which audio format

[Twampy]

Hi,
When uploading tracks to places like sound cloud and you tube what is the best format? I prefer wma but had trouble getting it to upload to sound cloud. I ended up using mp3 but I was sure it made the cymbals sound wobbly. I think that because the wma was 32 bit I could not get it to upload.

 

[Bane01]

Lossless codecs like WAV or AIFF are the best quality but rather cumbersome to upload. I'm sure there are subtle differences among the lossy codecs, but usually it doesn't matter. Download compatibility is generally pretty good with MP3's but I don't think iPods accept WMA (could be mistaken) and most generic players don't accept Apple formats like M4A. I always upload my files at 16bit, never tried higher.

Soundcloud will mangle your high end a bit (normally high hats and cymbals), generally youtube and others sound better to my ear.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Upload a wave file and let Soundcloud encode it to their standard. Your mp3 has to be decoded and re-encoded, which can't be good for the sound.

 

[guitarpat]

I use wav files myself
Pat