What does it mean when a song is compressed?

Compressed lossy audio files are made by removing certain types of audio data to shrink the file size. Lossy compression can be adjusted to compress audio a lot, or to compress audio very little. As a result, most audio file formats strive for a balance between audio quality and file size.

Is compressed sound better?

Compression keeps the vocal at the right level throughout the tune, or lets them jump out of the mix a little better without being louder; just the right type of compression might make the drums more exciting or intentionally weird. It’s all about using the available tools to make great-sounding music.

What does uncompressed audio mean?

Uncompressed audio is audio without any compression applied to it. This includes audio recorded in PCM or WAV form. Lossless audio compression is where audio is compressed without losing any information or degrading the quality at all. Examples of lossless formats includes WMA Lossless or FLAC in Matroska.

What does over compressed audio sound like?

When you compress too hard with fast attack times, the dynamic range of your mix is squashed. You’ll end up with something that sounds like this: A song with no room to breathe; as flat as a pancake.

Is compressed audio better than uncompressed?

To the average listener, there isn’t much difference in the sound quality between high quality compressed and uncompressed formats. Unfortunately, every time an audio file is converted into a compressed format, it’s not a perfect copy and it loses information.

How do you deal with compression?

Here are simple ways to avoid over-compressing, and keep control over your tracks and song without squashing and killing it.

1. Don’t compress every track by default.
2. Use a slower attack.
3. Use lower ratios, like 2:1 or 3:1.
4. Compress no more than 3 to 6 db.
5. Use compression in stages.
6. Use parallel compression.

Are YouTube audio compressed?

Although it is not recommended, YouTube accepts compressed audio. YouTube transcodes from the delivered format; audio quality is much better when transcoded from a lossless format compared to re-compressing a lossy audio format.