Audio Formats Explained: MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC and OGG
What the major audio formats are, how they differ in size and quality, and which one to choose for music, podcasts and editing.
Lossless and lossy audio
Audio formats fall into three groups. Uncompressed formats such as WAV store every sample. Lossless formats such as FLAC compress the data without discarding anything, so decoding returns the original exactly. Lossy formats such as MP3, AAC and Ogg Vorbis remove detail that is least audible to reduce size.
| Format | Type | Typical use | Approx. size per minute (stereo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAV | Uncompressed | Editing, masters | About 10.6 MB (CD quality) |
| FLAC | Lossless | Archiving music | About 5 to 6 MB |
| MP3 | Lossy | Universal playback | About 1 to 1.5 MB at 128 to 192 kbps |
| AAC / M4A | Lossy | Apple devices, streaming | About 1 to 1.5 MB at 128 to 192 kbps |
| OGG Vorbis | Lossy | Open source, games | About 1 MB at 128 to 160 kbps |
MP3
MP3 is MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, standardised in the early 1990s. It became the default format for portable music. Its patents expired, with the last licensing programme ending in 2017, so it is free to use and plays on essentially every device.
AAC and M4A
Advanced Audio Coding was designed as the successor to MP3 and usually delivers better quality at the same bitrate. M4A is the MPEG-4 audio container that normally holds AAC. It is the standard for Apple's music services and widely used by video platforms.
WAV and FLAC
WAV, created by Microsoft and IBM, is the working format of audio editors. FLAC, released in 2001, shrinks audio by about half without loss and is the usual choice for personal music archives.
Ogg Vorbis
Ogg Vorbis is an open, royalty free lossy format from the Xiph.Org Foundation. It is popular in games and open source software, but device support is narrower than MP3 and AAC.
Frequently asked questions
Which audio format has the best quality?
WAV and FLAC are bit for bit accurate. Among lossy formats, AAC and Ogg Vorbis typically sound slightly better than MP3 at the same bitrate.
What bitrate should I use for MP3?
128 kbps is acceptable for speech, 192 kbps is good for most music and 256 to 320 kbps is near transparent.
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Last updated 9 October 2026. Written by ARTH, a design and build studio in Coimbatore.