Files in Monkey's Audio format, also known as APE, are designed to sound identical to the audio source, but may not play on many portable music players or in applications such as Apple's iTunes. Converting these files to a standard MP4 audio format may cost a bit of audio quality but offers a compatibility advantage, especially when you're on the go.
Monkey's Audio format
- The Monkey's Audio compression format is lossless, meaning that unlike MP3 or even some MP4 formats, no musical information is discarded. Files using Monkey's Audio compression use the file extension ".ape." Winamp, JRiver Media Center and other applications support APE files, but not all audio software or devices do, in part because the Monkey's Audio format is not released with an open-source license. In addition, more processing power is required to decode and play back the Monkey's Audio format.
MP4 Format
- MP4, or MPEG-4 Part 14, is known as a container format and can hold audio, video and even static images. Audio-only files using the MP4 format, also known as AAC files, normally use the file extension ".m4a" and are usually encoded with a "lossy" compression for smaller file sizes. Although AAC is not an open-source format, most audio applications and portable audio players support AAC files.
Converting from APE
- The Monkey's Audio application includes an option to decompress any APE file, leaving you with an uncompressed WAV file. You may then open the WAV file in most audio applications capable of saving files in AAC format, such as iTunes or Audacity 1.3 or later. To convert the APE file directly to AAC, you must use a converter application, such as Xrecode, Foobar2000 or X Lossless Decoder. Freeware applications may require an additional component download to convert to AAC.
Alternatives to APE
- If you're looking for a more widely accepted lossless compression format, two popular alternatives are FLAC and Apple Lossless. FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an open-source format supported by a variety of audio applications. Artists such as The Beatles and Nine Inch Nails include albums encoded with FLAC. Apple Lossless was created by Apple Inc. but is open-source and supported on all iPods and iPhones as well as devices by other manufacturers, including Windows Phone and third-party Android applications.
