About file types

Characteristics of each audio file

There are many different types of files, not just music.
For example, image files come in different file types such as jpg and png, and each has its own merits and demerits.
In this page, we will loosely explain the file types of audio files without getting too technical.

wav

This is an uncompressed digital sound source called a PCM sound source.
Since it is an “uncompressed” type that does not perform “compression” to reduce the file size, the sound quality is almost the same as CD, and in recent years, there is also a high-resolution sound quality that is far superior to CD (numerically).
The file size is quite large, and it consumes a lot of gigs in today’s language.
Just remember that the file size is large, but the sound quality is also excellent.

mp3

It is highly popular and can be played in almost any environment.
Many users prefer to use mp3 because of its relatively light file size and high popularity.
If you don’t have any particular preference, mp3 is probably the way to go. However, it is not suitable for loop playback of the type “go back to the beginning after the end of the song” because it leaves a very small space at the beginning of the song.
(It may be possible to make a loop with a specified number of seconds by using a program, depending on the development environment.
(It may be possible to make a loop with a specified number of seconds by using a program, depending on the development environment.) In the past, the use of this technology was almost avoided due to patent issues, but now the patent period has expired and anyone can freely use it.

ogg

It is said that ogg was created as an alternative to mp3 when the patent issue of mp3 above started to cause a fuss.
The sound quality is better than mp3 at the same bit rate, and it supports looping of the RPG Tutool series.
The popularity of ogg is not as high as mp3, and some software may not read this format.
We recommend the ogg format for use in the Tucool series, but since smartphones may not read ogg, the user’s environment should be taken into consideration before handling it.

m4a

It is Apple’s own extension of mp4, which is a video file defined by the MPEG-4 standard.
This is why it is a common file format among Apple users, and is said to have better sound quality and a slimmer file size than mp3.
When you purchase music from iTunes, which is familiar to iPhone users, it is often in this “m4a” format, and I (Koichi Morita) also often use this format when storing music for viewing.