Although Shockwave Audio uses advanced compression technology that alters original sounds as little as possible, the more a sound is compressed, the more it is changed.

Set the amount of compression by selecting a bit rate setting in any of the Shockwave Audio Xtra extensions. The bit rate is not related to sampling rates you might have used in other audio programs. Try compressing the same sound at several different bit rates to see how the sound changes.

Select the bit rate that is appropriate for the intended delivery system (56K modem, ISDN, CD-ROM, broadband, hard disk, and so on), the type of movie, and the nature of the sound. Voice-over sound quality, for example, might not need to be as high as that of music. Test the sound on several systems to find the right balance between quality and performance.

The more compressed a sound is, the faster it streams. If you select to use a high quality and low degree of compression, a slow delivery system might not send the data fast enough, resulting in gaps during playback. It’s also important to consider your target audience. For example, using a lower data rate lets you target a wider audience, but at the expense of audio quality.