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Music Overview
Microsoft® Windows Media® is the best platform for encoding, protecting, distributing, and playing digital music from dial-up rates to rich 7.1 surround sound. All leading music labels (Sony, Virgin EMI, Warner Music Group, BMG, Universal) and top independent record labels have encoded their music content in the Windows Media Audio (WMA) format. WMA has for years led the industry with the best quality and compression available, as shown by independent tests.
Introducing Windows Media 9 Series
Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA9) Series offers the best technology for all digital audio content:
- Better File Compression 20% overall improvement equals better quality at lower bitrates
- Surround Sound new WMA9 Pro codec offers webs first digital 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound capability
- Clearer "Voice" Audio new mixed-mode voice and music codec which is ideal for radio broadcasts, advertising, e-books and voiceovers
- Smaller Audio Files new variable bit rate (VBR) feature adjusts WMA9 encoded music for efficiently
- Music Archiving new WMA Lossless codec provides audiophile-level quality for archiving
- Improved Security now music content can be protected in downloads, streams including "live" events, and on personal devices
Additionally, encoded WMA9 music content will play in old players, operating systems, and electronic devices with no firmware or software upgrade, so your music will be available to millions of existing listeners. Windows Media Audio 9 Series delivers the highest fidelity audio at any bit rate from dial-up to broadband, for streaming, download-and-play and delivery of content on physical media.
Windows Media Audio 9 Series Features:
Better Compression and Quality 20% Improvement
In digital audio, the core challenges are quality and compression. Uncompressed audio files are so huge they couldnt reasonably be delivered to users over the Internet, and would take up large amounts of hard drive storage. So, compression and decompression technology, or "codecs" were developed to reduce the audio file size.
Better compression delivers huge benefits. Each version of Windows Media Audio (WMA) has increased audio compression without quality loss, and now Windows Media Audio 9 has improved an additional 20% from the previous version. This means that digital music can be encoded, stored, and distributed even faster and more economically. Windows Media 9 Series is the highest quality, most comprehensive digital media platform available, and nowhere is this better reflected than in the Windows Media Audio 9 codec.
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The Webs First Digital Surround Sound Codec Windows Media Audio 9 Professional
Until now, digital media on the web was limited to stereo (2 channel) 16-bit content at relatively high bitrates. While this was state-of-the-art in 1984s Compact Disc format, consumer audio technology is rapidly moving beyond this to encompass 5.1 channel surround sound and beyond, and some state-of-the-art audio platforms are moving into 20 and 24 bit sampling. Windows Media Audio 9 Professional makes this higher level of fidelity available today.
Windows Media Audio 9 Professional is a great match for high fidelity hardware and 5.1 channel surround equipped PCs, because it captures full resolution audio (24 bit / 96 kHz sampling) in either stereo, 5.1, or 7.1 channel surround for streaming or download-and-play delivery. This means that instead of only being able to encode in stereo, you now have the option to encode in discrete digital surround sound allowing your music to be experienced in stunning 5.1 channel surround sound music with superior fidelity at the same bitrate!
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"Voice" Audio Sounds Clearer Windows Media Audio 9 Voice
The new Windows Media Audio 9 Voice codec is the industrys first mixed-mode voice/music codec that supports superior quality delivery of combined speech and music content at low data rates (<20 Kbps). Until now, low bitrate codecs were optimized for either music OR voice content, and you had to choose between the two. But a lot of real-world content is a mixture for example, audio books, radio broadcasts, and executive speeches with background music. Now Windows Media 9 Voice codec eliminates the compromise in quality for this type of content.
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Smaller and More Efficient Audio Files Windows Media Audio 9 Variable Bit Rate (VBR) Audio
The size of a digital music file is important the smaller the size means less storage and distribution costs. In the past, all encoding only happened at a constant bitrate, yet not all audio requires the same level of compression, so there was a waste of data bits which made the file size larger. Now, Windows Media Audio 9 VBR can detect which sections of a song are most difficult, and allocate more bits to the harder portions where theyre needed most.
Windows Media Audio 9 VBR reduces the average bitrate (i.e. file size) and still achieves the optimal sound quality of the resulting audio files. Both the WMA9 and WMA9 Pro codecs have VBR as an option; the WMA9 Pro Lossless codec is always VBR.
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The Ultimate Audiophile Archival Codec Windows Media Audio 9 Pro Lossless
WMA 9 Pro Lossless, a new mathematically lossless audio codec, delivers the ultimate audiophile performance. Capable of compressing CD audio without any information loss into 1/2 to 1/3 its original size, the listener will enjoy exactly the original sound quality, bit-for-bit. Its the ultimate "archival" codec for your music library!
In most applications, file size or bit rate matters. Thats why audio codec systems reduce the bitrate by eliminating bits that typically go unheard by the listener. Since some information is lost in compression, this is called "lossy" compression, and it accomplishes amazing things. For example, the standard Windows Media Audio 9 codec is capable of delivering consumer CD quality sound at less than 64 Kbps less than 1/20 the size of the CD original.
But for some specialized or audiophile applications, size doesnt matter ultimate quality does. For those situations, Microsoft has developed the WMA 9 Pro Lossless codec. This lossless compression does not alter the final decoded signal in any way, but rather compresses the audio data efficiently into a smaller data rate for transmission without discarding any audio data. The original data is rendered perfectly at playback.
A great use of the WMA9 Pro Lossless codec is as an "archive" format for a music library which can then be transcoded into other codecs like WMA9 for playback. In this sense, a music collection can be "future proofed" and recoded into future codecs on demand.
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Improved Security Enhancements - Windows Media DRM 9
The industry-leading Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) secures distribution for all types of digital media, including music and audio, using a non-intrusive rights management system giving consumers easy and legitimate access to their content while protecting the rights of the content owners. This content is distributed in many ways music purchases, promotional downloads, streams, and pay-per-view events.
The new Windows Media DRM 9 enhances the proven Windows Media DRM technologies by including the protection of:
- "Live" Broadcast Content protecting content "on the fly" for secure delivery to exactly the audience you want to reach
- Personal Devices easier DRM implementation for chip and consumer electronics manufacturers
For more information that will help you better understand digital rights management, see Windows Media DRM.
Microsoft supports the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) and the efforts of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), protecting intellectual property rights worldwide.
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Other Windows Media:
HDCD High Definition Compatible Digital The Audiophile's Source for the Richest Sound 
HDCD audio technology delivers the full richness and detail of the original music source for unsurpassed quality on CD and DVD recordings and more. Today over 300 million HDCD CDs have been sold including more than 225 Billboard Top 200 recordings and more than 175 GRAMMY® nominations.
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