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Format Description Properties
• ID: fdd000103
• Short name: AudCom
• Content categories: sound
• Format category: file format
• Last significant update: 2004-05-24
Identification and description
Full name | Audible.Com File Format |
Description | File format for sound that wraps various audio bitstreams. Audible.Com is a seller of recorded sound products, ranging from talking books to archived radio programs, e.g., Car Talk. See Notes for more information. |
Production phase | Used for final-state, end-user delivery. |
Relationship to other formats | |
Supertype of | AudCom_MP3, Audible.Com MP3 format |
Supertype of | Audible.Com HAC (hearing aid compatibility) format, not documented here |
Supertype of | Audible.Com ACELP speech encoding, not documented here |
Supertype of | Audible.Com files containing other sound encodings not documented here |
May contain | MP3_ENC encoded audio |
May contain | SONY HAC (hearing aid compatibility) encoding, not documented here |
May contain | VoiceAge ACELP speech encoding, not documented here |
May contain | Other sound encodings, not documented here |
Local use
LC experience or existing holdings | None |
LC preference | General preference for recorded sound is WAVE_LCPM. For compressed audio, MP3_FF is preferred to AudCom_MP3; within the Audible.Com family, however, AudCom_MP3 is preferred to other encodings. |
Sustainability factors
Disclosure | Not documented. Proprietary format of Audible.Com |
Documentation | Compilers of this document were unable to locate specifications for the wrapper format. |
Adoption | Not known to the compilers of this document. Audible.Com is a visible player in the downloadable sound marketplace and appears to be actively distributing product. |
Licensing and patent claims | Not known to the compilers of this document. |
Transparency | Unknown; see note on technological protection below. |
Self-documentation | Not known to the compilers of this document. Evidence at the web site suggests that the files carry some descriptive ("bibliographic") information, e.g., author, title, and duration. |
External dependencies | Files can be played only on certain players; select "What I Need" from the site's home page. |
Technical protection considerations | From the web site: "Audible created and employs a proprietary technology solution for distributing copyright-secure audio files that can be downloaded or streamed from audible.com. Audible's secure distribution system prevents a customer from passing along duplicate digital audio files to another listener." (This paragraph was found on the Audible.Com web site on May 12, 2004, by selecting "Help Center" from the home page, then selecting "Find an Answer," and clicking question 31: "Can I convert my books to MP3s?") Note that there is a provision to write content to audio CDs. |
Quality and functionality factors (video)
Normal rendering | Good support. |
Fidelity (support for high audio resolution) | Moderate to good, depending upon encoding selected; the web site compares the formats in terms of fidelity and other factors. |
Support for multiple sound channels | Apparently not |
Support for downloadable or user-defined sounds, samples, and patches | Not supported |
Functionality beyond normal rendering | None described |
File type signifiers
Notes
General | The formats used by the company range from highly compressed speech encodings to less compressed MP3_ENC (MP3 encoding). The site states, "The more information, or bits, the fuller and richer the sound." Programs that feature music are not offered in the most compressed formats. More information on the Audible.Com formats page. Another page at the site reports that "Audible's preferred speech codec is licensed from VoiceAge Corporation," presumably the ACELP (Algebraic Code Excited Linear Prediction) encoding described by VoiceAge. |
History | |
Format specifications
URLs
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Useful references
URLs
•
Audible.Com web site. (http://www.audible.com)
•
Discussion of formats at Audible.Com (http://www.audible.com/formats)
•
VoiceAge web site, information on ACELP speech encoding. (http://www.voiceage.com)
•
IANA MIME Media Types (http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/)
•
The File Extension Source (http://filext/com/)
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Last Updated: Wednesday, 07-Mar-2007 12:40:21 EST