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Windows Media Audio is a new audio codec created by Microsoft. Windows Media Encoder included in Windows Media Tools version 4.0 contains the latest version of this codec, Windows Media Audio codec version 2.The codec is designed to handle all types of audio content, from low-bandwidth 8-kilohertz (kHz) speech to 48-kHz stereo music. This codec is very resistant to degradation due to packet loss because it does not use interframe memory. This loss tolerance makes it excellent for use with streaming content. In addition, by using an improved encoding algorithm, this codec encodes and decodes much faster. The improved compression algorithm creates audio files that need much less disk space for storage than the same content created with other codecs. Content created using the Windows Media Audio codec is easily distributed over the Internet because the files can be downloaded more quickly. Therefore, if you are creating audio files for download, the Windows Media Audio codec is a great choice because it provides near-CD-quality sound at half of the bandwidth required by most codecs.
During tests against comparable codecs, the Windows Media Audio codec provided much clearer sound with greater tonal distinction than the others. The combination of superb clarity and tonal depth produces better sounding music content across all supported bandwidths. The Windows Media Audio codec is a highly scalable codec that provides high-quality mono and stereo audio content over a wide range of bandwidths. This allows you to choose the best combination of bandwidth and sampling rates for your content. Thus, Microsoft has chosen to make it the default audio codec for most of the Windows Media Encoder configuration templates.