Windows 8 In Depth

Choosing the Recording File Format

Prior to version 10, Windows Media Player supported only a single file format: WMA (Windows Media Audio). This is an excellent music format that provides good quality recordings at high compression rates. If you plan to listen to the tracks only on your computer or on a custom CD, the WMA format is all you need. However, if you have an MP3 player or other device that may not recognize WMA files (although most do, unless you’re one of the zillions with an iPod, iPhone, or iPad), you need to use the MP3 recording format. Windows Media Player 12 supports the following formats:

• Windows Media Audio—This is Windows Media Player’s default audio file format. WMA compresses digital audio by removing extraneous sounds ...