Editing Windows Media Audio (section)

{{Short description|Audio data compression technology}}
{{Infobox file format
| icon = 
| extension = .wma
| owner = [[Microsoft]]
| genre = [[Audio file format|Audio]]
| container for =
| contained by =
| extended from =
| extended to =
| standard =
| released = {{start date and age|1999|08|17}}<ref name="wmt4-release"/>
| free = No
| open = No
| website = {{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211194317/http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia|title=microsoft.com/windowsmedia}}
}}
'''Windows Media Audio''' ('''WMA''') is a series of [[audio codec]]s and their corresponding [[audio coding format]]s developed by [[Microsoft]]. It is a [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] technology that forms part of the [[Windows Media]] framework. Audio encoded in WMA is stored in a [[digital container format]] called [[Advanced Systems Format]] (ASF).

WMA consists of four distinct codecs. The original WMA codec, known simply as ''WMA'', was conceived as a competitor to the popular [[MP3]] and [[RealAudio]] codecs.<ref>{{cite web |author=Smith, Tony |title=Microsoft readies MP3-killer digital music format |website=[[The Register]] |date=1999-03-12 |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/03/12/microsoft_readies_mp3killer_digital_music/ |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321023436/http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/03/12/microsoft_readies_mp3killer_digital_music/ |archive-date=2008-03-21 }}</ref><ref name="RealNetworks MSAudio Analysis">{{cite web |title=Analysis of the Microsoft Audio Codec |url=https://www.real.com/msaudio/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818112312/https://www.real.com/msaudio/ |archive-date=2007-08-18 |access-date=2007-08-16 |publisher=RealNetworks}}</ref> ''WMA Pro'', a newer and more advanced codec, supports [[Surround sound|multichannel]] and [[high-resolution audio]].<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper">{{cite web |title=Windows Media 9 Series Capabilities and Benefits Overview |url=https://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~hoi/mult2003/week6/WinMedia9WhitePaper.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928022928/https://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~hoi/mult2003/week6/WinMedia9WhitePaper.doc |archive-date=2007-09-28 |access-date=2007-08-16 |publisher=International Narcotics Control Board |format=DOC}}</ref> A [[Lossless compression|lossless codec]], ''WMA Lossless'', compresses audio data without loss of audio fidelity (the regular WMA format is [[lossy compression|lossy]]).<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper" /> ''WMA Voice'', targeted at voice content, applies compression using a range of low [[bit rate]]s.<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper" />