.aiff is basically the macintosh equivalent of a .wav file. it's not compressed, so the sound quality will be better than even the highest quality mp3 (most people wouldn't notice). but the file size will also be a lot bigger, about 10x bigger than a 128kbps mp3.

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AIFFs are uncompressed so they'll sound better than MP3s, I'm afraid I can't tell you more offhand. Try Google.

thanks guys.

-keith

a compressed sound file basically takes away the frequencies that the human ear can't hear. in doing that some of the sound quality is lost. The uncompressed wav and aiff files have all the frequencies still there.

I think PVD made a reference to this in his latest interview, hes using them now the AIFFs because of the better sound quality.

quote:

Originally posted by albertoR I think PVD made a reference to this in his latest interview, hes using them now the AIFFs because of the better sound quality.

you are correct.

quote:

Originally posted by albertoR I think PVD made a reference to this in his latest interview, hes using them now the AIFFs because of the better sound quality.

yeah he noted that it sounds fantastic when he plays it over his final scratch.

You can't compare mp3s to aiffs, totally different things.

An Aiff file is no different to a wav file, it wont make any difference if pvd is playing aiffs or wavs, it's still going to sound the same.

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AIFF files are standard format for AKAI samplers (among others). They allow for greater sampling rate. Your usual WAV file (or CD-quality sound) is 44.1KHz 16Bit sample.

AIFF allows for resolutions as high as 96KHz, 128bit.

What this means (in laymans terms) that you get perfect sound with above-CD quality. Most of recording is done in higher resolution and then "trimmed" down to CD quality... Which is later "trimmed" down (significantly) to MP3 quality.

Keep in mind that high-resolution AIFF file can take up nearly 4 times as much as standard CD-quality track. So, if the average 5 minute song on CD in WAV format would take up 50MB, the same AIFF high-resolution file could take up as much as 200MB!

One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot go from CD to higher resolution without having the "source"... Since PvD has access to many tunes "source" material - e.g. demo sessions sent by producers themselves for remastering in high-quality AIFF, he can take an AIFF file in it's original state, at high resolution and use it in his mixes to produce crisp, clear and floor-leveling frequencies. (provided sound system can hack it).

Ah, I'm getting carried away. See "nyquist theory" on google as well.

-later

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yeah i read that PvD article last night. He says he's not using records anymore...he's using final scratch. But he uses aiff and not crap mp3's. *sniff sniff* i think i smell a cd-r vs vinyl conversation comming on.

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