Nowadays, we all need to deal with audio formats all the time, knowingly or unknowingly. From call communication to media streaming, we need to use various types of audio formats. The most popular audio formats are MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG Vorbis, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, and DSD.
Each of these formats works better for specific purposes. So you may need to use all the audio formats at least once in your life for various kinds of purposes. However, in this article, we will talk about the two most used audio formats, WAV and OGG. And we will compare these so that you can know which one is better and which one is for you among WAV vs OGG.
What is WAV Format?
The WAV audio codec is a container audio format for windows audio files. IBM and Microsoft defined the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) as a WAV audio format file. Like most other popular lossless audio file formats, including ALAC, FLAC, WMA, and WAVPack, the WAV audio codec can also deliver decent quality, lossless audio.
Along with a header and the contents, the WAV file is made where the header contains the information about the duration, resolution, size, sampling frequency, and other audio information contained in the WAV file.
WAV Contains Data in Various Formats
the data can be stored in the container in various formats. Most of the WAV audio format is uncompressed linear pulse-code modulation(LPCM) format, but some WAV files contain compressed audio data too.
So the WAV files are either uncompressed or compressed, and in both cases, they must be decompressed before they can be played back. The main difference between compressed and uncompressed WAV files is that the compressed files contain compressed audio samples, whereas the uncompressed files contain raw audio samples.
How to Edit a WAV audio file
Along with relative ease applications, you can easily manipulate and edit a WAV audio file. You can also use WAV format as compressed audio by using the Audio Compression Manager (ACM) on Microsoft Windows OS. Like most other popular audio formats, you can use any third-party application to make a WAV format or convert any format into the WAV format.
How to Play a Wav file
You can also open the WAV file with almost all famous media players, including Windows Media Player, VLC Media Player, Foobar2000, AIMP, Winamp, MPC-HC Player, MediaInfo Player, Zoom Player, and lots more on any platform and device.
LPCM (standard audio coding format)
LPCM also known as the standard audio coding format for burning CDs, is stored at 44,100 Hz with 16 bits per sampled two-channel LPCM audio. As LPCM is uncompressed and able to gain all of the samples and bit depth from the original audio, most audio experts or professionals use this audio format to ensure superior audio quality.
What is OGG Format?
The Xiph.Org Foundation maintains OGG as a free and open container format. The name of this format is derived from a computer game called Netrek. According to the creators of OGG audio codec, the format is designed to stream and manipulate high-quality digital multimedia without being bound by software patents.
Which Data is OGG Contain?
Multiple streams of audio, video, text (including subtitles), and metadata can be stored in an OGG container. The OGG format uses .oga file extensions for producing audio files and .ogv extensions for producing video files, and for multiplexed OGG files, it uses .ogx extension.
What is OGG Used For?
Though the OGG format was used for containing all kinds of files till 2007, after 2007, the Xiph.Org Foundation suggested that the OGG format will be used for OGG Vorbis audio files only. OGG Vorbis is a popular lossy audio format like mp3, but in terms of quality, OGG is much superior compared to the mp3 format. As it is a lossy format, the quality of the actual one may be slightly decreased when it is produced.
the OGG formats are mainly used for storing audio data at present, where you can store compressed or uncompressed lossy audio data. However, it is still a lossy format that can deliver top-class audio output, which is almost similar to the original file.
On the other hand, you can still use the OGG for storing the video data and text also. So the OGG can be a helpful format for producing multiple streams. Moreover, as the OGG format uses lossy data storing, the file consumes less disk space. So for storing lots of audio files in a smaller disk space, it can be used.
How Do I Listen to OGG files? How to Open OGG File?
Open or listening to an OGG file is much easier as the various OGG codecs are free, and its reference implementation has no copyright restrictions associated with it; most media players include the codecs built-in to play the OGG files.
So you can easily open or listen to an OGG file on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android with various media players, including Microsoft Media Player, Microsoft Groove Music, MPlayer, VideoLAN VLC media player, KM Player, Nullsoft Winamp, Pot Player, Adobe Audition, MX player, and lots other.
Is OGG Audio or Video?
An OGG file can be both audio and video. Before 2007 the OGG format is used for storing various data, including audio, video, and text. But after 2007, the developers of the OGG format recommended the OGG file as an audio codec only, which is known as OGG Vorbis.
However, you can identify an OGG file with its extension; if the extension is .oga, it is an audio file, and if the extension is .ogv, it is a video file.
Differences Between WAV vs OGG
WAV vs OGG: Data Types
The main difference between these two formats is that the WAV container only stores audio data. In contrast, the OGG container can store almost all kinds of data, including audio, video, and text.
OGG vs WAV: Data Size
The WAV format uses lossless data storing algorithm where you will get the exact same audio quality as the actual one, whereas the OGG format uses lossy data storing algorithm; still, you will get almost similar content quality from the actual one. The WAV file is also an uncompressed audio format which ensures the audio’s quality.
The OGG container holds various compression formats together, mainly holding Vorbis files for audio data. Another dissimilarity can be found in the file extensions that the WAV format uses directly.
OGG vs WAV: File extension
WAV file extension; the OGG use various file extensions there for various types of file, including .oga file extensions for audio files and .ogv extensions for video files, and multiplexed OGG files use .ogx extensions.
In general, a WAV file will consume about 10 MB per minute of audio, whereas the OGG file size totally depends on its contained data: where an OGG format with audio data will consume around 1.1 MB per minute. So the difference is vast; therefore, choose wisely before producing your file with these formats.
Final Words
After reading the above discussion, we hope you now know all things you need to know about the WAV and OGG format. Choosing one between OGG vs WAV is not so hard; one is lossless and uncompressed, and the other is lossy.
So you will get superior sound quality with the WAV format, but it will consume more disk space. On the other hand, the OGG is still a good choice if you consider the lower disk space consumption. In terms of audio, you may not even spot the differences when you hear them practically on a loudspeaker.
However, the differences are still there, so if you are someone who doesn’t want to compromise with the sound quality and the file size does not matter to you, then the WAV is a clear choice you should go for.
