Original Sound Quality
Encyclopedia
Original Sound Quality (OSQ) is a audio file format
developed in 2002 by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
and implemented e.g. in their audio editing software Wavelab
4 (and following releases) for lossless audio data compression.
In combination with good source material this format allows compression rates
up to 50%. Because of that it is not comparable to other audio formats like MP3
, which reach compression rates up to 90% because of their lossy compression algorithms. Therefore OSQ is used rather for archiving then for daily use.
When using this format it is important to know that OSQ is a proprietary format developed by Steinberg that is generally speaking not supported by other audio software tools. A possible alternative to OSQ might be the free codec FLAC.
Audio file format
An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. This data can be stored uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size. It can be a raw bitstream, but it is usually a container format or an audio data format with defined storage layer.-Types of...
developed in 2002 by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Steinberg
Steinberg GmbH is a German musical software and equipment company based in Hamburg. It mainly produces music recording, arranging and editing software as used in digital audio workstations and VSTi software synthesizers.- History :...
and implemented e.g. in their audio editing software Wavelab
WaveLab
WaveLab is a digital audio editor by Steinberg aimed at the professional as well as the semi-professional market. It supports multi-channel files, DirectX plugin, VST plugin and DVD-Audio creation. WaveLab was for a long time the main competitor to Sound Forge. Wavelab was started in 1995 and it is...
4 (and following releases) for lossless audio data compression.
In combination with good source material this format allows compression rates
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
up to 50%. Because of that it is not comparable to other audio formats like MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, which reach compression rates up to 90% because of their lossy compression algorithms. Therefore OSQ is used rather for archiving then for daily use.
When using this format it is important to know that OSQ is a proprietary format developed by Steinberg that is generally speaking not supported by other audio software tools. A possible alternative to OSQ might be the free codec FLAC.