Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
|||
Line 41:
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
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.
Line 50:
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==
|