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Add to SafariWhen comparing LPCM WAV vs Advanced Audio Coding (m4a), the Slant community recommends Advanced Audio Coding (m4a) for most people. In the question“What is the best audio codec for music” Advanced Audio Coding (m4a) is ranked 1st while LPCM WAV is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Advanced Audio Coding (m4a) is:
Its MDCT-only compression algorithm makes it very efficient, retaining more data than MP3 at the same bitrate.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Lossless
Being uncompressed, WAV files are sure to keep all of the original audio data.
Pro Compatibility
Being a very old codec, its compatibility is widespread.
Pro Efficient compression
Its MDCT-only compression algorithm makes it very efficient, retaining more data than MP3 at the same bitrate.
Cons
Con Proprietary
WAV is developed by IBM and Microsoft and released under a proprietary license.
Con Uncompressed
WAV is uncompressed Linear PCM audio, which would take up a significant amount of disk space and is not very efficient (no size difference between a minute of audio and a minute of silence).
Con Lossy
Loses audio data through compression.
Con Not free
An open standard, but licensing fees apply.
