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OGG Files

You may have heard of WAV, AIFF, and MP3 as common audio files. But you might not be familiar with OGG files as a way to store audio. Take a closer look at the OGG format to understand how they compare to other file types and why you may want to use them.

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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

History of the OGG file

How to use OGG files

Pros and cons of OGG files

How to open an OGG file

How to create and edit an OGG file

FAQs

Learn more about similar file types to OGG

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What is an OGG file?

The OGG format — short for Ogg Vorbis Compressed Audio File — is an open-source multimedia file format that can contain:

Music and audio
Video
Text
Metadata (for example, artist information and song data)

OGGs are open-source, copyright-free, and most commonly associated with — but not restricted to — audio. Although these characteristics often provoke comparisons to MP3s, OGGs aren’t limited to sound alone.

Unlike many files, the OGG format is a straightforward container file that stores audio for playback, making it optimal for streaming content.

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History of the OGG file.

The Xiph.Org Foundation developed the OGG file format in May 2003. The file type supports individual streams of data, each with a different compression method:

Theora (Video)
Vorbis (Audio)
OggPCM (Audio)
FLAC (Audio)

Despite the OGG’s multimedia streams and capability for compression, Xiph.Org advises users to only store audio data. Consequently, they are now primarily used to store and stream audio data.

While less common than MP3s, the OGG’s popularity rose in the mid-2000s, leading to popular video game engines — including Doom 3, Battlefield 2, and Grand Theft Auto — supporting it. While its support never hit the popularity of the MPEG (MP3) format, it was, for many, a good alternative.

How to use OGG files.

Storing audio.

Great videos need fantastic sound to really make an impact. OGG files can store high quality audio to complement the visuals on screen.

Online playback.

OGG files are made for playback on audio players and at full speed over the internet. They also contain metadata such as artist information, track data, credits, and more.

Discover other container formats.

Pros and cons of OGG files.

OGG files more than hold their own against competitor files, like MP3. But there are also some disadvantages to consider before using.

Pros.

Seamless streaming. You can stream OGGs seamlessly on most popular browsers in a bandwidth-efficient manner. This makes them highly accessible to both desktop and mobile listeners.
High audio quality. Despite being smaller in size than other audio containers like MP3s, OGG files boast better audio quality.
Ideal for online playback. In addition to holding metadata, this factor makes them ideal for music playback online. They can also store video and allow up to 255 audio channels.

Cons.

Quality loss after compression. While it has reasonable sound quality, OGG is a lossy format, meaning it loses quality when compressed. Despite this, it retains much of its audio quality when compared to similar containers.
Video no longer supported. In 2007, Xiph.Org introduced the OGV file format, which specializes in video. This release made OGG’s video capabilities outdated and unsupported, which isn’t ideal if your primary focus is video.

How to open an OGG file.

There are several ways to open an OGG file, depending on your platform. Most internet browsers on Windows and Mac operating systems can play any OGG files you come across online, including Chrome and Safari.

Both Windows and Mac platforms can also open OGG files too and there are several ways to open OGG files on them:

Use Google Drive. You can open OGG files for playback in Google Drive.
Use a music or multimedia player. You can use third-party or built-in media players such as VLC (Windows, Mac), Elmedia Player (Mac), or Microsoft Groove Music (Windows). These players may require downloads and offer no guarantees regarding file safety. With media players, simply right-click your OGG file and ”Open with” the media player of your choice.

How to create and edit an OGG file.

Most audio editors can create and edit OGG files, including Adobe Audition. They can also convert OGG files into other file types alongside most recognized media players and vice-versa, which could be helpful if you have difficulty working with an OGG file.

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Is OGG lossy or lossless?

OGG is a lossy audio format and this means when it’s compressed, some audio quality is permanently lost. This does mean that if you need to compress to reduce the file size, quality loss will be irreversible. This is in contrast to lossless audio, which lets you compress files, without losing quality.

Can OGG files be compressed?

Yes. You can compress an OGG file in most video editing or media playback programs. Alternatively, you can convert your OGG file to another file format and compress that to a smaller size, depending on your needs.

Are OGG files for audio or video?

OGG files are multimedia containers that can hold both audio and video. However, the creators of the OGG file recommend only using OGG for audio after developing a dedicated video file format named OGV.

Does OGG use a lot of bandwidth?

No. One of the benefits of OGG files is that they provide high-quality audio at a consistent and reasonable bandwidth usage. A maximum and minimum setting exists, and every file is different, but OGGs are generally bandwidth efficient and steady, making them ideal for streaming.

Is OGG better than MP3?

OGG files are superior to MP3s in sound quality, however, MP3s are compatible with more media players. This makes MP3 a better choice if you’re looking for compatibility and OGG a preferred option if you’re looking for higher audio quality.

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