Know your digital audio formats

For the sound of CD quality in a much smaller file size there's Apple Lossless, which iTunes users can select from their import settings as the desired format for ripping CDs. These files offer all the fidelity of uncompressed audio (CD, WAV, AIFF) at half the file size, and can be played on the majority of iPod MP3 players. Like AAC, Apple Lossless files end in the .M4A extension, but the audio quality is technically far superior. Because this is a proprietary format, however, the support for Apple Lossless playback is limited mostly to Apple products and software.