WAV audio files can be as large as 4GB, and even smaller files need a lot of space. While WAV format files are of excellent quality, not all users can afford to store them in their devices.

Scenario: You’ve obtained an audio or video file that’s either in a format unsupported by the device you intend to play it on—an iOS device, traditional iPod, or your Mac, for example—or in a form ...

Digital sound is nothing more than numbers. What separates one container from another is how those numbers are packed, how much data (if any) is thrown away, and which devices understand the result.