We chose two of the most popular formats for the audio available on DavidGray.com: MP3 files are the standard format, and FLAC files are the premium format. Here is a bit more information on the different formats:
MP3 (Audio Format): The standard MP3 files, encoded at 128 Kbps (near-CD quality) are easy to download, easy to burn to CD, easy to transfer to portable players and sound great. The 256 Kbps encoding provides and increased quality of sound. MP3 files are versatile enough to use on both your computer and home stereo system. Many portable players that play digital music files can only play MP3 files.
For those who desire higher fidelity, we also offer the premium FLAC format. FLAC is a "lossless" compression which means that the source audio file is compressed, but without sacrificing any of the audio information contained in the master recording. An extracted FLAC file sounds identical to the original source (44.1 kHz, 16 bit stereo). FLAC files are much larger files and will take longer to download. These files are for audiophiles who want the best sound quality possible. FLAC files may be burned directly to CD on a PC running Nero CD Burning software with the FLAC plugin, while Mac OS X users must extract () FLAC to AIFF files to burn CDs or to listen to the files. You may listen to FLAC files with a special plug-in for Winamp (PC). Be sure to check compatibility with your favorite software or portable player.
We recommend new downloaders start with the standard MP3 format.