High Resolution Audio
The term High Resolution Audio is by no means a DIN term, everyone is free to explain the situation differently.
There is no truth to it, business interests often determine the definition.
Which audio format is there, which is the best for which purpose?
Such questions are dealt with on countless pages on the Internet.
Instead of agreeing on a standard, the industry prefers that everyone cooks their own soup.
This doesn’t really make life any easier for us as users.
What remains is to figure out how we want to enjoy the music.
In the best sound quality or in a wide variety?
Your personal requirements and priorities are decisive when it comes to deciding the file format.
The experts’ answers sometimes contradict each other.
I recommend for the interested this web page, which shows very nicely, the relativity of the claims.
Here is a very good presentation of the facts. Unfortunately only in German, but Google can translate it.
Persistent nonsense. How false statements keep themselves alive
Difference between AIFF and WAV
What is the difference between AIFF and WAV?
WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is a standard for different audio formats developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991. This Waveform Audio File Format is actually a file container that usually contains uncompressed audio signals in PCM format that allow Windows and Mac systems to process them more easily.
AIFF is the Apple equivalent of WAV, and both file types are recognized by both systems. (In fact, the file extensions are mostly interchangeable).
Both WAV and AIFF have the same origin and share the same file structure, which is based on IFF.
Both use lossless encoding in uncompressed PCM.
FLAC
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is considered a very good WAV alternative. The format requires up to 50 percent less storage space and can store more metadata.
Mp3
MP3 is one of, if not the most popular audio format of all. Its small file size is especially useful when storing a very large music collection in a portable way. MP3s are very heavily compressed and therefore not Hi-Res suitable.
From the experience
I am not an expert on which format is best, although I have over 30 years of studio experience.
In all these years of studio work I have relied on the formats WAV and AIFF.
Then in the second row came MP3 and FLAC.
In the bygone days of the CD, of course, we were dealing with 44.1 Khz at 16 bits.
That today still good.
48 Khz at 24 bit is better
I hear the difference, others may not, there are so many components that play a role in the chain of building blocks until the frequencies reach the brain.
The amplifier, the speakers, the placement of the system, the room, the ears, everything matters.
And then there’s the escalation spiral with 96 Khz and 192 Khz, it’s supposedly getting better and better, all the way back to the old analog record, because analog has “no digital stairs”.
Due to its great compatibility, the WAV audio format is the safest option.
Whether computer, smartphone, tablet, Windows, Apple, hard disk player etc….WAV always goes – THE STANDARD
FLAC requires a codec, which you can download here.
Does not run naturally in the Apple world,
but can be done.
But FLAC sounds good and requires much less storage space than WAV.
128 Hz Reality Generator Format
WAV 48 Khz 24 Bit – FLAC 48 Khz 24 Bit – MP3 320 K/bits
48 Khz means:
Sample frequency of 48 kHz (48000 Hz) = 48000 samples per second.
While the sample frequency considers the time factor, the bit depth represents the resolution of the single sample.
A resolution of 16 bits means 65,536 possible levels (2high16). With each bit, the resolution doubles, so that with 24 bits, 16,777,216 possible levels are available.
More important than the sampling rate, e.g. 48 Khz, is the dynamic range, which in PCM is described by the word width. It indicates how many volume steps can be digitally encoded.
While an increase of the sample rate from 48 kHz to 96 kHz can hardly be perceived due to the low frequency content in the upper range of the spectrum, an extension of the sample width from 16 to 24 bits is clearly audible to the ear.