Report on Audio considerations.
When recording audio there are many things you have to consider, not even just about the audio itself but also about things such as file size and different types of file compression in order to make the file as small as possible without losing any audio quality.
Sound Formatting
Sound formatting is a very important aspect in trying to store your audio, you have to consider the aspects of your computer and which specific thing you're using it for, for example if you're making a movie, you would want a much clearer audio without any loss and therefore go for a sound format that uses lossless instead of lossy.
wav is a lossless audio formatting method that is uncompressed and results in a high quality. This makes it a very suitable format is you're attempting to make audio for something like music production for a film, where you need to record your own audio instead of having a different one. This makes it so you have the highest quality audio instead of low-quality audio. The downside of using WAV formatting is that it results in a large file size, which makes it much harder to store on modern computers and therefore leads to having to need much better computer.
mp3 is the most common form of lossy audio formatting and is very commonly used for its very small file size, this makes it much easier to store on common computers and results to most people using it for day-to-day tasks. It's also very commonly used because of the fact that most online websites commonly support it therefore making it very easy to send audio files or upload audio with the mp3 formatting to websites. The downsides of mp3 formatting however is that it isn't a lossless audio format which leads to audio data being lost in the file compression which can lead to loss of audio quality, therefore it isn't useful in situations where you need a very clear audio file.
wma audio formatting is Microsoft's own audio format and is very rarely used. It's very similar to mp3 however isn't as widely accepted by online websites, therefore it is much harder to upload sound. Not only this but it uses lossy compression and therefore makes the audio less clear than other formats such as wav however it is very small in terms of file size.
Storage methods
Storage methods are also important to consider when trying to record audio as you have to think about if you have the means to record the audio and store it. If you have a long audio file and can't store it then you're going to lose quality depending on the type of compression you use and therefore its overall beneficial to have the correct storage method.
One type of storage method you can use is to use an SSD. A hard drive is very effective in the fact that it is very fast, it enables you to store information very quick and can be used well in things such as production. Not only this but it also has no moving parts and therefore isn't prone to break easily which is handy if you're trying to record audio in different places and need to move around often. However, where the SSD faults is in the fact that is very costly, and also has data recovery limitations meaning if your file corrupts while working with sound you might not be able to get it back.
Another type of storage is to use a USB stick. A USB is a portable storage system that can hold large amounts of storage, this leads it to being a good and easy way to store files for audio as you can easily carry it around and aren't afraid of breaking it, it's easy to transport data and makes things such as audio recording much easier if you use it as your storage. A limitation of the USB however is that it can overheat f computer meaning if you use it to h every type of computer meaning if you use it to store your files and then cannot put it into the computer you aren't going to be able to, as well as being easily lost due to its size.
A final type of storage is Cloud. This type of storage is the most portable and accessible of them all, with it being store over the internet. This allows for you to easily access your files and makes for a easy way to store large files, not only this but it is easy to upgrade your storage as you just have to call them and order more, meaning you have a relatively infinite amount of storage space, and is very cheap to upgrade. The only downsides however are that you need the internet to access meaning if the internet in your building goes down you won't be able to access the files, not only this but due to being store on the internet it is susceptible to cyber-attacks and can be intercepted.
Compression
When recording audio, the files can become very large some of the times, therefore it is a necessity to actually compress the size of your files so that you don't slow down the software you're using but also can store everything you need without any hassle of having to upgrade your storage.
DRC audio compression is a compression method that adds a threshold to your audio files, if your audio's sound goes above this threshold is then does something called downward compression which lowers the sound's volume and makes the loud sound quieter and if the sound goes below the threshold, it then does something called upward compression which raises the sound of the audio. DRC does this to make the overall audio range smaller which then leads to the size of the file being much quiet, this allows for you to store more files in your storage without having to upgrade your storage.
Size versus quality
Lossy compression is a type of compression where the file removes data that isn't mandatory to the overall file and deletes them. This then means if you were to try and restore the former file to its entirety you wouldn't be able to due to it having deleted the unnecessary data. This is good for large files that aren't going to be used for professional purposes such as personal use however it won't have as good end quality as something that would be compressed using Lossless, however it will have a much smaller end file size than lossless.
Lossless file compression is a type of file compression that doesn't remove as much data as lossless, it compresses the file by removing unnecessary data however it doesn't entirely delete it and therefore recovery is possible. This is used in more professional scenarios where you need to keep as much quality as possible however you have a good computer, as it doesn't reduce the size to as small as if you were to use lossy.
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