Oftentimes users want to download music online but they tend to get confused because some are written in mp3 format whereas others are written in mp4 format.
Sound has continued to evolve so also has digital file format. There are so many file formats but over the years mp3 and mp4 have been the area of focus for most multimedia users.
Mp4 suggests that there has been a transition from mp3. This also means that mp4 has been considered to be the successor of mp3.
But is mp4 better than mp3? Dont jump to a conclusion just yet as this article aims to widen your knowledge of mp3 and mp4 and their differences.
CONTENT
What is mp3?
What is mp4?
What are the differences between mp3 and mp4?
Conclusion
What is mp3?
Before we dive into the differences between mp3 and mp4 it will be of great importance to note what mp3 and mp4 mean.
Mp3 is a digital audio coding file format and compresses file sizes. It was developed in Germany and supported by other digital scientists in the US and other places.
Mp3 makes use of the .mp3 file format and its primary work is to store audio files.
What is mp4?
According to Wikipedia, mp4 is a digitized multimedia format container.
It can be used for a variety of purposes such as; storing audio and video files, texts and images.
It can also be used to store files such as subtitles.
It is written in the .mp4 file format and allows for streaming over the internet.
Differences between mp3 and mp4
Mp3 is written in the .mp3 file format whereas mp4 is written in the .mp4 file format.
While mp3 is used to store audio files only, mp4 is used to store audio files, video files, texts, subtitles and images.
Mp4 allows streaming over the internet whereas mp3 does not permit streaming over the internet.
Mp4 is designed with a compressing technology which helps to reduce the quality of the video as well as the audio
Mp3 file format is always smaller than that of mp4
Devices that are made for mp4 are both audio and video file players whereas devices that are made for mp3 are basically audio file players.
Although mp4 is a successor of mp3; mp4 is extended from apple quicktime.mov and MPEG-4 whereas mp3 is from mp2.
Mp3 is written in audio format while mp4 is written in container format.
Mp3 was released in the early 1990s whereas mp4 was released in 2003.
MP4 has a larger bite rate than mp3 but it doesn`t mean that it produces better audio than mp3.
Conclusion
The differences listed above are the differences between mp3 and mp4.
Mp3 files are mainly audio files whereas mp4 files are used for multiple digital files.
Mp3 has a smaller file size than mp4.
It is uncertain as to which is better as both offers the same audio quality, however, the mp4 format is dynamic since they are containers.
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