MP3 Glossary - Audio and MP3 related terminology
 

AIFF

Audio Interface File Format (AIFF) was developed by Apple and is the audio format for Macintosh computers. This format does not support compression.

Bit Rate

A bit rate is the amount of information (or bits) that is transferred per second (bit per second or bps). MP3s are measured in thousands of bits per second (kbps) and the higher the kbps, the higher the sound quality. 128 kbps is the standard MP3 bit rate.

Blade / BladeEnc

An open source WAV to MP3 encoding engine used in many MP3 software programs.

Buffer

An area of memory used to speed up access to devices such as a CD-R/W. It is used for temporary storage of data read from or waiting to be written to a CD-R/W.

Buffer Underrun

When a CD burner requests data from the write buffer and there is no data, the write laser doesn’t have any more data to write therefore causing a buffer underun.  The CD recording cannot be interrupted in mid session and when this occurs you will have a defective CD burn.

Burn-Proof

Burn-Proof is a technology developed by Sanyo, which helps prevent buffer underruns.

CDDB

An online based Compact Disc Database (CDDB) that allows you to download artist names, album titles, track names etc. This information is displayed in your MP3 player.

CD-R

Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R) is a recording device that allows you to record data and audio CDs only one time.

CD-RW

Compact Disc Rewritable is an extension of CD-R whereby you can rewrite data or audio to the same CD multiple times.

CD-ROM

A Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) is designed to store data in the form of text, graphics and audio. CD-ROMs use the Yellow Book standard as published by Philips.

CD Text

A red book CD standard that allows album titles, artist names, and song titles to be embedded on an audio CD. Some CD players can read this data.

Codec

A codec (compression/decompression) is any technology that is used for compressing and decompressing data such as audio (MP3) or video (MPEG).

Constant bit rate (CBR)

Constant Bit Rate is an encoding method that maintains the same bit rate across the entire audio file.

Digital audio extraction (DAE)

Digital Audio Extraction (DAE), also known as CD ripping, is the process of extracting audio from CD which is copied to hard drive in WAV format.

Decoder

The process of converting an MP3 to WAV. This may be done in order to edit your WAV file.

Disc at once (DAO)

During the CD burning process, the entire CD is written at once without the write laser being turned off.

Encoder

The process of converting a WAV to MP3 audio format.  This reduces file size while maintaining sound quality.

ID3

A tagging system that allows you to put music information such as artist, song title, album title, lyrics within your audio files.

ISO

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a non-governmental global organization established in 1947 that works to develop standards across goods and services.

ISO 9660

A widely used data interchange format adopted in 1987. CDs created in this format can be read by Unix, Macintosh and Windows computers.

Jitter

Jitter is caused by the inability of many CD-ROM drives to accurately seek a specific sector  on an audio CD therefore resulting in pops or clicks when listening to the ripped audio track.

LAME

LAin't an Mp3 Encoder (LAME) is an open source MP3 encoder engine used in a large number of  MP3 software titles.

MP3

MP3 is an acronym for MPEG layer 3, which is a compressed audio format. A compression ratio of up to 12 to 1 compression is possible, which produces high sound quality.

MPEG

The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is a working group under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that sets the standards for encoding audio and video in digital format. Official MPEG Homepage

Normalization

Due to volume differences between audio tracks, normalization allows you to set the volume consistent between tracks during the encoding or burning process.

Ogg Vorbis

A non-proprietary, patent free open source audio compression format that is similar to MP3.

Peer to Peer (P2P)

A sharing and delivery of user specified files among groups of people who are logged on to a file sharing network. Napster was the first mainstream P2P software that enabled large scale file sharing.

Red Book CD

A CD audio standard defined by Sony and Philips in 1980 that was published in a red binder, hence the name.

Ripping (CD Ripping)

The process of digitally extracting audio from CDs to your hard drive in WAV format.

Streaming

Streaming audio allows for on-the-fly listening to an audio file.  The audio file is streamed from a server where it is received and stored in your buffer on your computer.  If you use WinAmp or RealAudio, you will see a message displayed telling you that the audio file is being buffered. The file is not saved on your hard drive.

Track at once (TAO)

During the CD burning process, each track is written on its own and the writer laser is turned off before starting to burn the next track.  This causes a 2 second gap between tracks.

Variable bit rate (VBR)

Variable Bit Rate adjusts the bit rate depending on the sound. For example, if there is silence in a song, the bit rate would decrease and if there is a full symphonic sound the bit rate would increase. VBR offers a higher sound quality at a smaller file size. 

Wave (.wav)

A file format for storing digital audio data in waveform.

WMA

Window's Media Audio is Microsoft's audio encoding format that is starting to gain popularity due to its high quality output at lower file sizes. A 96 kbps (and in some tests a 64 kbps) wma file is equivalent in sound quality to a 128 kbps MP3 file.

Yellow Book

A CD-ROM standard defined by Sony and Philips in 1983 that is an extension of the Red Book standard. This standard enables CDs to contain data along with audio.