aac |
Lossy, general |
Up to 512 kbps |
Yes – widely supported on smartphones, tablets |
Efficient, modern, patent-encumbered but ubiquitous |
ac3 |
Lossy, multi‑channel (Dolby Digital) |
Up to 640 kbps |
Maybe – some Android devices support it, not common for music |
Used in DVDs/Blu‑rays |
ac3_fixed |
Lossy, multi‑channel (fixed‑point) |
Up to 640 kbps |
Maybe – same as AC3, for embedded use |
Same as AC3 |
adpcm_adx |
Lossy (ADPCM), SEGA games |
~100–200 kbps |
No – obsolete, only in old game rips |
Low complexity |
adpcm_argo |
Lossy (ADPCM), Argonaut games |
Variable, low |
No – obsolete |
– |
adpcm_ima_alp |
Lossy (ADPCM), High Voltage Software |
Variable, low |
No – obsolete |
– |
adpcm_ima_amv |
Lossy (ADPCM), AMV video |
Variable, low |
No – obsolete |
– |
adpcm_ima_apm |
Lossy (ADPCM), Ubisoft APM |
Variable, low |
No – obsolete |
– |
adpcm_ima_qt |
Lossy (ADPCM), QuickTime |
~100–300 kbps |
Maybe – some old players support it, but rare |
Used in legacy QuickTime content |
adpcm_ima_ssi |
Lossy (ADPCM), Simon & Schuster |
Variable, low |
No – obsolete |
– |
adpcm_ima_wav |
Lossy (ADPCM), WAV variant |
~100–300 kbps |
Maybe – some Windows‑based players support it |
Found in old Windows games |
adpcm_ima_ws |
Lossy (ADPCM), Westwood |
Variable, low |
No – obsolete |
– |
adpcm_ms |
Lossy (ADPCM), Microsoft |
~100–300 kbps |
Maybe – supported by some multimedia frameworks |
Used in AVI/WAV files |
adpcm_swf |
Lossy (ADPCM), Shockwave Flash |
Variable, low |
No – Flash is obsolete |
– |
adpcm_yamaha |
Lossy (ADPCM), Yamaha |
Variable, low |
No – very niche |
– |
alac |
Lossless |
Uncompressed or lossless (e.g., CD = 1411 kbps) |
Yes – native on Apple devices, supported on Android via apps |
Apple Lossless, open source since 2011 |
libopencore_amrnb |
Speech, narrow‑band |
4.75–12.2 kbps |
Maybe – used for voice recordings on some phones |
AMR‑NB, common in 3GPP |
libvo_amrwbenc |
Speech, wide‑band |
6.6–23.85 kbps |
Maybe – for voice, better quality |
AMR‑WB |
anull |
Null (no output) |
N/A |
No – for testing only |
– |
aptx |
Lossy, Bluetooth |
~352 kbps |
Yes – for Bluetooth audio (if device supports aptX) |
Low latency, proprietary |
aptx_hd |
Lossy, Bluetooth |
~576 kbps |
Yes – higher quality aptX |
– |
comfortnoise |
Noise generator |
N/A |
No – only for telephony |
– |
dfpwm |
Lossy, DFPWM1a |
~200 kbps |
Maybe – used in some games, not mainstream |
Low complexity |
dca |
Lossy, DTS |
Up to 1.5 Mbps |
Maybe – some devices support DTS |
Multi‑channel surround |
eac3 |
Lossy, Enhanced AC‑3 |
Up to 6.144 Mbps |
Maybe – on Blu‑ray players, some TVs |
For high‑definition audio |
flac |
Lossless |
Uncompressed or lossless (CD = 1411 kbps) |
Yes – widely supported on modern portable devices |
Open, free, very popular |
g723_1 |
Speech |
5.3 / 6.3 kbps |
No – telephony only |
– |
mlp |
Lossless, Meridian |
Very high |
No – DVD‑Audio, niche |
– |
mp2 |
Lossy |
Up to 384 kbps |
Maybe – some broadcast players support it |
Older than MP3, used in DAB |
mp2fixed |
Lossy (fixed‑point) |
Same as MP2 |
Maybe – same as MP2 |
– |
libmp3lame |
Lossy |
Up to 320 kbps |
Yes – universal support |
MP3, patent‑free since 2017 |
nellymoser |
Lossy, Nellymoser Asao |
~64–128 kbps |
No – Flash era, obsolete |
– |
opus |
Lossy |
6–510 kbps |
Yes – excellent for portable, open, low latency |
Modern, very efficient |
libopus |
Lossy |
Same as Opus |
Yes – same |
– |
pcm_alaw |
Uncompressed |
64 kbps per channel |
Maybe – telephony, not music |
G.711 A‑law |
pcm_bluray |
Uncompressed |
Very high (up to 27 Mbps) |
No – huge file sizes |
For Blu‑ray media |
pcm_dvd |
Uncompressed |
Very high |
No – for DVD |
– |
pcm_f32be |
Uncompressed, 32‑bit float |
Extremely high |
No – professional use only |
– |
pcm_f32le |
Uncompressed, 32‑bit float |
Extremely high |
No – professional use only |
– |
pcm_f64be |
Uncompressed, 64‑bit float |
Extremely high |
No – professional use only |
– |
pcm_f64le |
Uncompressed, 64‑bit float |
Extremely high |
No – professional use only |
– |
pcm_mulaw |
Uncompressed |
64 kbps per channel |
Maybe – telephony |
G.711 μ‑law |
pcm_s16be |
Uncompressed, 16‑bit signed |
Varies (CD = 1411 kbps) |
Maybe – large files, but some devices play WAV |
– |
pcm_s16be_planar |
Uncompressed, planar |
Same as above |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_s16le |
Uncompressed, 16‑bit signed |
Varies (CD = 1411 kbps) |
Maybe – common in WAV |
– |
pcm_s16le_planar |
Uncompressed, planar |
Same |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_s24be |
Uncompressed, 24‑bit |
Varies (e.g., 96 kHz = 4.6 Mbps) |
Maybe – high‑resolution audio |
– |
pcm_s24daud |
Uncompressed, D‑Cinema |
Very high |
No – professional cinema |
– |
pcm_s24le |
Uncompressed, 24‑bit |
Same as above |
Maybe – for high‑res audio |
– |
pcm_s24le_planar |
Uncompressed, planar |
Same |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_s32be |
Uncompressed, 32‑bit |
Very high |
No – studio use |
– |
pcm_s32le |
Uncompressed, 32‑bit |
Very high |
No – studio use |
– |
pcm_s32le_planar |
Uncompressed, planar |
Very high |
No – studio use |
– |
pcm_s64be |
Uncompressed, 64‑bit |
Extremely high |
No – scientific use |
– |
pcm_s64le |
Uncompressed, 64‑bit |
Extremely high |
No – scientific use |
– |
pcm_s8 |
Uncompressed, 8‑bit |
Varies (e.g., 44.1 kHz = 705 kbps) |
Maybe – low quality, old systems |
– |
pcm_s8_planar |
Uncompressed, planar |
Same |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_u16be |
Uncompressed, unsigned 16‑bit |
Same as signed |
Maybe – less common |
– |
pcm_u16le |
Uncompressed, unsigned 16‑bit |
Same |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_u24be |
Uncompressed, unsigned 24‑bit |
Same as signed |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_u24le |
Uncompressed, unsigned 24‑bit |
Same |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_u32be |
Uncompressed, unsigned 32‑bit |
Very high |
No – rare |
– |
pcm_u32le |
Uncompressed, unsigned 32‑bit |
Very high |
No – rare |
– |
pcm_u8 |
Uncompressed, unsigned 8‑bit |
Same as s8 |
Maybe – same |
– |
pcm_vidc |
Uncompressed, Archimedes VIDC |
Variable |
No – obsolete |
– |
real_144 |
Lossy, RealAudio 1.0 |
~14.4 kbps |
No – obsolete |
Very low bitrate speech |
roq_dpcm |
Lossy, id RoQ DPCM |
Variable |
No – game format |
– |
s302m |
Uncompressed, AES3 |
Very high |
No – broadcast/professional |
SMPTE 302M |
sbc |
Lossy, Bluetooth |
Up to 345 kbps |
Yes – mandatory A2DP codec for Bluetooth |
Low complexity, mandatory |
truehd |
Lossless, TrueHD |
Very high (up to 18 Mbps) |
No – Blu‑ray, not portable |
Dolby Atmos capable |
tta |
Lossless |
Uncompressed or lossless |
Maybe – supported by some players |
True Audio, free |
vorbis |
Lossy |
Up to ~500 kbps |
Yes – open, used in many games and apps |
Often in .ogg containers |
libvorbis |
Lossy |
Same |
Yes – same |
– |
wavpack |
Lossless/lossy hybrid |
Uncompressed or lossy (~200–700 kbps) |
Maybe – supported by some players |
Hybrid mode possible |
wmav1 |
Lossy |
Up to 192 kbps |
Maybe – Windows Media support on some devices |
Older WMA |
wmav2 |
Lossy |
Up to 768 kbps |
Maybe – more common than WMA1 |
Often used in Windows environments |