Lossy formats.
Lossy audio formats lose data during transfer. Because they are not compressed back to the original file size, they will be smaller and some sound waves will be lost. Artists and engineers who send audio files across multiple media prefer not to use lossy formats, as the files get corrupted each time they're exported.MP3
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) is the most popular of the lossy formats. MP3 files work on most devices and can be as small as a tenth of lossless files. MP3 is suitable for consumers because most of the sound loss goes unnoticed. But the same is not true when it comes to bit depth. "MP3 files can be a maximum of 16 bits, which is not convenient to work with," says producer, mix artist, and engineer Gus Berry. "Recording and mixing requires at least 24 bits or higher."
AAC
Advanced Audio Coding or AAC files (also known as MPEG-4 AAC) take up very little space and are especially ideal for streaming data over mobile devices. The AAC format, which requires less than 1 MB of data per minute of music and sounds better than MP3 at the same bitrate, is used by iTunes/Apple Music, YouTube, and Android.
Ogg Vorbis
Ogg Vorbis is the free, open source audio codec used by Spotify. It is great for streaming data but compression causes some data loss. It is considered by experts to be a more efficient format than MP3, due to its better sound at the same bitrate.
Lossless formats.
These files are compressed back to their original size without losing sound quality. Audio professionals want to preserve all original sound waves, so they prefer lossless formats. These files can be several times larger than MP3s. Lossless bitrates are more dependent on the volume and intensity of the music than on the sound quality.FLAC
Free Lossless Audio Codec offers lossless compression, it's free and open source.
ALAC
Apple's Lossless Audio Codec offers lossless compression but only works on Apple devices.
Uncompressed formats.
These files stay the same size as they travel from source to destination.WAV
WAV (Waveform Audio File) is an ideal format for audio engineers as it stores all original data. "WAV has more dynamic range and more bit depth," says creative producer and audio mixing expert Lo Boutillette of his preferred format. “The highest quality,” Berry agrees. "24-bit, 32-bit, sample rate up to 192 kHz and now even higher." If you're working collaboratively and are constantly sending files from one place to another, WAV's timecode storage is useful. This can be especially useful for video projects where exact sync is important.
AIFF
Originally created by Apple, AIFF (Audio Swap File Format) files are like WAV files that keep all of the original audio and take up more space than MP3s. They can be played on Mac and PC, but are not very useful for editing and mixing as they do not store timecodes.
DSD
Digital Direct Stream is an uncompressed, high-definition audio format. These files encode the audio using pulse density modulation. They are very large files with a sampling rate of 64 times higher than a regular audio CD, so they require top-of-the-line sound systems.
PCM
Pulse Code Modulation is used for CDs and DVDs, it captures analog waveforms and converts them to digital bits. Until DSD, this was seen as the closest method to achieving full analog sound quality.