Quick Overview of Audio Formats: couldn’t there be just one?
January 31st, 2007
Today there are dozens of different audio formats. The reason of that I think lies in the attempt to create a better compression scheme. And they achieved amazing results in that. For example, mp3 can squash your song to 1/11 of the original size, still retaining considerable quality. The advantage of mp3 format is also its widespread acceptance. Most audio players including iPods support it.
To compete against mp3 Microsoft introduced WMA. This can also compress audio files with a loss in quality that many people will not distinguish. It’s the second widespread audio format today (thanks to Microsoft’s aggressive promotion).
WAV is another Microsoft’s format, which is sure to be supported by almost all PCs. The shortcoming of WAV is the large file size (often it’s the reason why people convert WAV to MP3).
RA is popular with internet broadcasting as it can be played at the same time as it’s downloaded. Many RA files are protected which means that they can’t be converted to other formats.
CDA format is common for commercial compact discs. The CDA files can be played only from a CD-ROM. The widespread mistake is the attempt to copy tracks from CD to hard drive and then try to convert them. The right way to do is to rip CD and then convert the tracks to the format you need. Total Audio Converter allows that in one step process. You just hit RipCD button and set the target format in the wizard.
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. Due to the lossless compression scheme FLAC is good for classical music and other things where the quality of sound is crucial.
APE is the main competitor of FLAC and is similar to it in features. It is another lossless audio compression format.
AAC is good at compressing music if the purpose it to get the least size. Most people find AAC the best solution used to compress music to listen to it on mobile phones. Others say that AAC sounds awfully compared to MP3.
The true audio format (TTA) is another good lossless format. Imagine that you can compress 20 audio CDs to one DVD without any loss in quality! Unfortunately, not many audio players support TTA.
So the truth is that every format is good for some particular purpose. Choose yours (and be sure you can always convert between all of them with Total Audio Converter)!
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2. stoppinglove | January 3rd, 2011 at 1:44 am
When I first started playing as a junior, every manufacturer had different modelled irons and woods you could buy off the shelf and then get your local pro to ‘loft and lie’ the clubs to suit your body and swing.
I recall there was a lot of banging and hammering of hosels to bend them to the appropriate setting before Ping introduced its revolutionary a colour-coded dot system, enabling golfers to measure themselves and discover their preferences before the clubs were put together and sent out to the customer.
Three decades later, it’s more sophisticated but Ping still manufactures each set specifically for individual customers with all heads, shafts and grips sourced and kept individually at the factory. Order a set of irons, for example, at your local Ping dealer and the request is sent to the factory and an order ticket is made up with all your specific requirements.
Once heads and shafts are selected, they’re glued together and then ‘cured’ on a heated rotating cylinder, cut to length and taped ready for the customer’s preferred grip.Cleveland CG F1 Wedge
Cleveland CG15 Satin Chrome Wedge
Cleveland CG15 Black Pearl Wedge
Cleveland CG15 Oil Quench Wedge
Cleveland CG12 Black Pearl Wedge
The grip is then applied on a machine that has a laser line running down the shaft to ensure it is placed in a neutral position. It sounds insignificant but having the grip correctly lined up along the shaft is vital.
Once assembled, loft and lie are measured by a computer to ensure they perfectly match the customer’s specifications. They are also swing-weighted individually. Even cast irons can come out differently so Ping has a range of weights added to the head to ensure the match is exact.
Finally they are checked, cleaned and packaged – virtually the same service that the Tour pro enjoys on the manufacturers’ Tour vans that follow them around the European circuit and park on the practice ground each week. It’s an impressive process.
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