AAC was designed as a successor to MP3 format. Blind tests showed AAC had greater sound quality and transparency than MP3 at the same bit rate. Improvements include more sample rates (8 to 96 kHz) than MP3 (16 to 48 kHz).
AAC files often use .M4A extension but can use .AAC. AAC is lossy compression that maintains near indistinguishable quality from the original, making it good for music.
Various companies including Nokia, LG, Sony, and NEC developed and maintain the AAC standard.
AAC stores music or sounds. Apple, Sony, Android devices, cars, and many others use the compressed AAC format by removing parts people can’t hear.
The AAC specifications allow more flexible codec design and efficient compression vs MP3. AAC supports more options even at lower bitrates.
AAC files may be copied to any device but may not open properly if the target system does not support AAC.