AAC
AAC (short for Advanced Audio Coding) was the less popular successor to the wildly popular MP3 audio coding format.
When using optimal encoders for both formats, at any given bitrate AAC tends to sound better than MP3. To put it another way, at any given perceived quality you're aiming for, AAC files can take up less space than MP3 files.[1]
AAC was supported by the third generation iPod onwards,[2][3] along with the contemporary iPod Mini and its successors. This technically enabled the new iPod Mini to store as many songs as the original iPod had, in spite of its less spacious hard drive. Naturally, Apple's advertising took advantage of that fact, sneakily hiding its reduced capacity in their small print.
References
- "Results of the Public Multiformat Listening Test (July 2014)" Jul 2014
- "Capacity based on an average song length of 4 minutes and 160 kbps encoding." "iPod — Technical Specifications" Apple, Apple, Aug 2002
Note: Second generation iPod. MP3, AIFF, and WAV playback. No AAC. - "Capacity based on 4 minutes per song and 128 kbps AAC or MP3 encoding." "iPod — Technical Specifications" Apple, Apple, May 2003
Note: Third generation iPod. AAC, MP3, AIFF, and WAV playback.
Audio coding formats: AAC | MP3
