Audio Interchange File Format: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|File format family}}
{{Redirect|AIFC|the Astana International Financial Centre|Astana International Financial Centre}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox file format
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| uniform type = public.aiff-audio<br />public.aifc-audio
| magic =
| owner = [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]
| released = {{start date and age|1988|01|21|df=yes}}<ref name="aiff-spec">{{citation |url=https://www.mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/Documents/AudioFormats/AIFF/Docs/AIFF-1.3.pdf |title=Audio Interchange File Format, A Standard for Sampled Sound Files, Version 1.3 |format=PDF |author=Apple Computer, Inc. |date=1989-01-04 |access-date=2010-03-21}}</ref><!-- {{Start date|YYYY|dd|mm|df=yes}} -->
| latest release version = 1.3
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|1989|01|04|df=no}}<!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|dd|mm|df=yes}} --><br />AIFF-C / {{Start date and age|1991|07|df=yes}}<ref name="aiff-spec2">{{cite web |url=https://www.mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/Documents/AudioFormats/AIFF/AIFF.html |title=Audio File Format Specifications - AIFF / AIFF-C Specifications |author=P. Kabal |publisher=McGill University |date=2005-03-15 |access-date=2010-03-21}}</ref>
| genre = [[audioAudio file format]], [[container format (digital)|container format]]
| container for =
| contained by =
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In addition to audio data, AIFF can include [[Loop (music)|loop]] point data and the musical note of a [[sampling (music)|sample]], for use by hardware samplers and musical applications.
 
The file extension for the standard AIFF format is <code>.aiff</code> or <code>.aif</code>. For the compressed variantsformat itthe ispreferred supposedsuffix to beis <code>.aifc</code>, but audio applications supporting the format also allow <code>.aiff</code> or <code>.aif</code> are accepted as well by audio applications supporting the format.
 
==AIFF on macOS==
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Because the AIFF architecture has no provision for alternative byte order, Apple used the existing AIFF-C compression architecture, and created a "pseudo-compressed" codec called '''sowt''' ('''twos''' spelled backwards). The only difference between a standard AIFF file and an AIFF-C/sowt file is the byte order; there is no compression involved at all.<ref name="RF04">{{cite web |date=1995-05-01 |title=Technical Q&A QTMRF04: QuickTime Sound |url=https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/qa/qtmrf/qtmrf04.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705133320/https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/qa/qtmrf/qtmrf04.html |archive-date=2022-07-05 |access-date=2009-11-09 |website=Apple |publisher=}}</ref>
 
Apple uses this new little-endian AIFF type as its standard on macOS. When a file is imported to or exported from [[iTunes]] in "AIFF" format, it is actually AIFF-C/sowt that is being used. When audio from an audio CD is imported by dragging to the macOS Desktop, the resulting file is also an AIFF-C/sowt. In all cases, Apple refers to the files simply as "AIFF", and uses the "<code>.aiff"</code> extension.
 
For the vast majority of users this technical situation is completely unnoticeable and irrelevant. The sound quality of standard AIFF and AIFF-C/sowt are identical, and the data can be converted back and forth without loss. Users of older audio applications, however, may find that an AIFF-C/sowt file will not play, or will prompt the user to convert the format on opening, or will play as static.
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Apple has also created another recent extension to the AIFF format in the form of Apple Loops<ref>{{cite web |title=Logic Studio - Plug-ins & Sounds |url=https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/plugins-and-sounds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720011337/http://www.apple.com/logic-pro/plugins-and-sounds |archive-date=2013-07-20 |access-date=2010-04-30 |website=Apple |publisher=}}</ref> used by [[GarageBand]] and [[Logic Pro]], which allows the inclusion of data for pitch and tempo shifting by an application in the more common variety, and [[MIDI]]-sequence data and references to GarageBand playback instruments in another variety.
 
Apple Loops use either the <code>.aiff</code> (or <code>.aif</code>) or <code>.caf</code> extension regardless of type.
 
==Data format==
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| ALAW
| [[CCITT]] G.711 A-law
| 8-bit ITU-T G.711 A-law (64 &nbsp;kbit/s)
| SGI
|-
| ULAW
| CCITT G.711 u-law
| 8-bit ITU-T G.711 μ-law (64 &nbsp;kbit/s)
| SGI
|-