Audio Formats – MP3, WAV, or Multitracks: What’s best for you?

Aj Shine

Music Producer, Entrepreneur

is      -.Why different audio formats?

Before explaining the characteristics of each format to you, it is good to understand that beyond a simple difference in audio files between WAV and MP3, there is a real difference in sound quality.

A song recorded on MP3 will not have the same richness as a song recorded on WAV.

This is also why producers sell their instrumentals more in WAV format, quite simply because this format has a much better sound quality.

I will now explain to you precisely what are the differences between MP3, WAV and Multitrack WAV 🎧

MP3 – practical but not ideal

MP3 is the most common audio format, it has become essential in our daily life because it has the advantage of being a very light format while having an audio quality deemed acceptable.

Unfortunately its main advantage (its light weight) is also its main flaw!

Indeed, MP3 is an audio format that we call a lossy compressed format , this means that to obtain an audio in MP3 we remove the richness and the quality of a sound to save space ✂

That’s the reason why the price of an MP3 license is the lowest.

It is – in fact –  a version of the instrumental in lower quality. 😅

Unfortunately a lot of online artists (who I don’t think take their music careers seriously enough) continue to record their tracks in MP3 formats.  These are the problems they continue to have :

• They record on compressed instrumentals and therefore with average quality
• They are completely outside the norms of the music industry
• They are unable to mix or master their sound because the MP3 is not rich enough

WAV – the audio benchmark

The WAV audio format is the benchmark format in the music industry and is therefore the complete opposite of MP3:

1. It is a lossless audio format which reproduces all the richness of the sound
2. It is an uncompressed file which therefore has an ideal quality.
3. This is the audio format used in all studios, mixing / mastering companies, etc.

By purchasing your instrument in WAV format you make sure you get the quality of the production as it was composed. You will surely discover some details and subtleties that you could not hear before! 🎧

To sum up, WAV is really the ideal format if you take your music seriously.

Multitrack WAV –  control your music

Multitrack WAV is not really an audio format per se, it is more of a way of receiving instrumentals. For simplicity :

When you buy an instrumental in Multitrack WAV you receive each element of the composition as an individual track in WAV format (for example

1. 1 WAV track from the piano
2. 1 WAV track from the guitar
3. 1 WAV track from the hihats 

So you must be wondering what the point of having all the elements separated from each other? Well it can be summed up in 1 sentence:

Multitrack WAV gives you complete control of your song.

Indeed imagine that you record yourself and that you realize that the piano of the instrumental is a little too strong or is badly integrated in your mix? You will just have to select the WAV track of the piano and modify it without it impacting the rest of the production!

The Multitrack WAV gives you complete freedom to achieve the perfect recording for your song, on top of that if you are recording in the studio the sound engineers will rework the different tracks so that the instrument sounds best with your voice.

Of the 3 formats I just told you about –  this one is the most recommended for an instrumental.  It is the one that will allow you to be the most precise in the creation of your song and thus obtain a professional quality.  The difference between the sonic quality of songs using Multi – track stems is like the difference between playing basketball on the playground and playing basketball in the NBA.  This is how you differentiate yourself from 90% of rappers on the Internet. 🔊