What Types of Audio Files Can Windows Media Player Import?

• Windows Media Player supports a variety of audio formats.headphones image by John Keith from Fotolia.com
  
  Windows Media Player supports its own proprietary WMV format as well as a number of other popular audio types found on the Web. Every Windows user has at least one audio player: Windows Media Player. If you have no other audio players and you click an audio file, Windows Media Player will play that file if it is one of the supported Windows Media Player file types.
  
  

Windows Media

• Windows Media Audio (WMA) files are the default audio files supported by the player. These files are compact, have good audio quality and are suitable for sharing via email. If a website includes an embedded link to a WMA file, a user's Windows Media Player will play the file. Other media players, such as QuickTime and Real Media, can play WMAs using plug-in software. WMA files are created by compressing audio using Microsoft's Windows Media Audio codec.
  
  

Audio Interchange File Format

• Apple Computer uses Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) in iTunes, the iPhone and other Apple products. This compressed format produces high-quality audio from sampled and instrumental sounds. Windows Media Player imports AIFF files automatically when a user opens them from the file menu.
  
  

MIDI

• Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) files do not contain audio data. They store digital information that Windows Media Player decodes and converts to audio. MIDI files are smaller than other formats because they only contain MIDI messages. MIDI files will also play in a Windows Media Player browser plug-in if a website user clicks a MIDI file and has his default media player set to Windows Media Player.
  
  

WAV

• Microsoft and IBM created Waveform Audio (WAV) files. These uncompressed audio files and have the best sound quality of all audio formats. WAV files are also the largest. WAV files do not stream over the Web, but Windows Media Player will play them.
  
  

MP3

• MP3 files are some of the most popular audio files on the Web. Online music sites stream MP3 audio using Flash players. However, users without Flash players can also listen to Web-based MP3 files if the site developer embeds the Windows Media Player in the site's HTML code. MP3 files are small, and their sound quality depends on the settings used to create the files. The desktop Windows Media Player imports MP3s without using a plug-in.
  
  

AU

• Windows Media Player can also import AU audio files. Sun introduced this compressed file format. Although they designed AU files for the UNIX operating system, all platforms support them. AU files are small and have poor sound quality.