Editing Windows Media Audio (section)

==Development history==
The first WMA [[codec]] was based on earlier work by [[Henrique Malvar]] and his team which was transferred to the Windows Media team at Microsoft.<ref name="Henrique Malvar brazilmax.com">{{cite web |author=Hinchberger, Bill |date=2001-09-09 |title=Riding the Malvar Wave |url=https://www.brazilmax.com/news.cfm/tborigem/fe_business/id/3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013004451/https://www.brazilmax.com/news.cfm/tborigem/fe_business/id/3 |archive-date=2007-10-13 |access-date=2007-08-16}}</ref> Malvar was a senior researcher and manager of the Signal Processing Group at [[Microsoft Research]],<ref name="Microsoft Research Henrique Malvar">{{cite web |url=http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/presskit/malvar/ |title=Press Kit: Henrique Malvar |publisher=Microsoft Research |access-date=2007-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825181638/http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/presskit/malvar/ |archive-date=2007-08-25 }}</ref> whose team worked on the ''MSAudio'' project.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://research.microsoft.com/ccsp/ |title=Communication, Collaboration, and Signal Processing |publisher=Microsoft Research |access-date=2007-08-16 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070717203523/http://research.microsoft.com/ccsp/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-07-17}}</ref> The first finalized codec was initially referred to as ''MSAudio 4.0''.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/apr99/wmtdwnldpr.mspx |title=Microsoft Windows Media Technologies Gains Support for Downloadable Music from Top Music Sites, Independent Labels, Popular Bands And Innovative Developers |publisher=Microsoft PressPass |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024025133/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/apr99/wmtdwnldpr.mspx |archive-date=2007-10-24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Barry, Richard |title=MS Audio 4.0 will eat MP3... |date=1999-04-14 |url=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,2071559,00.htm |access-date=2007-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930205652/http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,2071559,00.htm |archive-date=2007-09-30 }}</ref> It was later officially released as ''Windows Media Audio'',<ref name="wmt4-release">{{cite press release |title=Windows Media Technologies 4 Delivers Cutting-Edge CD-Quality Audio On the Internet |url=https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/Aug99/WM4Lnchpr.mspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024030506/https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/Aug99/WM4Lnchpr.mspx |archive-date=2007-10-24 |access-date=2007-08-16 |publisher=Microsoft PressPass}}</ref> as part of Windows Media Technologies 4.0. Microsoft claimed that WMA could produce files that were half the size of equivalent-quality MP3 files;<ref name="Microsoft TechNet MS Windows Media Technologies Features">{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/netshow/evaluate/features.mspx?mfr=true |title=MS Windows Media Technologies Features |publisher=Microsoft TechNet |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024193445/http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/netshow/evaluate/features.mspx?mfr=true |archive-date=2007-10-24 }}</ref> Microsoft also claimed that WMA delivered "near CD-quality" audio at 64&nbsp;kbit/s.<ref name="Microsoft TechNet MS Windows Media Technologies Features"/> The former claim however was rejected by some [[audiophile]]s<ref name="EDN Internet Radio">{{cite web |title=The Internet-audio (r)evolution |url=http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA46537 |access-date=2007-08-16 |quote=some audiophiles challenge Microsoft's claims regarding WMA's quality |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010050058/http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA46537 |archive-date=2007-10-10 }}</ref> and both claims have been refuted through publicly-available [[Codec listening test|codec listening tests]]. [[RealNetworks]] also challenged Microsoft's claims regarding WMA's superior audio quality compared to RealAudio.<ref name="RealNetworks MSAudio Analysis"/>

Newer versions of WMA became available: ''Windows Media Audio 2'' in 1999,<ref name="Broadcom">{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcom.com/products/software/mobmm_audiocodecs.php|title=Broadcom Corporation: Audio Codecs|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608015446/http://www.broadcom.com/products/software/mobmm_audiocodecs.php|archive-date=2007-06-08|access-date=2007-05-30}}</ref> ''Windows Media Audio 7'' in 2000,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2000/Apr00/NABWMT7pr.mspx |title=Microsoft Announces Windows Media Technologies 7 |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024031413/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2000/Apr00/NABWMT7pr.mspx |archive-date=2007-10-24 }}</ref> ''Windows Media Audio 8'' in 2001,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=1232 |title=Microsoft Releases Windows Media Audio and Video 8 |publisher=CDRInf |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926232302/http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=1232 |archive-date=2007-09-26 }}</ref> and ''Windows Media Audio 9'' in 2003.<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper"/> Microsoft first announced its plans to license WMA technology to third parties in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/may99/wmtsupppr.mspx |title=Microsoft Wins Major ISV Support for Windows Media Technologies 4.0 |publisher=Microsoft PressPass |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912233437/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/may99/wmtsupppr.mspx |archive-date=2007-09-12 }}</ref> Prior to [[Windows XP]], WMA files were primarily streamed using the Windows Media Source Filter ([[DirectShow]] codec), later being removed in Windows Vista with the addition of Media Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Windows Media Source Filter - Win32 apps|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/directshow/windows-media-source-filter|access-date=2021-11-30|website=docs.microsoft.com|language=en-us}}</ref> Although earlier versions of [[Windows Media Player]] played WMA files, support for WMA file creation was not added until the seventh version.<ref>{{cite web |author=Thurrott, Paul |title=SuperSite for Windows Media Player 7 Review |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/wmp7.asp |access-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818152206/http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/wmp7.asp |archive-date=2007-08-18 }}</ref> In 2003, Microsoft released new audio codecs that were not compatible with the original WMA codec. These codecs were ''Windows Media Audio 9 Professional'',<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper"/> ''Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless'',<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper"/> and ''Windows Media Audio 9 Voice''.<ref name="Windows Media 9 Series Whitepaper"/>

All versions of WMA released since version 9.0{{Snd}}namely 9.1, 9.2, and 10{{Snd}}have been backwards compatible with the original v9 decoder and are therefore not considered separate codecs. The sole exception to this is the WMA 10 Professional codec whose Low Bit Rate (LBR) mode is only backwards compatible with the older WMA Professional decoders at a half sampling rate (similar to how HE-AAC is backwards compatible with AAC-LC). Full fidelity decoding of WMA 10 Professional LBR bitstreams requires a WMA version 10 or newer decoder.