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Audio Formats and Quality

A variety of factors will affect the quality of a digital audio files — for example, the sampling bitrate (how often the audio signal is sampled, expressed as Kbps) and how it is compressed. Higher sample rates result in better sound quality but larger files. Compressed files are smaller but have slightly less quality than uncompressed files. Different compression formats can also affect the quality.

The following formats are available in RealPlayer for saving CD tracks (importing) or recording from analog sources:

Format	File Extension	Available Quality Levels	Comments
AAC Audio Secure AAC	.m4a .m4p	96 - 320 Kbps Stereo	AAC encoded MPEG-4 audio. Compatible with iTunes and the iPod.
RealAudio	.ra	32 - 320 Kbps Stereo	Highest quality, native format from RealNetworks (currently RealAudio 10).
RealAudio Lossless	.ra	705 Kbps	A compressed, lossless format that uses only half the space on your hard disk that a typical WAV file needs. Good for an archive copy of a CD track.
MP3	.mp3	56 -320 Kbps Stereo, 32 Kbps Mono	With a special plug-in for RealPlayer, you can import and create high bitrate MP3 (128-320 Kbps, near CD quality).
WAV Audio	.wav	1411 Kbps Stereo	Raw, uncompressed files.