Sony NW-A3000 Series - Manual (Page 69)

NW-A1000/A3000.GB.2-683-714-11(1)
Advanced Feature 69 69
What are Format and Bit Rate?
What is format?
The format of a track refers to the method used by SonicStage or CONNECT
Player to store the track’s audio information when tracks are imported to
SonicStage or CONNECT Player from the Internet or audio CDs.
Common formats include MP3, WMA and ATRAC, etc.
MP3: MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer3) is a common audio compression
technology developed by the MPEG working group of the ISO (International
Organization for Standardization).
MP3 can compress audio files to about 1/10 of the size of standard CD audio
tracks.
WMA: WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a common audio compression
technology developed by Microsoft Corporation. The WMA format produces
the same sound quality as that of the MP3 format, with a smaller file size.
ATRAC: ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) is a general term
used to refer to ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus formats. ATRAC is an audio
compression technology that satisfies the demand for both high sound quality
and high compression rates. ATRAC3 can compress audio files to about 1/10
of the size of standard CD audio tracks. ATRAC3plus, a more advanced
version of ATRAC3, can compress audio files to about 1/20 of the size of
standard CD audio tracks.
AAC: AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a common audio compression
technology developed by the MPEG working group of the ISO (International
Organization for Standardization). The AAC format produces the same sound
quality as that of the MP3 format, with a smaller file size.
What is bit rate?
Bit rate refers to the amount of data used to store each second of audio.
Generally, higher bit rates provide better sound quality, but require more
storage space for the same length of audio.
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