SAMPLED

MIDI, formats and standards · updated 2026-08-16

WAV VS FLAC VS MP3/AAC

WAV is uncompressed PCM; FLAC is lossless compression; MP3 and AAC are lossy. Deliver lossless masters and let platforms encode.

MIDI DIN in/out connectors on an RME audio interface card — the physical ports behind the MIDI, interface and I/O terms in this section.
MIDI, formats and standards — MIDI DIN in/out connectors on an RME audio interface card — the physical ports behind the MIDI, interface and I/O terms in this section.

Photo: RME Hammerfall DSP 9652 MIDI connectors (opens in a new tab) by Dan Lynch (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab)

Key takeaways

  • WAV is uncompressed PCM; FLAC is lossless compression; MP3 and AAC are lossy.
  • Deliver lossless masters and let platforms encode.
  • Master and archive in WAV or FLAC; use lossy only for delivery.
  • Deliver 24-bit WAV to distributors and mastering engineers; use AAC or MP3 for email previews only.
  • Watch out: re-encoding a lossy file.

Quick checklist

  • Can you define wav vs flac vs mp3/aac in one sentence without looking?
  • Can you point at wav vs flac vs mp3/aac in a real session, mix or contract?
  • Have you tried the practical move above at least once?
  • Would you catch the common mistake before it costs you a take?
  • Have you opened one of the primary sources below rather than a forum thread?

WAV VS FLAC VS MP3/AAC IN DEPTH

WAV is uncompressed PCM, FLAC is lossless compression that halves file size with bit-perfect decoding, and MP3 and AAC are lossy formats that discard data the encoder judges inaudible. Master and archive in WAV or FLAC; use lossy only for delivery.

How it works in practice

Deliver 24-bit WAV to distributors and mastering engineers; use AAC or MP3 for email previews only.

The mistake people make

Re-encoding a lossy file. Each generation compounds artefacts, and no amount of processing recovers what was discarded.

WHERE WAV VS FLAC VS MP3/AAC SITS

WAV vs FLAC vs MP3/AAC belongs to midi, formats and standards in the Sampled music glossary. The plumbing — the specs your gear, files and delivery pipeline agree on.

TERMS THAT DEPEND ON WAV VS FLAC VS MP3/AAC

  • Timbre

    The character that lets you tell a trumpet from a saw wave at the same pitch and loudness. It comes from harmonic content and how it changes over time.

  • Bounce / render / export

    Writing your session out to an audio file. Bounce stems for collaborators, a 24-bit WAV master for distribution.

  • Phase and polarity

    Polarity is a flipped waveform; phase is a time offset. Two mics on one source can cancel each other if you ignore either.

  • Oscillator (VCO/DCO)

    The sound source. It generates a repeating waveform — saw, square, triangle, sine — at a chosen pitch.

  • LFO

    Low-frequency oscillator: a slow wave used as modulation rather than sound. Vibrato, tremolo and wobble bass all start here.

  • Subtractive synthesis

    Start with a harmonically rich waveform and filter material away. The architecture behind most classic analogue synths.

TEST YOURSELF

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3 quick questions on wav vs flac vs mp3/aac. Answers are marked instantly — nothing is sent anywhere.

  1. 1. Which statement best describes wav vs flac vs mp3/aac?

  2. 2. What is the mistake people most often make with wav vs flac vs mp3/aac?

  3. 3. In practice, which of these applies to wav vs flac vs mp3/aac?

Ready for the full thing? Take the 25-question terminology test and get a certificate with your name and score.

SOURCES AND CITATIONS

Free, primary references for wav vs flac vs mp3/aac — standards bodies, manufacturers, government offices and university course material. Each one lists the line of this entry it backs up.

  • Xiph.org — FLAC (opens in a new tab)

    Open-source standards group · Xiph.Org Foundation

    “WAV is uncompressed PCM; FLAC is lossless compression; MP3 and AAC are lossy.”— the claim this source supports

    Why it counts: Xiph's write-ups are free, technically rigorous and famously careful about the myths around digital audio.

  • Library of Congress — sustainable audio formats (opens in a new tab)

    National library · Library of Congress

    “Deliver lossless masters and let platforms encode.”— the claim this source supports

    Why it counts: Archival primary material, which is about as stable a reference as this subject gets.

RELATED TERMS IN MIDI, FORMATS AND STANDARDS

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