stereo). Other sample rates: Uncertain.
~0.45-5.5 kbps (mono)
~0.6-7.5 kbps (stereo)
?
Yes
No
Yes
No
USAC
?
7.35, 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 19.2, 22.05, 24, 32, 38.4, 44.1, 48, 57.6, 64, 88.2, 96 kHz
6-128 kbit/s (mono)
12-320 kbit/s (stereo)
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
VMR-WB
ACELP
16 kHz
8.55, 4.0, 0.8, 13.3, 6.2, 2.7, 1.0 kbit/s
33.75 ms
Yes
Yes
?
?
Vorbis (Ogg )
MDCT
8–192 kHz
45-500 kbit/s (32-500 kbit/s for aoTuV tunings)
>100 ms
Yes/ABR
Yes
Yes: Dual, Lossless, Phase, Point (Intensity )
Yes: Up to 255 channels
WavPack Lossy
Prediction, Quantization
1 Hz to 16.777216 MHz
196 kbit/s and up in lossy mode (for CD audio)
3523.8 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes: Up to 256 channels
Windows Media Audio Standard
MDCT
8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1, 48 kHz
8–768 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unofficial, requires modification
Windows Media Audio Pro
MDCT
8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz (8-22.05kHz not supported by all encoders)
4–768 kbit/s
>100 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes: At least 8 channels, expandable
Windows Media Audio Voice
ACELP ?
8, 11.025, 16, 22.05 kHz officially (can be hacked to support higher sample rates)
4-20 kbit/s officially (can be hacked to support higher bitrates)
?
Yes
No
Unofficial, requires modification
Unofficial, requires modification
Lossless formats
Audio compression format
Algorithm
Sample rate
Bits per sample
Latency
Stereo
Multichannel
ALAC
Lossless
1–384 kHz
16, 20, 24, 32[ 60]
?
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
ALS
Lossless
0–4 GHz
8, 16, 24, 32 (int or float)
?
Yes
Yes: Up to 65536 channels
ATRAC Advanced Lossless
Lossless
44.1 kHz
16
?
Yes
No
Dolby TrueHD
Lossless
48, 96, 192 kHz
16, 20, 24
?
Yes
Yes: 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos object-based audio[ 61]
DTS-HD Master Audio
Lossless
48, 96, 192 kHz
16, 24
?
Yes
Yes: Up to 7.1[ 62]
FLAC
Lossless
1–1.048575 MHz (>655.350 kHz need not be streamable)[ 63]
4–32
4.3–92 ms (46.4 ms typical)
Yes
Yes: Up to 8 channels
HD-AAC
?
?
?
?
?
?
LA
Lossless
0–4 GiHz
16
?
Yes
No
L2HC
Lossless
44.1kHz
16
?
Yes
No
Monkey's Audio
Lossless
1–655.350 kHz[citation needed ]
8, 16, 24, 32 and 32-bit float
1670 to 26,749 ms (varies with compression)
Yes
Yes: Up to 32 channels since version 5.50[ 64]
OptimFROG
Lossless
0–4 GiHz[ 65]
8, 16, 24, 32 (int or float)
?
Yes
No
OSQ
Lossless
6, 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1, 48, 64, 88.2, 96 kHz
8, 16, 20, 24
?
Yes
No
RealAudio Lossless
Lossless
8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1 kHz
16
Varies
Yes
No
Sac
Lossless
1–48 kHz
1-16
?
Yes
No
TAK
Lossless
8–192 kHz
8, 16, 24
?
Yes
Yes: Up to 6 channels
True Audio (TTA)
Lossless
0–4 GiHz
8, 16, 24
approx. 1045 ms[ 66]
Yes
Yes: Up to 16 (with ffmpeg), but no channel allocation
WavPack Lossless
Lossless , Hybrid
1 Hz to 1 GiHz
Up to 32 (and 32-bit float), and 1-bit DSD .
?
Yes
Yes: Up to 256 channels
Windows Media Audio Lossless
Lossless
8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz
16, 24
>100 ms
Yes
Yes: Up to 6 channels
ITU-T formats
Audio compression format
Algorithm
Sample rate
Bit rate
Bits per sample
Latency
CBR
VBR
Stereo
Multichannel
G.711
companding A-law or μ-law , PCM
8 kHz
64 kbit/s
8 bit (log )
125 μs (typical)
Yes
No
No
No
G.711.0
Lossless compression of G.711
8 kHz
0.2–65.6 kbit/s
8 bit (log )
5–40 ms
No
Yes
No
No
G.711.1
MDCT , A-law , μ-law
8, 16 kHz
64, 80, 96 kbit/s
16 bit
11.875 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
G.718
CELP , MDCT , Lossy
8, 16 kHz
8, 12, 12.65, 16, 24, 32 kbit/s
16 bit
42.875–43.875 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
G.718 B
CELP , MDCT , Lossy , Sinusoidal Coding
32 kHz
36, 40, 48 kbit/s
16 bit
49.625 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
G.719
MDCT ,[ 67] Lossy (incorporates elements of Siren Codec and Ericsson technology)
48 kHz
32–88 kbit/s in 4 kbit/s steps, 88–128 kbit/s in 8 kbit/s steps
16 bit
40 ms
Yes
No
Yes: only in MPEG-4 Part 12 container
Yes: only in MPEG-4 Part 12 container
G.721
ADPCM , Lossy
8 kHz
32 kbit/s
13 bit
Yes
No
No
No
G.722
sub-band ADPCM , Lossy
16 kHz
64 kbit/s (comprises 48, 56 or 64 kbit/s audio and 16, 8 or 0 kbit/s auxiliary data)
14 bit
4 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.722.1
Modulated Lapped Transform (MDCT), Lossy (based on Siren Codec )
16 kHz
24, 32 kbit/s
16 bit
40 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.722.1 C
Modulated Lapped Transform (MDCT), Lossy (based on Siren Codec )
32 kHz
24, 32, 48 kbit/s
16 bit
40 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.722.2 (AMR-WB)
multi-rate wideband ACELP , Lossy
16 kHz
6.60, 8.85, 12.65, 14.25, 15.85, 18.25, 19.85, 23.05, 23.85 kbit/s
14 bit
25 ms
Yes
Yes
Yes: only in MPEG-4 Part 12 container
No
G.723
ADPCM , Lossy
8 kHz
24, 40 kbit/s
13 bit
Yes
No
No
No
G.723.1
MP-MLQ, ACELP , Lossy
8 kHz
5.3, 6.3 kbit/s
13 bit
37.5 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.726
ADPCM , Lossy
8 kHz
16, 24, 32, 40 kbit/s
13 bit
125 μs
Yes
No
No
No
G.727
ADPCM , Lossy
8 kHz
16, 24, 32, 40 kbit/s
13 bit
Yes
Yes
No
No
G.728
low-delay CELP , Lossy
8 kHz
16 kbit/s
13 bit
0.625 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.729
CS-ACELP, Lossy
8 kHz
8 kbit/s
13 bit
15 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.729 D
CS-ACELP, Lossy
8 kHz
6.4 kbit/s
13 bit
Yes
No
No
No
G.729 E
CS-ACELP, Lossy
8 kHz
11.8 kbit/s
13 bit
15 ms
Yes
No
No
No
G.729.1
CELP , TDBWE, TDAC (MDCT ), Lossy
8, 16 kHz
8 kbit/s, 12–32 kbit/s in 2 kbit/s steps
16 bit
48.9375 ms
Yes
Yes
No
No
Notes
The latency listed here is the total delay (frame size, plus all lookahead) at the normal operating sample rate (typically 44.1 kHz).
Lossless compression will have a variable bit rate .
See also
References
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^ afconvert(1) Manual Page - Apple Developer , retrieved 2015-05-17
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^ ALAC.js at the audiocogs website , retrieved 2013-08-03
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^ VoiceAge Corporation (June 2007). "AMR Licensing Terms" . VoiceAge Corporation. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2009-09-12 .
^ a b c FFmpeg General Documentation - AMR external library , Retrieved on 2009-07-08
^ a b c Android AMR codecs Archived February 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved on 2009-07-08
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^ Flake website , Retrieved 2010-12-17
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^ FLAC.js at the audiocogs website , retrieved 2013-08-03
^ "FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), Version 1.1.2" . www.loc.gov . December 21, 2015.
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^ a b Polycom, Inc. "Polycom Siren/Codecs FAQs - What are the terms on the free license?" . Polycom, Inc. Archived from the original on 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-07-16 .
^ "Browse FreeSWITCH / FreeSWITCH - Stash" . stash.freeswitch.org . Retrieved 6 May 2017 .
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^ Cisco IP Communicator 7.0 Data sheet - support for iLBC Retrieved on 2009-07-08
^ Skype Community, Current Codec Uses Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved on 2009-07-08
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^ "Additional IP rights grant - WebRTC" . sites.google.com . Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2017 .
^ FFmpeg/Libavcodec, numerous others, see Open Source implementations FFMPEG formats
^ Kuro5hin.org (2008-07-20) Patent Status of MPEG-1, H.261 and MPEG-2 , Retrieved 2009-09-05
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^ See the main MP3 article for full details.
^ Musepack website , Retrieved 2009-09-01
^ "License – Opus Codec" . opus-codec.org . Retrieved 6 May 2017 .
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^ "Shorten Software License" . Retrieved 6 May 2017 .
^ freeswitch.org libg722_1 - README , Retrieved 2014-07-16
^ "Libmsn - is a reusable, open-source, fully documented library for connecting to Microsoft's MSN Messenger service" . Libmsn project at Sourceforge.net. 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-07 .
^ KaKaRoTo (2008-02-12) MSN Protocol documentation Archived 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine , Pidgin.im mailinglist, Retrieved 2009-09-08
^ Speex website , Retrieved 2009-09-01
^ TAU Software website [usurped ] , Retrieved 2009-09-01
^ FFmpeg (2009-08-24) News - August 24, 2009 - TwinVQ decoding in upcoming stable version , Retrieved 2009-10-07
^ Vorbis website Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 2009-09-01
^ aoTuV website Archived 2010-05-22 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 2009-09-01
^ WavPack website , Retrieved 2009-09-01
^ "Windows Media Licensing Fees and Royalties" . Microsoft . Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17 .
^ "Using protected files (DRM)" . Microsoft . Archived from the original on 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2020-04-17 .
^ "SoundCodecs" . Rockbox.org Wiki .
^ "Supported media formats" . Android Developers .
^ "Supported formats" . Android media .
^ "Audio/Video - The Chromium Projects" . www.chromium.org .
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^ a b The ffmpeg project has reverse engineered some codecs of the RealAudio and Windows Media Audio (DivX Audio v1 and DivX Audio v2) formats. This enables their use on any POSIX compatible system.
^ Microsoft has outsourced their WMA support on Mac OS X to Telestream, Inc. who created and maintain Windows Media Components for QuickTime , replacing Windows Media Player for Mac OS.
^ a b Monogram DS filters Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 2009-10-22
^ About QuickTime 6.3 (Apple Knowledge Base) , In QuickTime 6.3 the AMR codec is natively supported and the .AMR file format supported with the free-to-download 3GPP Component, Retrieved 2012-12-11
^ Media formats supported by QuickTime Player in Mac OS X 10.6.x (Apple Knowledge Base) , "Media formats and codecs that QuickTime Player can play back in Mac OS X v10.6.x or later" AMR is listed both under "File formats" and "Codecs or components", Retrieved 2012-12-11
^ MPEG 2 AAC was limited to a 96 kHz sampling rate, however, with MPEG 4 AAC, a later version part of the MPEG 4 specification, the maximum sampling rate has been increased to 192 kHz.
^ "Algorithmic delay and synchronization in MPEG audio codecs - EE Times" . EETimes . 5 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2017 .
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^ ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 - Audio Subgroup. "MPEG Audio FAQ Version 9, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 BC" . Retrieved 2010-02-27 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )
^ "Opus Codec" . Retrieved 2014-07-02 .
^ "macosforge/alac" . GitHub . Retrieved 6 May 2017 .
^ "Dolby Atmos for Home Theaters" . Dolby.com . Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018 .
^ "DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio: Enabling HD Audio Across an Evolving Media Delivery Landscape" , DTS, Inc. , October 2012
^ sample rates from 1 up to 1048575 hertz and bit depths from 4 up to 32 bits [1]
^ "Monkey's Audio - a fast and powerful lossless audio compressor" .
^ 4 bytes - sample rate
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^ Britanak, Vladimir; Rao, K. R. (2017). Cosine-/Sine-Modulated Filter Banks: General Properties, Fast Algorithms and Integer Approximations . Springer. pp. 31, 478. ISBN 9783319610801 .
External links