WMA audio format introduction and related free WMA converter software downloads.

WMA Format Introduction:

Windows Media Audio (WMA) is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework.

WMA consists of four distinct codecs. The original WMA codec, known simply as WMA, was conceived as a competitor to the popular MP3 and RealAudio codecs. WMA Pro, a newer and more advanced codec, supports multichannel and high resolution audio. A lossless codec, WMA Lossless, compresses audio data without loss of audio fidelity (the regular WMA format is lossy). WMA Voice, targeted at voice content, applies compression using a range of low bit rates.

WMA can encode audio signals sampled at up to 48 kHz with up to two discrete channels (stereo). WMA 9 introduced variable bit rate (VBR) and average bit rate (ABR) coding techniques into the MS encoder although both were technically supported by the original format. WMA 9.1 also added support for low-delay audio, which reduces latency for encoding and decoding.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Audio

Free WMA Converter Software:

Our free WMA converter software supports converting from WMA and converting to WMA.

Related Downloads:

Free Audio Converter is a free software to convert audio formats MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA from one to another, such as converting MP3 to WAV and WMA, WAV to MP3 and WMA.

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