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→File Extensions/Specific Formats
=== File Extensions/Specific Formats ===
The main formats for storing uncompressed audio are .wav (for MS Windows), .aiff (for Apple Mac), and .au (Java, Unix). The primary lossy compression formats are .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, .aac, and .wma. A popular lossless file types type is .flac. Windows media audio (.wma) supports both lossy and lossless encoding; however, it is generally assumed to use the lossy codec. .m4p and .wma are the primary formats of DRM-enabled audio files - iTunes switched from .m4p to .m4a files when it stopped using DRM. Almost all of these file types are capable of additional audio formats; however, these are their most common usages, and you can assume the type of audio contained in the file from the file type.
DAW softare typically works exclusively with uncompressed audio files. Each DAW may have encoders to create various file types with various encoding during rendering or bouncing, and you may be able to import other formats into a project; but internally the DAW will prefer to work with raw audio data. Imported audio is converted to uncompressed formats and stored as such. This prevents it from devoting resources to encoding or decoding audio unnecessarily.