The "wave" file got it's name from it's file extension which is ".wav" (I had a friend call it a "Wav" (like "have") file - and I just about fell off my chair!). Wave files are the standard format which most audio is recorded and edited. When you burn a CD, you transfer a Wave file to a disc - it's the only format that will work in any CD player.
Wave files sound great, but they're very big. Ever wonder why you can only get about 13-15 songs on a CD? A three minute song in .wav format (stereo) is approx. 30 megs in size - and a CD only holds about 650 megs......you can do the math from there.
The rough formula for a standard audio (.wav) file is: 1 minute of Stereo audio = 10 megs. Yikes! Thankfully, there are many ways to keep the files small. For instance - you can cut the file size in half by having your voice talent record the audio in mono. Yes, it still comes out of both speakers.
Mono is fine for voice over work, regardless of the format. Stereo just sounds fancier....and takes up twice as much space.
There are many other types of formats like .aif, .snd for Mac users etc. but the file size is about the same. So, if these files are so big - what's the best way to transfer and use them?
The answer came to us a few years ago in the form of a new type of compression - MP3 or MPEG.
