Audio quality and bandwidth

High-quality audio requires ever higher network bandwidth and computer CPU resources. When listening to Internet-based content, the network flow of data can become quite significant and, depending on the encoding schema, may require a higher allocation of CPU resources and, in addition, extremely low latency of data processing. Internet-based content streaming is available in a range of formats, with names such as MP3, AAC(+), WMA, VORBIS, ASF, MMS, ASX, PLS, M3U, that define the bandwidth and encoding schemes. The network bandwidth required for these streams may range from 32 Kbps for mono content to 640 Kbps for 5.1 multi-channel content.