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What is Hi-Res?

Hi-Res Audio is authenticated and uninterrupted, with the greatest possible resolution - just as it sounded in the mastering suite and as the artist intended. It is devoted to audio tracks that produce crystal-clear sound with a level of quality that exceeds that of a CD. These files have a resolution of 24 bits (as opposed to 16-Bit for CD quality). This is also referred to as studio quality, as 24-bit resolution is the standard in recording studios.

Hi-Res Audio encodes and plays music at a higher sampling rate than CDs and MP3s. Increased sampling rates indicate that more samples per second were taken during the analog to digital conversion process. Sampling rates of 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 96 KHz, or up to 192 KHz are possible.

The difference in sound and emotion is significant when compared to MP3 files or even CD quality.

Each Hi-Res file in FLAC format is typically 40MB in size. If you use an uncompressed format, such as WAV, the file size can reach 100MB.

DEEPRIFFS supports the following audio formats for High-Resolution audio files:

• FLAC
• M4A (ALAC)
• WV (WavPack)
• WAV (Uncompressed)
• AIFF/AIF (Uncompressed)

What is CD-Quality?

CD-Quality means the sound quality similar to that of a Compact Disc which you would listen to on a CD player. Digitally, CD quality corresponds to a specification which has a format equivalent to that of the original file: 16-Bit / 44.1kHz.

On DEEPRIFFS, CD-quality files are available in a variety of lossless formats, including FLAC, a lossless compression standard that compresses files without sacrificing their original quality.

Each FLAC recording with CD-Quality audio is typically 20MB in size.

DEEPRIFFS recognizes the following audio file types as CD-Quality files:

• FLAC
• M4A (ALAC)
• WV (WavPack)
• WAV (Uncompressed)
• AIFF/AIF (Uncompressed)

What is High-Quality?

High Quality (HQ) is the most accessible format and offers the finest balance of data usage and sound fidelity.

The HQ file is a format for lossy audio compression. It is a destructive format that significantly degrades the audio quality. A bit rate of 320kbps refers to the number of bits transmitted per second, in this case 320,000. For instance, the MP3 format allows for a file size that is substantially smaller than that of a CD file, which explains its widespread use in the streaming industry.

Each compressed high-quality (320kbps) file, such as an MP3, with a length of around 4 minutes is typically 10MB in size. It could be 8-9MB in AAC format. It's an excellent choice if you don't have a lot of storage space.

DEEPRIFFS recognizes the following audio extensions for high-resolution files:

• AAC
• MP3
• M4A
• MP4
• OGA
• OGG
• OPUS
• WMA

What is Audio Format?

An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. The bit layout of the audio data (excluding metadata) is called the audio coding format and can be uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size, often using lossy compression. The data can be a raw bitstream in an audio coding format, but it is usually embedded in a container format or an audio data format with defined storage layer. Read more.

DEEPRIFFS supports the following audio formats for Hi-Res and CD-Quality files:

• FLAC: Recommended This lossless compression format is compatible with High-Definition/CD-Quality files. It occupies around half the space of WAV. It supports metadata. It is a royalty-free format that is widely used for downloading and storing lossless albums. FLAC
• ALAC (in M4A extension): This is an Apple-developed lossless compression standard. Apple releases the codec as free source in 2011. As a result, there is no obligation of allegiance. Read more about ALAC
• WV (WavPack): WavPack is a completely open-source audio compression standard that supports lossless, high-quality lossy, and a novel hybrid method of compression. Read more about WavPack
• WAV: This is the uncompressed standard format which all CDs are encoded It offers excellent audio quality. However, its sizes are enormous (especially for Hi-Res Audio files). It lacks adequate metadata support.. Read more about WAV
• AIFF: AIFF is an uncompressed standard format for storing digital sound on electrical devices. It consumes a greater amount of disk space than FLAC.. Read more about AIFF

For High Quality files, DEEPRIFFS supports these audio formats:

• MP3: Recommended The widely used lossy compressed format assures tiny file sizes but far from optimal sound quality. However, it's convenient for storing music on smartphones and portable devices. Read more about MP3
• AAC: (in AAC, M4A and MP4 extensions): Advanced Audio Coding is Apple's alternative to MP3. Although it is lossy and compressed, it often sounds better than MP3. Read more about AAC
• Vorbis: (in OGG OGA and OPUS extensions): It's lossy, open-source format alternative to MP3 and AAC, unrestricted by patents. Read more about Vorbis , Ogg and Opus
• WMA: Microsoft developed Windows Media Audio, a lossy audio format. It was initially launched in 1999 to work with Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Read more about WMA

What is Resolution?

The resolution of an audio file is expressed in bits. Each sample on a Compact Disk (CD) has a resolution of 16 bits. Its dynamic range is 96 decibels (dB), with 1 bit equal to 6 dB.

What is Sampling Rate?

The sampling rate is expressed as the number of samples taken per second. The sampling rate for a CD is 44.1 kHz. This means that each second is divided into 44,100 samples when the sound is converted to digital format. This has an effect on the accuracy with which sound is reproduced. A greater sampling rate results in a more natural and precise representation of sound.

What is Bitrate?

The Bitrate is the rate at which binary data is transmitted. It indicates the rate at which data is transferred per second. It is measured in bits per second and is fairly simple to calculate.

For CDs: 44,100 samples per second, each sampled at 16 bits, all data distributed across two channels (left-right stereo). Thus, 44,100 x 16 x 2 = 1,411,200 bits per second is obtained: the bitrate of a CD is 1.411 Mb/s. Immediately apparent is the vast difference in bitrate between a CD's 1.411 Mb/s and an MP3 encoded at 192 Kb/s.

How quality of an audio track is defined?

Typically, the quality of an audio product is characterized by its resolution and, consequently, its bitrate. Maintaining a high resolution is critical for reproducing a sound with maximum fidelity. For example, 24-Bit resolution is used for Hi-Res audio with a sample rate of between 44.1 and 192 kHz. 24-bit resolution ensures a dynamic range of 144dB, providing the best listening experience possible for a lossless converted audio product.

The use of various audio quality results in files of wildly varying sizes. The higher the bitrate, the larger the created files. An hour of music in Hi-Res 24-Bit / 192 kHz requires 2GB of storage, whereas the same amount in CD quality requires 635MB. When streaming, the file size and hence the quality of the files should be determined by the available internet bandwidth.

A potential maximum bandwidth of 13 Mb/s enables CD-quality streaming (at 1.411 Mb/s) over ADSL. With Hi-Res audio streaming at a bitrate of 9.2 Mb/s, it's easy to exceed the ADSL limit. Thus, a fiber connection would be ideal. Most platforms offer an MP3 file with a maximum bitrate of 320 Kb/s for smartphone streaming.

Are Metadata Tags and Album Coverart supported by an extension ?

The following table indicates if a certain extension supports meta tags and Covertart images:

No	Extension	Codec	Quality	Meta tags	Picture
1	aac	aac	LOSSY
2	mp3	lame	LOSSY
3	m4a	libfdk_aac	LOSSY
4	mp4	libfdk_aac	LOSSY
5	oga	vorbis	LOSSY
6	ogg	vorbis	LOSSY
7	opus	opus	LOSSY
8	wma	wmav2	LOSSY
9	aiff	pcm_s16be	LOSSLESS
10	flac	flac	LOSSESS
11	m4a	alac	LOSSESS
12	wav	pcm_s16le	LOSSESS
13	wv	wavpack	LOSSESS