The sound clips on this website are available in two main formats: .mp3 and .wav. .mp3's retain excellent sound quality and are much more compact than .wav files. For this reason they are often used for music. But because of the high level of compression needed to keep .mp3 files small, Pentium-class systems are required to decode and play them.
On the other hand, .wav files can be played on most any computer, however the filesize can be considerably larger. I have sacrificed some of the sound quality when creating the .wav versions of the sound clips in order to make them feasible to download.
To play .mp3 files you will need a browser plug-in or other program that can handle them. For instance, Windows 98 comes with a program called "Media Player" which can play files of many different formats. Players like Winamp specialize in playing .mp3's. The .mp3's on my site come in both stereo and mono versions.
Playing .wav files should be no problem, as most operating systems come equipped to handle them and most browsers come standard with plug-ins specifically designed for them. The .wav files on this site are all mono recordings, and there are two levels of sound quality to choose from.
When deciding which format to choose at this website, think about download time, sound quality, whether you want a stereo or mono recording, and whether you have the right program to play the format you want.
