A sound question.

[Professor Marcus]

If I have a 30 second sound file on my website is it better to have it in
mp3 or wma format ? I mean, what are the pros and cons of each format ?

 

[Toby Inkster]

If I have a 30 second sound file on my website is it better to have it in
mp3 or wma format ? I mean, what are the pros and cons of each format ?

With WMA you'll get a slightly better size/quality trade-off. With MP3
you'll have fewer file compatibility problems.

 

[Spartanicus]

If I have a 30 second sound file on my website is it better to have it in
mp3 or wma format ? I mean, what are the pros and cons of each format ?

MP3
Pros:
Very good cross platform client side compatibility.
Cons:
Nasty licensing issues http://www.mp3licensing.com/help/enduser.html#4
Filesize/quality ratio not great (except for MP3Pro, but even more nasty
issues with that format).

WMA
Pros:
Good Windows client side compatibility, cross platform support is not
good.
Encoding tool can be used royalty free if you own a Windows license.
Good filesize/quality ratio.
Cons:
Not a good format for HQ audio.
Part of MS's plan to enslave the world to MS MediaPlayer.

Consider offering 2 formats, one for good client side compatibility,
and:

Ogg Vorbis
Pros:
No nasty licensing issues.
Open source.
Free to use.
Filesize/quality ratio almost as good as WMA.
Very suitable for HQ audio.
Good cross platform support.
Cons:
Default client side compatibility not good (make a help page with
instructions for people on how to install the required decoder
software).

 

[David Dorward]

Ogg Vorbis

Cons:
Default client side compatibility not good (make a help page with
instructions for people on how to install the required decoder

^
Free and easy to install/use

software).

 

[Travis Newbury]

MP3
Pros:
Very good cross platform client side compatibility.
Cons:
Nasty licensing issues http://www.mp3licensing.com/help/enduser.html#4
Filesize/quality ratio not great (except for MP3Pro, but even more nasty
issues with that format).

Well this is kind of deceiving. The short answer is yes, the long
answer in virtually all cases is no. In order for you to have to pay a
licensing fee for the Internet you have to be streaming the mp3/mp3pro
(progressive download is not streaming) or you have to have a pay site
where you are charging for downloads. In all other Internet cases, and
for these cases where the annual income from the downloading or
streaming is less than $100,000 the answer is no, there are no fees.

For the OPs site the answer would be no fees.

 

[Roy Schestowitz]

MP3
Pros:
Very good cross platform client side compatibility.
Cons:
Nasty licensing issues http://www.mp3licensing.com/help/enduser.html#4
Filesize/quality ratio not great (except for MP3Pro, but even more nasty
issues with that format).

WMA
Pros:
Good Windows client side compatibility, cross platform support is not
good.
Encoding tool can be used royalty free if you own a Windows license.
Good filesize/quality ratio.
Cons:
Not a good format for HQ audio.
Part of MS's plan to enslave the world to MS MediaPlayer.

Consider offering 2 formats, one for good client side compatibility,
and:

Ogg Vorbis
Pros:
No nasty licensing issues.
Open source.
Free to use.
Filesize/quality ratio almost as good as WMA.
Very suitable for HQ audio.
Good cross platform support.
Cons:
Default client side compatibility not good (make a help page with
instructions for people on how to install the required decoder
software).

The choice of format depends on your target audience. If you 'broadcast' to
a non-scientific community, you might be able to get away with using WMA.
Computer-proficient users will happily handle Ogg Vorbis files, but for
anything else use wave (no compression) or MP3 format. Despite all the talk
about licensing, MP3 will be a fine choice for a 30 second sound file.

Roy

 

[Spartanicus]

The choice of format depends on your target audience. If you 'broadcast' to
a non-scientific community, you might be able to get away with using WMA.
Computer-proficient users will happily handle Ogg Vorbis files, but for
anything else use wave (no compression)

Wav is a wrapper format, it can contain any compression scheme known to
man, or it can contain uncompressed data. In the latter case the format
is therefor poorly suited for web usage.

or MP3 format. Despite all the talk
about licensing, MP3 will be a fine choice for a 30 second sound file.

It's unwise to break the law in the hope that you won't get caught, or
that the level of enforcing will remain on it's current level.

Plus there is a principle at stake here, it is imperative that internet
transport protocols and data formats are open and rights free. The
internet as we know it today resulted from and is founded on open
transport protocols and data formats, this principle needs to be upheld
if the net is to grow to it's full potential.

Most commercial entities strive to create a monopoly by eliminating all
competition, this allows them to maximize their profits. Open and rights
free content formats are an obstacle to achieving this.

Window MediaPlayer and it's associated closed proprietary transport
protocols, data formats and rights management aims to enslave the world
to MS Windows by turning the content on the web into MS Windows content.

For this MS uses the same strategy they so successfully deployed with
IE,
they create the tools, make them available "for free" for anyone who has
a Windows license, then they make it an integral part of their OS that
is impossible to uninstall. The web as it is today is full of MS IE only
content, this should not be allowed to happen to audio/video content, it
is detrimental to the interests of users.

 

[Safalra]

Despite all the talk
about licensing, MP3 will be a fine choice for a 30 second sound

file.

[snip legal advice]

Plus there is a principle at stake here, it is imperative that internet
transport protocols and data formats are open and rights free. The
internet as we know it today resulted from and is founded on open
transport protocols and data formats, this principle needs to be upheld
if the net is to grow to it's full potential.

You make the same mistake as RMS - assuming the average developer/user
cares about freedom. If you want open formats to win, you've got to
make them better (in the appropriate sense) than proprietary formats -
like PNG, which is far superior to GIF.

 

[Professor Marcus]

Thanks all for the advice.