LiteWaveTM
Pure audio compression.LiteWave is a file compression tool designed specifically for audio. It is ideal for archiving digital audio recordings, e-mailing audio files, reducing media storage requirements for multimedia products and games, and many other uses that require true reproduction of audio.
Although there are many forms of audio compression available today including ADPCM, A-Law, u-Law, MP3 and others, the problem is that information is lost when using these forms of compression. As a result, the larger original files must still be retained and distributed for editing, mastering or archiving.
Alternatives to these lossy compression methods are lossless ones such as Zip (WinZip), LZH, Arc, Zoo and others. However, the drawback to using these is that since they're designed for general data and text, they don't do a particularly good job of compressing audio, in particular high-quality 16-bit or higher audio.
Thus was born LiteWave audio compression. LiteWave understands the nature of audio and is able to compress it without throwing anything away. The result is significant space savings combined with flawless reproduction of the original audio file. Of course, LiteWave also supports lossy compression when some data loss is an acceptable tradeoff for additional compression.
LiteWave compressed files can also be played back in real time with the optional LiteWave ACM decompressor. This enables applications to use LiteWave files without having to decompress them first. With the ACM decompressor, LiteWave files play like standard wave files.
Features and benefits
- Lossless compression
No data is lost when compressed at the highest quality setting. As a result, every nuance of the original audio signal is reproduced. - High compression ratios
At the highest quality setting (lossless), LiteWave typically compresses 16-bit audio files by 25-75% -- significantly better than general file compression tools such as WinZip. - Available lossy compression
For circumstances where some data loss is acceptable to attain smaller file sizes, LiteWave supports varying levels of lossy compression. - Optional real-time playback
With the optional LiteWave ACM decompressor, LiteWave compressed files can be played like a normal wave file without having to decompress them beforehand. Even Windows system sounds can be LiteWave compressed files.
Lossless Compression Comparison
The tables below illustrate the benefit of using LiteWave for lossless compression of audio files over the general data compression tool WinZip. Two sample audio files were used, "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven and "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. Both files were compressed with LiteWave at maximum quality (lossless; largest file size) and WinZip at maximum compression (smallest file size).
| Compressor | Original Size (bytes) | Compressed Size (bytes) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiteWave | 64,135,168 | 20,008,960 | 69% smaller |
| WinZip | 64,135,168 | 46,211,072 | 28% smaller |
| Compressor | Original Size (bytes) | Compressed Size (bytes) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiteWave | 29,959,820 | 19,259,392 | 36% smaller |
| WinZip | 29,959,820 | 26,423,296 | 12% smaller |
These tests show that compression can vary quite a bit depending upon the content of the audio. They also show that LiteWave produces significantly smaller files than WinZip without throwing away any data.
System requirements
- Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP or higher
- 200 KB disk space for installation
Pricing
The LiteWave Command Line Tool is free for personal and academic use. For commercial use, distribution and technology licensing, or to purchase the LiteWave ACM decompressor, contact sales using the Sales Contact Form.
Download LiteWave Command Line Tool [60 KB, zip file ]