AAC and WAV explained
AAC is the successor to MP3 and is the default audio codec for MP4 video, Apple Music and YouTube. At the same bitrate it generally sounds noticeably better than MP3.
WAV stores uncompressed PCM audio — the raw samples, exactly as captured. A stereo CD-quality minute is roughly 10 MB, which is the price of having no compression whatsoever.
- Where AAC files come from
- Streaming services, video soundtracks and Apple devices.
- Where WAV is used
- Recording sessions, sample libraries and audio editing.