AUDIO IFF Meaning and
Definition
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Audio IFF, also known as AIFF, stands for Audio Interchange File Format. It is an audio file format that was developed by Apple Inc. in the late 1980s. AIFF is widely used for storing and transmitting high-quality digital audio, particularly in the Apple Macintosh platform.
The primary purpose of Audio IFF is to maintain the fidelity of audio signals, preserving the original quality of the recorded sound. It is an uncompressed and lossless audio file format, which means it does not discard any audio data during compression or decompression. This feature ensures that the audio stored in AIFF files remains very close to the original source, resulting in higher audio fidelity.
Audio IFF files typically employ PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) encoding, which represents audio signals as a series of digital samples. It can support various bit depths, ranging from 8 bits to 32 bits, as well as different sample rates, such as 44.1 kHz (CD quality) and 48 kHz (common in video production). AIFF files can also store stereo or multichannel audio.
Furthermore, Audio IFF files can contain metadata such as track information, artist details, album artwork, and other relevant information. This metadata allows for better organization and categorization of audio files within media players and audio editing software.
In summary, Audio IFF (AIFF) is an uncompressed and lossless audio file format primarily used in the Apple Macintosh platform. It ensures high audio fidelity and can store various audio attributes and metadata.
Etymology of AUDIO IFF
The term "Audio IFF" stands for "Audio Interchange File Format". The etymology of this term is as follows:
- "Audio" refers to sound or the reproduction of sound.
- "Interchange" implies the exchange or sharing of something, in this case, audio files.
- "File" refers to a collection of data stored on a computer.
- "Format" indicates the organization or structure of the data.
The "IFF" part of the term originates from the Interchange File Format, which was developed by Electronic Arts in the mid-1980s. IFF was a generic container file format designed to store various types of data, including audio, images, and videos. Eventually, a variation called "Audio IFF" or AIFF specifically focused on audio data, incorporating waveform audio data and other related information. AIFF became a commonly used format for storing high-quality audio on Macintosh computers.
