What Is Audio Compression: Mastering the Best Practices and Techniques

Audio compression is one of the vitals of audio production. It's all about reducing the size of audio files. Also, this process makes them easier to manage and share without losing their quality. Furthermore, it simplifies and enhances how we transfer and store audio data. Audio compression is vital, from streaming music and podcasts to voice calls and video conferencing. Fortunately, this post will guide you in digging into the aspects of audio compression. Then, it will explain its significance in our everyday digital experiences.

• Part 1. What is Audio Compression
• Part 2. Audio Compression Methods
• Part 3. How to Compress Audio on PC, Online, and Mobile
• Part 4. FAQs About Audio Compression

Part 1. What is Audio Compression

What is and what does audio compression do? Compression is a technical method or process used to decrease the size of digital media files while maintaining an acceptable quality, and this also applies to audio files. Furthermore, compression employs diverse algorithms to eliminate redundant or less significant data from an audio signal by reducing its size. Basically, there are two main types of audio compression and these are lossless and lossy. On the one hand, lossless compression is the type that preserves all the original data, which allows a perfect restoration when the file is being decompressed, making it purposely suitable for archival.

On the other hand, lossy compression is a process that selectively discards some less essential audio information, resulting in smaller file sizes. However, this slightly reduces the sound quality, which is in comparison to lossless audio compression. Meanwhile, famous audio compression formats, such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and AAC, use lossy compression, and they have become the standard requirement for storing and streaming audio content due to their fair balance between file size and sound quality.

Part 2. Audio Compression Methods

Here are some methods about compressing audio files that must be added to your learning.

Bitrate Reduction

Bitrate reduction can be achieved through bit depth reduction (quantization) and sample rate reduction (downsampling).

Change of Audio Codec

Changing the codec can impact audio quality and file size. Some codecs use lossless compression (no quality loss), while others use lossy compression (some quality loss).

Change of Audio Formats

Audio formats state how audio data is stored within a media file. Various formats have different levels of compression and audio quality. Thus, converting between audio formats may result in file size and quality changes.

Part 3. How to Compress Audio on PC, Online, and Mobile

Compress Audio Files on Windows and Mac

To compress your media files on a desktop or Mac, you must use the Blu-ray Master’s Video Converter Ultimate. It is a multipurpose software solution available for both Windows and Mac. It has powerful features and many robust tools, including its Audio Compressor. This specific tool lets you shrink any type of audio into a smaller size losslessly. Furthermore, this compressor tool supports many well-known formats, including MP3, OGG, WAV, AAC, M4A, and many more.

Moreover, you won’t need to compare the audio normalization vs. compression since it produces a balanced quality over size. Another reason to be excited is that, with this Video Converter Ultimate, besides shrinking your audio track files, you can also modify the file’s bitrate, format, sample rate, etc. Thus, you can easily maintain the same original sound quality from the file source if you want to. In the meantime, we bring the guidelines to work on your audio compression with this tool.

Step 1.Initially, launch the software after installing it on your computer. Then, proceed to its Toolbox menu and look for the Audio Compressor.

Step 2.Next, load the audio file by hitting the Plus button after clicking the compressor tool.

Step 3.After that, configure your desired settings from the given option and hit the Compress button.

Compress Audio Files Online

Free Convert is a decent option if you need a web-based audio compressor. It can also convert your music, videos, images, and documents. Furthermore, this online application offers various formats compatible with audio files, such as MKV, AIFF, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, M4A, OGG, WAV, WMA, MP3, and more. What’s more? It has a very helpful conversion procedure.

Meanwhile, it allows you to compress the files you need at a faster speed. However, the maximum file size you can work on this online tool is 1GB. Thus, here’s how you do online audio compression.

Step 1.On your browser, visit the tool’s official website. Then, click the Choose Files button on the interface and load the needed audio file.

Step 2.If you want to apply some settings to your output, click the Coggle button.

Step 3.After that, hit the Compress Now button.

Part 4. FAQs About Audio Compression

• Does compressed audio sound better?

  Compressed audio can sound good, but it may not always sound better than uncompressed audio.

• How does audio compression affect quality?

  Audio compression can reduce quality by removing some data, resulting in a loss of detail and dynamic range. The extent of quality loss depends on the compression method and settings used.

• What are the best compression settings for audio?

  The best compression settings for audio depend on your specific needs and your format. Generally, a higher bitrate or less aggressive compression will retain better quality.

• Is compressed better than lossless?

  It depends on your preferences. Lossless audio preserves all the original data but requires more storage space, while compressed audio sacrifices some quality for smaller file sizes, making it more suitable for portable devices or streaming where storage and bandwidth are limited.

Wrapping up

The audio compression of the various platforms above will fuel you to produce superb outputs. But if you need the best tool for your compression and other video and audio endeavors, the Blu-ray Master’s Video Converter Ultimate is perfectly on point.