The bulk of most sound files is formed by the samples. The sample part is usually preceded by a header, which contains information about:

1. The type of file (WAV, AIFF, AIFC, NeXT/Sun, NIST, Kay, FLAC...).

2. The sampling frequency (§1.1).

3. The encoding (linear, 8 or 16 bit, byte order, μ-law, A-law, see §1.2).

4. The number of channels (mono, stereo, see §1.3).

5. The duration (usually the number of samples).

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• Sound files
• Sound files 1. General structure