WTF is WMA?
A file with the .wma file extension is an audio recording encoded with Microsoft's Windows Media Audio Codec, and shows that it is an audio-only file that either be downloaded or streamed. Using speech audio recorded at 8khz sample rate or high-quality stereo music files recorded at sample rates up to 48kHz, Windows Audio Media files can be encoded at bit rates as low as 5 Kbps up to Windows Media Players own 'near CD quality' bit rate of 192 Kbps. It is claimed that Windows Media Audio provides CD quality encoding at half the bit rate of MP3. Brian Dipert's December 2000 analysis and comparison of the Windows Media Audio 7, MP3 (Fraunhofer) and RealAudio G2 codecs found that lossy-compression artifacts (such as echo, low-pass filtering, frequency masking and silence gaps) that are created by all lossy codecs were more numerous in RealAudio and MP3 than in WMA. The comparison of quality and performance saw WMA come out on top with almost equivalent performance (encoding speed) as MP3s 'fastest encode' with matched quality at MP3s 'highest quality' encode. It also showed the type of recording (speech and music from different music genres) is a factor in the codecs ability to optimize the encoding due to the frequency and channel-to-channel variations. View 'Inside the Digital Den' by Brian Dipert, technical editor for EDN. Software downloads supporting WMA: Windows Media Player for Macintosh 7.0 Beta 2 for Macintosh Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 for Windows 98/2000 Windows Media Player for Macintosh 6.3 Beta 2 for Power Macintosh WMA Encoder/Decoder 1.2.9 for Windows 95/98/NT/2000
WAV to WMA Encoder/Decoder Blaze Media Pro 2001i for Windows 95/98/NT/2000
CD to WMA, WAV to WMA, WMA to WAV RioPort Audio Manager 3.2 for Windows 95/98/NT/2000
Copy your entire CD collection as WMA files in CD quality WhiteTiger Pro 3.0 for Windows 95/98/2000/NT
WMA encoders, WMA decoders, MP3, WAV or WMA mixing tools Sound Forge XP 4.5f for Windows 95/98/2000/NT4
Sound Forge XP 4.5 supports .MP3 files, Windows Media Format (ASF), Windows Media Audio (WMA), RealMedia G2 (RM), JAVA files (AU) PCDJ Broadcaster 5.0 for Windows 95/98/2000/NT
The PCDJ Broadcaster is a unique dual-channel player that plays all formats of compressed digital media: MP3, Microsoft's WMA, streaming MP3 (M3U), PLS, and more. | 
