AAC

The AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) audio codec is a lossy compression format designed as the successor to MP3, with better sound quality at an equivalent bitrate. Developed by a consortium including Fraunhofer, Dolby, and Sony, it relies on psychoacoustic encoding that reduces file size while preserving the frequencies perceived by the human ear.

Its broad compatibility makes it a standard for audio streaming (Apple Music, YouTube), digital terrestrial television broadcasting, and mobile telephony. In Bluetooth transmission, AAC serves as an alternative to SBC for carrying a stereo signal with more efficient compression, provided that both the source and the receiver support it. The codec handles multiple channels, from mono to multichannel, and adapts to bitrates ranging from a few dozen to several hundred kbit/s.