WikiSound
Audio Terms Explained
Plain-English explanations of the audio concepts that come up when you are choosing a format, a bitrate, or a codec. Focused on what matters for real conversion decisions — not a full production glossary.
Audio Fundamentals
The building blocks — concepts that come up in every format and conversion decision.
What Is Bitrate?
Bits per second — what it means, how it affects file size, and when it matters for quality.
Read →What Is Sample Rate?
44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz — what these numbers mean and when higher actually helps.
Read →What Is Frequency in Audio?
How sound frequency relates to pitch, human hearing, and what audio equipment can reproduce.
Read →What Is Audio Quality?
A practical definition — not just bitrate, but what actually determines how audio sounds.
Read →What Is Loudness?
LUFS, volume, and level are not the same thing. What streaming platforms normalise to, and why.
Read →What Is Mono vs Stereo?
One channel vs two — why it matters for podcast file size, voice recordings, and playback.
Read →Compression & Formats
How audio files are encoded, stored, and decoded — and why it affects quality and size.
What Is Lossless Audio?
No data discarded. The decoded file is identical to the original. FLAC, WAV, ALAC.
Read →What Is Lossy Audio?
Permanently compressed audio. What gets removed, how audible it is, and when it is fine.
Read →What Is Audio Compression?
Two meanings — data compression (smaller files) and dynamic range compression (evening out volume).
Read →What Is an Audio Codec?
The algorithm that encodes audio into a file and decodes it for playback. Every format uses one.
Read →What Is a Container Format?
The file wrapper that holds the codec data. MP4, WAV, and MKV are containers.
Read →Codec vs Container
The most commonly confused distinction in audio — explained with real examples.
Read →CBR vs VBR Encoding
Constant bitrate vs variable bitrate — quality, compatibility, and which to choose.
Read →What Is Transcoding?
Converting from one codec to another — and why repeated transcoding degrades quality.
Read →What Is Audio Artifacting?
The strange sounds that appear in low-bitrate compression — what causes them and how to avoid them.
Read →Format Guides
Everything worth knowing about the most common audio formats.
What Is MP3?
How it works, why it is still everywhere, when to use it, and when to use something else.
Read →What Is WAV?
Uncompressed audio, large files, the format editors rely on — and a common misconception about quality.
Read →What Is FLAC?
Lossless audio, 40–60% smaller than WAV, the preferred archive format. When it is the right choice.
Read →What Is AAC?
The codec inside M4A files — more efficient than MP3 at the same bitrate. Why Apple adopted it.
Read →What Is OGG?
Open-source, used in games and streaming. What it is and when you would encounter it.
Read →What Is Opus?
Extremely efficient codec for voice and streaming — small files, excellent quality.
Read →Looking for practical guides?
The Guides section covers format comparisons, bitrate decisions, and conversion workflows — step-by-step answers for specific tasks.
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Browse every supported conversion in the Converters directory — MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC, OGG, Opus, and more. Free, no account required.