WMA: An Audio Container and Codec for Windows Players

When playing your audio file for listening practices or listening to enjoyable music in WMA, you may start wondering what WMA is and the secret behind it. To help you better understand this audio format and make adjustments for other formats, you can continue reading and see what you can get from this post.

Part 1. What WMA Means

WMA is the abbreviation of Windows Media Audio. It acts as an audio container and also audio codecs developed by Microsoft. Since it’s native to Windows Media Player, a built-in multimedia player on the Windows system, you can easily access this audio file when compressing and editing files. While WMA is a lossy file format, there is also a lossless version called WMA Lossless which is not open-source. Files in WMA feature on a smaller size, higher quality of sound effect but also unsustainable performance over frequent use.

Part 2. Compare WMA with Other Formats

WMA VS WAV

WAV stands for Waveform audio file format, which is a lossless form without quality loss. Files in Wav will remain the original audio and sound as before thus offering more real and accurate audio clips for users. But they are not able to be compressed during encoding. Compared with it, WMA is a space-saving choice for you because it compresses your files to a smaller size and takes less storage room.

WMA VS FLAC

FLAC, Free Lossless Audio Codec in full, is also lossless, which reserves the original quality of your audio recording. It is about six times bigger than MP3 but half the size of a CD. Unlike the specific connection between WMA and Windows system, FLAC can be played on a large number of modern players. And WMA occupies less room for saving as well.

WMA VS ALAC

The full name of ALAC is Apple Lossless Audio Codec. You can tell that it’s supported the series of iOS devices. To ensure the outstanding audio quality at a higher resolution, ALAC will consume much more space than WMA, the lossy file format. But still, it will be safer to choose ALAC if you would like to convert from a lossy format to keep the original sound quality.

Part 3. How to Open and Play WMA

If you are using Windows PC at this moment, WMA would perfectly match your Windows Media Player. You just need to double-click your WMA file and wait for the player to auto-open and play within a few seconds. However, due to the limited character, you have to seek other solutions to other formats first if you are an Android/iOS user. Then you are free to ask for help from useful converters: like ArkThinker Video Converter Ultimate, Movavi Audio Converter, Freemake and more.

Part 4. How to Convert from/to WMA and Other Formats

To make your source file format compatible with different devices, you can convert your AMV files to other supported formats as well as change other files to AMV to match your device best.

Convert WMA to Other Formats

• WMA to WAV
• WMA to AIFF
• WMA to FLAC
• WMA to MP4
• WMA to MP3
• WMA to AAC
• WMA to OGG
• WMA to ALAC
• WMA to ATRAC
• WMA to Opus
• WMA to MPEG-4 SLS
• WMA to TTA
• WMA to ATRAC
• WMA to SHN
• WMA to MPEG-4 ALS
• WMA to MPEG-4 DST

Convert Other Formats to WMA

• WAV to WMA
• AIFF to WMA
• FLAC to WMA
• MP4 to WMA
• MP3 to WMA
• AAC to WMA
• OGG to WMA
• ALAC to WMA
• ATRAC to WMA
• Opus to WMA
• MPEG-4 SLS to WMA
• TTA to WMA
• ATRAC to WMA
• SHN to WMA
• MPEG-4 ALS to WMA
• MPEG-4 DST to WMA

Part 5. FAQs on WMA

• Is WMA better than MP3?

  For a WMA lossless file, it enjoys better quality and authenticity on audio compared with MP3. And it can be smaller than MP3 after compression if you would like some changes to the size.

• Which format is best for audio?

  If you prioritize the sound quality in the form of undepressed and lossless format, you can consider WAV, FLAC, ALAC, etc.

• Can I convert WMA to MP3?

  Definitely. You can check reliable choices for conversion in part 3 of this post like ArkThinker Video Converter Ultimate.