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Poll

Which extension you use for AAC?

m4a
[ 148 ] (68.8%)
mp4
[ 67 ] (31.2%)

Total Members Voted: 270

Topic: m4a or mp4 (Read 19139 times) previous topic - next topic
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m4a or mp4

What extension do you use for a MPEG-4 AAC audio file

iTunes name them .m4a, and Nero and QuickTime name them .mp4......

so which is the actual defined extension for MP4 AAC?

EDIT: This case is also similar to Windows Media Audio/Video
Microsoft once used .asf for both audio and video
then they changed them to .wma and .wmv
I think there must be some players that only support .wma even though .asf and .wma are the same thing?
I don't want this to happen to AAC.....I have to rename all the extensions in order to play them on a player.

m4a or mp4

Reply #1 –
The proper extension is .mp4. Since it is a container format, it can contain video and/or audio of several different types, and there is no need to specify via the file extension.

m4a or mp4

Reply #2 –
Statistically, I suppose iTunes has the largest share in MPEG-4 AAC since it is the top online audio seller?
Then, the 2nd would be Nero?

Considering the case above, is it possible that most of the AAC are named .m4a?

m4a or mp4

Reply #3 –
Quote
Statistically, I suppose iTunes has the largest share in MPEG-4 AAC since it is the top online audio seller?


No doubts about it.

Quote
Then, the 2nd would be Nero?


Most probably. There's also Real Player, but I don't think many people obtain it for the purpose of AAC encoding (the again, the vast majority of people using Nero probably aren't using it for AAC either...)

Quote
Considering the case above, is it possible that most of the AAC are named .m4a?[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307153"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


It's almost a certainty, actually.


I voted M4A, BTW.

m4a or mp4

Reply #4 –
I voted m4a. As far as filename extensions go, m4a makes more sense to me.

m4a or mp4

Reply #5 –
Well the question is which do you use.  Whilst the standard, as has been mentioned is mp4, I use m4a.  As far as I'm concerned, filename extensions are an outdated relic that should be done away with.  Instead metadata, similar to MIME types could be used (I believe BeOS tried to do something like this, but I can't remember).  For example, m4a could be represented in metadata with audio/mpeg-4/aac, or something of a similar nature.

m4a or mp4

Reply #6 –
Quote
As far as I'm concerned, filename extensions are an outdated relic that should be done away with.


Yeah, Linux can recognise files without extension, not correct all the time

But WinXP can't at all !!!    M$!!

m4a or mp4

Reply #7 –
I use mp4 for two reasons.

It's the actual standard extension and the fact that's what nero uses by default.
Nero AAC 1.5.1.0: -q0.45

m4a or mp4

Reply #8 –
While the standard does say "mp4", Windows is an extension based system so it makes sense to use "m4a". It's actually a bit of an irony that Apple came up with that...

m4a or mp4

Reply #9 –
It's more convenient using .M4A when arrange or search files by type.
I can know immediately which one is music file, which one is movie file.

m4a or mp4

Reply #10 –
Quote
It's more convenient using .M4A when arrange or search files by type.
I can know immediately which one is music file, which one is movie file.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307339"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Exactly! This is the main reason .m4a was created. To be used strictly as the mpeg-4 AAC audio only extension.
Surf's Up!
"Columnated Ruins Domino"

m4a or mp4

Reply #11 –
Quote
Quote
As far as I'm concerned, filename extensions are an outdated relic that should be done away with.


Yeah, Linux can recognise files without extension, not correct all the time

But WinXP can't at all !!!    M$!!
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307190"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


My Amiga 1200 did it in 1992 ;-)

m4a or mp4

Reply #12 –
Quote
I can know immediately which one is music file, which one is movie file.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307339"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

And for that reason I voted for m4a!
Liberate tutemae ex inferis

m4a or mp4

Reply #13 –
I don't know why the standard wants to define the extension. Doesn't it make more sense to use different extensions for different type of contents, MPEG 4 being a container specification?

Extensions are not that useful because such a container could contain several types of data but in the case of AAC audio they clearly help.

m4a or mp4

Reply #14 –
It makes a lot of sense for the standard to define the file extension: this way you don't get the problem that devices refuse to recognize a certain extension even though the file has data they can play.

Case in point: the iPod can't play mp4 because it doesn't recognize the extension!

m4a is blasphemy, die heretics, die!

m4a or mp4

Reply #15 –
Quote
As far as I'm concerned, filename extensions are an outdated relic that should be done away with.  Instead metadata, similar to MIME types could be used

That would be useful for machines, but useless for humans. Metadata isn´t visible at first glance - extensions are(unless you´re using windows and turned them off).
IMO, both would be ideal - MimeType for specific information, extension for easy recognition.

I don´t know how you see it, but I like to know what kind of file I´m handling. Icons or other graphical representations aren´t as good as text extensions.

Does the standard explicitely say that MP4 has to be used for BOTH, audio and video? I always thought MP4 is meant for video files that use mpeg4 codecs.
It makes no sense to have one extension for audio or video, IMO. I like to see wether a file contains audio or video(and audio).
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.  -Isaac Asimov

m4a or mp4

Reply #16 –
MP4 is mentioned in the AAC standard, M4A is not. M4A was popularised by Apple. I don't personally use either as I don't use AAC.

Quote
The additional file extensions *.m4a and *.m4p (as well as *.m4v) are used by Apple to differentiate between MP4 audio files ripped with iTunes (no DRM protection) or downloaded from their new Music Store (copyright protected).
http://www.audiocoding.com/modules/wiki/?page=mp4

Quote
Does the standard explicitely say that MP4 has to be used for BOTH, audio and video? I always thought MP4 is meant for video files that use mpeg4 codecs.
It makes no sense to have one extension for audio or video, IMO. I like to see wether a file contains audio or video(and audio).[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307456"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
It doesn't have to be, but it is mentioned in the AAC standard. You can put pretty much anything in the MP4 container (AAC, MPEG-4 video, ALAC, even MP3) so the extension doesn't really tell you what's in it anyway.

m4a or mp4

Reply #17 –
The main reason they didn't go with mp4 was to clearly separate protected files (m4p), audiobooks (m4b) and regular audio files (m4a).

m4a or mp4

Reply #18 –
My vote is for .mp4 because a) that's the official extension, b) I don't have an iPod or use iTunes, c) Nero uses that extension by default, e) I don't have any video files in an mp4 container, and if I did I could just give them the extension .m4v.

m4a or mp4

Reply #19 –
Quote
My Amiga 1200 did it in 1992 ;-)
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307366"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Got that beat: My A500 had AmigaDOS 2.1 on it and that also supported datatypes.

If someone wanted to get really obsessive about file extensions perhaps they could name all MPEG files .mpg regardless of their type, or even just .cnt to indicate it's is a container file.  I voted .m4a because I feel extensions are more appropriate as easily used human readable metadata and .m4a is far more descriptive than .mp4.

Actually... why even bother putting the AAC audio in an mpeg 4 container anyway, what's the advantage?

m4a or mp4

Reply #20 –
Quote
Actually... why even bother putting the AAC audio in an mpeg 4 container anyway, what's the advantage?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307549"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Aside from massively lower overhead, much faster seeking, better metadata possiblities (gapless...), and the possiblity to mux with other streams, not all that much, I guess?

m4a or mp4

Reply #21 –
Quote
Quote
My Amiga 1200 did it in 1992 ;-)
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307366"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Got that beat: My A500 had AmigaDOS 2.1 on it and that also supported datatypes.

If someone wanted to get really obsessive about file extensions perhaps they could name all MPEG files .mpg regardless of their type, or even just .cnt to indicate it's is a container file.  I voted .m4a because I feel extensions are more appropriate as easily used human readable metadata and .m4a is far more descriptive than .mp4.

Actually... why even bother putting the AAC audio in an mpeg 4 container anyway, what's the advantage?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307549"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


got that beat:  my Athlon64 can actually *play* MP4 files 
FWIW m4a makes more sense b/c it stops MPC from trying to play my audio files.  No need for metadata.

m4a or mp4

Reply #22 –
Quote
The main reason they didn't go with mp4 was to clearly separate protected files (m4p), audiobooks (m4b) and regular audio files (m4a).
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=307523"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


m4b is nice, bookmarks are so very useful!  however: why can't _all_ mpeg4 files have bookmarks?  i'd like that feature for video too

m4a or mp4

Reply #23 –
Quote
m4b is nice, bookmarks are so very useful!  however: why can't _all_ mpeg4 files have bookmarks?  i'd like that feature for video too[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


He's not talking about bookmarks at all. He's talking about audiobooks. Such as [a href="http://www.audible.com/]these[/url].

m4a or mp4

Reply #24 –
Quote
bookmarks are so very useful!  however: why can't _all_ mpeg4 files have bookmarks?  i'd like that feature for video too

Check out this thread about iTunes 4.9.