Have you heard the news? The MP3 is officially dead! The format that defined music collections for a generation will no longer continue to exist. But everything’s not so dire; you can still listen to top-quality music via your whole home audio system. But you probably have some questions. That’s why we’ve put together this blog: to help you understand how you can get the most out of your sound system even though the MP3 is gone. Read on to learn more.

See Also: Why Now Is a Great Time to Invest in Whole Home Audio Solutions

What Happened to the MP3?

Earlier this year, the Fraunhofer Institute, the company who holds the patent on MP3, announced that they were terminating the licensing program necessary to use many MP3-related technologies. This means that no more devices will support MP3 playback. In a statement release on their website, the Fraunhofer Institute said this:

“Although there are more efficient audio codecs with advanced features available today, MP3 is still very popular amongst consumers. However, most state-of-the-art media services such as streaming or TV and radio broadcasting use modern ISO-MPEG codecs such as the AAC family or in the future MPEG-H. Those technologies, that have been developed with major contributions from Fraunhofer IIS, can deliver more features and a higher audio quality at much lower bitrates compared to MP3.”  

Essentially, their argument is that the technology has become outdated because there are better-quality, more efficient ways to listen to audio files than the MP3 nowadays. This includes AAC, which is used by most streaming services, including Apple Music and Deezer.

What Does This Mean for Your System?

The good news is that your system will continue to work just fine, even though MP3 products will no longer remain in production. You can still access your library of songs and play them back as you normally would. Plus, because most streaming services used ACC, your system already supports that too.

When Should You Upgrade?

If you’re like us, you probably demand the best possible quality from your whole home audio system. And thanks to many streaming services offering high-fidelity, lossless tiers, you can literally enjoy more sound than ever before. If you’re interested in hearing better music, you should upgrade your system today.

But that’s the beauty of a whole home audio system – it’s completely scalable. That means you can upgrade what you want, when you want. If you’re not sure that lossless audio is the new frontier, you don’t need to overhaul every component. Just be aware that when you do replace the parts of your system, they may not playback your current MP3 collection.

Do you still have questions about MP3, whole home audio or anything else? Contact BRAVAS Philadelphia today by filling out this form or by giving us a call at 856-751-1100.