What format is the sound file?

★ WAVE, extension WAV: This format records the waveform of sound, so as long as the sampling rate is high, the sampling bytes are long and the machine speed is fast, the sound file recorded in this format can be basically consistent with the original sound, and the quality is very high, but the price of doing so is that the file is too large.

★ MOD, extended MOD, ST3, XT, S3M, FAR, 669, etc. This format file stores all kinds of timbre samples used in score and music, which has the advantages of clear playback effect and unlimited timbre types. But it also has some fatal weaknesses, so that it is gradually eliminated. At present, only MOD fans and some game programs are still in use.

★ MPEG-3, Extended MP3: The most popular audio file format is widely used in network videophone communication because of its high compression rate, but its sound quality is not ideal compared with CD records.

★ Real Audio, extension RA: This format is really the soul of the network. Its powerful compression and minimal distortion make it stand out among many formats. Like MP3, it is also to solve the network transmission bandwidth resources, so the main goal is compression ratio and fault tolerance, followed by sound quality.

★ Creative music format, extended CMF: A special music format of creative companies, similar to MIDI, but with some characteristics in timbre and effect. It is specially used for FM sound cards, but its compatibility is also poor.

★ CD Audio music CD, extension CDA: the format adopted by the record, also known as the "red book" format, records the waveform stream and is absolutely pure HIFI. But the disadvantage is that it can't be edited and the file length is too large.

★ MIDI, extension MID: At present, the most mature music format has actually become an industrial standard, and its scientificity, compatibility, complexity and other aspects certainly far exceed all the standards introduced in this paper (except symphony CD and Unplug CD, other CDs are often made by MIDI), and its universal MIDI is the most common standard. MIDI, as a data communication standard in the music industry, can direct the operation of all kinds of music equipment. It has a unified standard format, can imitate all kinds of playing skills of original musical instruments and even can't play them. The file length is very small.

In short, if there is a professional audio source equipment, then the degree to which HIFI listens to the same song is:

Acoustic instrument performance > MIDI & gtCD records > MOD & gtMidi > on the so-called sound card; CMF, while MP3 and RA depend on whether the program source is MIDI, CD or MOD.

In addition, in multimedia materials, file formats for storing sound information also need to be identified, including:

WAV file, VOC file, MIDI file, RMI file, PCM file and AIF file.

★ WAV file: Microsoft's audio file format, which is derived from the sampling of sound analog waveform. By sampling the analog WAVeform of sound with different sampling frequencies, a series of discrete sampling points can be obtained, and the values of these sampling points are converted into binary numbers with different quantization bits (8 bits or 16 bits), and then stored in disk, thus a wav file of sound, that is, a waveform file, is generated. Microsoft sound system software Sound Finder can convert AIF SND and VOD files into WAV format.

★ VOC file: The waveform audio file format of creative company is also the audio file format used by Sound Blaster. Each VOC file consists of a file header block and an audio data block. The file header contains an identification version number and a pointer to the beginning of the data block. Data blocks are divided into various types of sub-blocks. For example, the mute mark of sound data indicates the result repetition, termination mark, expansion block and so on of ASCII code file repetition.

★ MIDI file: the abbreviation of musical instrument digital interface. It is a communication standard formulated by the world's major electronic musical instrument manufacturers, which stipulates the method of exchanging information and control signals between computer music programs, electronic synthesizers and other electronic devices. The MIDI file contains the note timing and instrument definitions of up to 16 channels, and each note contains information such as the duration, volume and intensity of key channel numbers. Therefore, MIDI files record not the music itself, but some instructions describing music performance.

★ RMI file: MIDI file format of Microsoft, which can contain picture labels and text.

★ PCM file: a binary sequence directly formed by analog-to-digital conversion (A/D conversion) of analog audio signals. This file has no attached file header and file end tag. In the software provided by Sound Blaster Card, VOC-HDR program can be used to add file headers to PCM format audio files to form VOC format. Windows conversion tools can convert PCM audio files into Microsoft WAV files.

★ AIF file: the audio file format of Apple computer. Windows conversion tools can also convert files in AIF format into Microsoft WAV format.