Ogg Vorbis is another type of lossy compression and uses .OGG as file extension. It is an open-source product and unlike MP3, there are no patent restrictions on its use.

Lossless Compression

For audio purist who insists on best quality sound possible, lossless compression offers CD quality sound. The tradeoff is larger files sizes – while MP3 can compress audio in range of 80% - 90%, lossless compression typically compresses file by half.

Popular lossless formats include FLAC, Monkey’s Audio, and SHN (Shorten). These formats are supported by many audio players and are popular for archiving CD collections as well as for trading music.

Pops and clicks are of two flavours – digital and analog. Digital clicks can be caused by processor overload as you make a digital recording. The recording “stops” for a moment and resulting skip creates a very short click. Digital clicks are easy to detect and most noise reduction software does this automatically.

Analog clicks and pops are caused by scratches and imperfections on vinyl and their duration is much longer than digital clicks. To remove this type of noise, a special filter is needed to automatically detect and remove unwanted sound. Settings can be adjusted to match size and frequency of noise.

There are several audio packages on market that are specifically designed to reduce noise from vinyl and cassette recordings. They allow you to capture audio digitally by connecting a turntable or cassette deck to sound card on your computer. Once audio is stored on computer, it can be processed to remove background hiss and clicks. Most presets will give you adequate results and you will be able to enjoy your old recordings in digital domain.