Overview: Lossy audio codecs

Lossy audio codecs reduce data through coding choices that do not preserve every original signal value.

A small audio stream reflects decisions about what information to represent efficiently. The formats below make those decisions differently, and some include extensions or families of profiles. Their individual pages connect the coding arrangement to bitrate behavior, channel support and the decoder required for playback.

• Lossy audio compression
  Lossy audio compression reduces data by permitting changes to the signal reconstructed during decoding.

• MP3
  MP3 is MPEG Audio Layer III, a lossy audio format commonly used for music and spoken recordings.

• AAC family
  AAC-family formats combine different coding tools and profiles for audio delivery under varying rate and compatibility constraints.

• Opus
  Opus is a lossy audio codec designed to handle both speech and music with flexible bitrate and low delay.

• Vorbis
  Vorbis is an open lossy audio codec commonly stored in Ogg files and also usable in other media containers.

• MPEG Audio Layer II (MP2)
  MPEG Audio Layer II is a lossy audio coding format used in broadcast systems and older media recordings.

• Dolby lossy codecs
  Dolby lossy audio formats define distinct coded signals with their own channel, metadata and decoding arrangements.

• DTS core audio
  DTS core audio is the independently decodable lossy foundation used by conventional DTS Digital Surround and many DTS-HD streams.

• DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
  DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is a lossy DTS-HD format that extends the conventional DTS presentation.

• Windows Media Audio (WMA)
  Windows Media Audio is a family of audio formats with distinct Standard, Professional, Lossless, and Voice variants.