Multimedia lydformater

Sound can be stored in various formats.

MIDI format

MIDI is a format for transmitting musical information between electronic music devices (such as synthesizers and PC sound cards).

The MIDI format was invented by the music industry in 1982. The MIDI format is very flexible and can be used for a wide range of music production, from extremely simple to very professional.

MIDI files do not contain sampled sound, but a series of digital music instructions (notes) that can be interpreted by the sound card of a PC.

The disadvantage of MIDI is that it cannot record sound (it can only record notes). Or in other words: it cannot store songs, only melodies.

Click here to play The Beatles.

The advantage of the MIDI format is that, since it only contains instructions (notes), MIDI files can be very small. The example above is only 23K, but it can play nearly 5 minutes.

The MIDI format is supported by many different software systems on a wide range of platforms. MIDI files are also supported by all the most popular internet browsers.

The format for storing audio in MIDI format is .mid or .midi.

RealAudio format

The RealAudio format was developed by Real Media for the internet. This format also supports video.

This format allows audio streaming over low bandwidth (online music, internet broadcasting). Due to the priority of low bandwidth, its quality is often compromised.

Audio stored in RealAudio format, with the file extension .rm or .ram.

AU format

The AU format is supported by many different software systems on a wide range of platforms.

Audio stored in AU format, with the file extension .au.

AIFF format

AIFF format (Audio Interchange File Format) was developed by Apple.

AIFF is not cross-platform and is not supported by all web browsers.

Audio stored in AIFF format, with the file extension aif or .aiff.

SND format

SND (Sound) was developed by Apple.

SND is not cross-platform and is not supported by all web browsers.

Audio stored in SND format, with the file extension .snd.

WAVE format

WAVE (waveform) format blev udviklet af IBM og Microsoft.

Det understøttes af alle Windows-operativsystemer samt næsten alle populære webbrowsere.

Lyd gemt i WAVE-format har udvidelsen .wav.

MP3-format (MPEG)

MP3-filer er faktisk MPEG-filer. Men oprindeligt blev MPEG-formatet udviklet af Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) til video. Vi kan sige, at MP3-filer er en del af MPEG-videoformatet.

MP3 er et af de mest populære lydformater inden for musikoptagelse. MP3-kodeksystemet kombinerer høj kompression (kompakte filer) med høj kvalitet. Det forventes, at alle systemer vil støtte det i fremtiden.

Lyd gemt i MP3-format har endelsen .mp3 eller .mpga (til MPG Audio).

Hvilket format skal bruges?

På internettet er WAVE-formatet et af de mest populære formater og understøttes af alle populære browsere. Hvis du ønsker, at den optagede lyd kan bruges af alle besøgende, bør du bruge WAVE-format.

MP3-format er et relativt nyt lydformat. Hvis din hjemmeside har noget med musik at gøre, bør MP3-format også være et godt valg.