The Audio Expert, Part 3: Common Audio Myths

1. Lossy compression is applied to audio data to reduce their size for storage or transmission. Lossy methods allow for a substantial size reduction—MP3 files are typically compressed about 10 to 1—but the original content is not restored exactly upon playback. When using a sufficiently high bit-rate, the small loss in quality is usually acceptable and may not even be audible. Contrast this to less effective but lossless compression that reduces the size of computer files, where the data must not change. Lossy compression is also used with JPG images and video files to reduce their size, though the specific methods differ from those that reduce the size of audio data.