What is the m4a file format?

Answer by  Binome (1975)

M4A files are Apple Lossless Audio files. They're like MP4's, but with out a video track. Unlike MP3, it's a lossless compression, so the audio quality doesn't degrade in the process of being converted.

Answer by  thorsdecree (409)

M4A is a video file format that usually uses the new high-quality h.264 codec, which is currently the standard for high-quality video encoding. M4A is similar to MP4 and M4V and can be played by iPods. If you need a video player for it, VLC is a good free player that can play virtually any format ever made.

Answer by  Landon (5)

m4a format stands for "Mpeg4 audio", which is a popular file format to represent audio. The sound quality is improved compared to that of mp3 audio format at the same level bitrate.

Answer by  JakeO (12)

m4a is MPEG-4 audio. It's a lossless audio compression format and as such delivers superior sound quality compared to the lossy mp3 format. Apple refers to this format as "Apple Lossless". The format is exactly the same as a mp4 file except that m4a files usually don't have a video stream. This is just a naming convention for convenience.

Answer by  Rano (84)

M4A means MPEG 4 (MP4) Audio-only file format. As far as MPEG-4 files may contain any number of audio, video and subtitle streams, Apple Inc. introduced M4A as audio format MP4 only. This is especially used for non-protected content. Audio and or video playback software should distinguish between m4a and mp4 because there is no format difference.

Answer by  Amber40 (24961)

It is a file formatted using the Apple Lossless Audio Codec. Meaning it does loss-less compression on the file and saves it in the MPEG-4 format.

Answer by  Bob86 (165)

M4A is an audio file format, originally developed by apple. It is a variant of the MPEG-4 file format, which is a file format capable of containing video, audio and subtitle information, unlike MPEG-4, M4A can only contain audio data.

Answer by  Taylor (863)

m4a files are the audio format commonly used by apple computer. These files are encrypted and usually can only be played on the computer they were made on via iTunes.