WMA formatting versus MP3; when is one better than the other and is there even that much of a difference? I have pondered this a couple of times as I was downloading things and uploading other things and making little studio remixes of my own music. So I decided maybe it was a good idea to put one next to the other and see what I could come up and pass that info on to someone else.
The WMA attractiveness comes from Microsoft\’s claim that this format is the most accurate audio format available to date. The Windows Media Audio (WMA) format is definitely bulky enough to back up this claim. Recordings of the same clip in WMA format will nearly always be larger than those of MP3s. Microsoft has tried to make up for this my having the WMA format play at a higher bitrate than MP3s. That is- make it go faster. A lot of people still aren\’t convinced.
MP3, MPEG3 or Moving Pictures Experts Group-Layer 3 all describe the audio format we all use in our MP3 players. The biggest advantage that MP3 has over WMA at this point has got to be in the file size. MP3 formatting of a recorded piece involves the elimination of the bits that the human ear cannot hear anyway. This can greatly reduce the file size, though Microsoft claims this degrades the quality.
At the same bitrate WMAs will sound better than MP3s, but some of this depends on source as well. For example, if you have something you ripped form a CD you own and- for personal use, have uploaded it onto your music player (legal disclaimer). If it was a bad rip, it\’s going to be more noticeable in MP3 format than in WMA. But overall you\’d have a pretty special ear to tell the difference.
MP3s store better because they are smaller. This is not to say they are THAT much smaller, but they are. On a very limited hard drive such as an audio player, this can be the difference between 400 songs or getting a full 600. So MP3s win in that department and it shows as they are the preferred music format for most people. For recording and computer things, WMAs have been the standard as they retain digital source better and hard drive space on a computer is generally not an issue.
As to whether your MP3 player will play a WMA, the answer is \”most likely yes.\” There\’s no reason why most will not. The thing to consider is if you want a lot of WMAs and MP3s on the same device, it won\’t hurt anything, but things can get kind of weird. It\’s a personal choice really. Hard drive space has increased a lot since the first generation of MP3 players were marketed, so space isn\’t an issue anymore, but still, sticking to one format is a good idea.
Converting from WMA to MP3 format is not a bad thing and can be done on nearly any home computer. The problem is getting a good conversion rate and speed. This process can take awhile. Converting from MP3 to WMA takes a little less time, but unless you have a WMA specific project, it\’s kind of a silly thing to do. The more you convert any file, the more quality you lose. Like making a copy of a copy of a copy and so on.
So overall in the war between WMA and MP3 format we\’d have to go with MP3 for size and not much of a drop-off in sound quality. However for musical projects WMA seems to be the preference as the range of audio frequency is higher. I think like most other formats, each serves a purpose, but unless you\’re a musician, serious music lover or have the ears of a canine, MP3 will serve you just fine.
Zeeman Haus enjoys writing articles online on a variety of subjects. You can check out his latest website on Touch Screen Mp3 Players which provides top deals on touch screen MP3 players From Creative Labs, Coby, Visual Land and more.