59Advanced Feature
What are Format and Bit Rate?
What is format?
The format of a track refers to the method used by CONNECT Player to store the track’s audio information when tracks are imported to CONNECT Player from the Internet or audio CDs.
Common formats include MP3, WMA and ATRAC, etc.
MP3: MP3
MP3 can compress audio files to about 1/10 of the size of standard CD audio tracks.
WMA: WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a common audio compression technology developed by Microsoft Corporation. The WMA format produces the same sound quality as that of the MP3 format with smaller file size.
ATRAC: ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) is a general term used to refer to ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus formats. ATRAC is an audio compression technology that satisfies the demand for both high sound quality and high compression rates. ATRAC3 can compress audio files to about 1/10 of the size of standard CD audio tracks. ATRAC3plus, a more advanced version of ATRAC3, can compress audio files to about 1/20 of the size of standard CD audio tracks.
What is bit rate?
Bit rate refers to the amount of data used to store each second of audio. Generally, higher bit rates provide better sound quality, but require more storage space for the same length of audio.
What is the relationship between bit rate, sound quality, and storage size?
Generally, higher bit rates provide better sound quality, but require more storage space for the same length of audio, so you can store fewer tracks on the player.
Lower bit rates enable you to store more tracks, but at a lower sound quality. For details on supported audio formats and bite rate, see page 90.
Note
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•If you import a track from a CD to CONNECT Player at a low bit rate, you cannot improve the track’s sound quality by selecting a high bit rate when transferring the track from CONNECT Player to the player.