<s>
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
is	O
an	O
algorithm	O
and	O
file	O
format	O
for	O
lossless	B-Algorithm
audio	O
data	O
compression	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lossless	B-Algorithm
data	I-Algorithm
compression	I-Algorithm
does	O
not	O
discard	O
data	O
during	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
encoding	O
,	O
unlike	O
lossy	B-Algorithm
compression	I-Algorithm
methods	O
such	O
as	O
Advanced	B-Application
Audio	I-Application
Coding	I-Application
,	O
MP3	B-Application
,	O
Vorbis	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
Opus	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
other	O
lossless	B-Algorithm
audio	O
codecs	O
,	O
files	O
encoded	O
to	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
are	O
typically	O
reduced	O
to	O
about	O
half	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
size	O
,	O
with	O
data	O
transfer	O
time	O
and	O
storage	O
requirements	O
being	O
reduced	O
accordingly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
any	O
lossless	B-Algorithm
compression	I-Algorithm
scheme	O
,	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
format	O
takes	O
up	O
several	O
times	O
as	O
much	O
space	O
as	O
lossy	B-Algorithm
compression	I-Algorithm
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
about	O
twice	O
as	O
much	O
as	O
a	O
320	O
kbit/s	O
bitrate	O
MP3	B-Application
file	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
upside	O
is	O
that	O
no	O
data	O
is	O
lost	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
input	O
file	O
,	O
making	O
lossless	B-Algorithm
codecs	I-Algorithm
suitable	O
for	O
transcoding	O
,	O
or	O
simply	O
taking	O
up	O
approximately	O
half	O
as	O
much	O
space	O
as	O
raw	O
PCM	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Relative	O
to	O
FLAC	B-Application
,	O
Apple	B-Algorithm
Lossless	I-Algorithm
Audio	I-Algorithm
Codec	I-Algorithm
,	O
or	O
WavPack	B-Application
,	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
is	O
slow	O
to	O
encode	O
or	O
decode	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
is	O
distributed	O
as	O
freeware	B-License
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
other	O
things	O
,	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
license	O
terms	O
make	O
it	O
impossible	O
to	O
legally	O
redistribute	O
,	O
and	O
invites	O
people	O
to	O
infringe	O
on	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
license	I-License
of	O
other	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
not	O
compatible	O
with	O
The	B-License
Open	I-License
Source	I-License
Definition	I-License
or	O
The	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
Definition	O
as	O
stated	O
by	O
the	O
Open	B-License
Source	I-License
Initiative	O
and	O
Free	B-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alternatively	O
,	O
FLAC	B-Application
and	O
WavPack	B-Application
are	O
available	O
under	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
licences	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
well	O
supported	O
in	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
and	O
in	O
many	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
all	O
of	O
these	O
formats	O
are	O
lossless	B-Algorithm
,	O
users	O
can	O
transcode	O
between	O
formats	O
without	O
generation	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
can	O
achieve	O
high	O
compression	O
ratios	O
,	O
the	O
cost	O
is	O
a	O
dramatic	O
increase	O
in	O
requirements	O
on	O
the	O
decoding	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
comparison	O
,	O
most	O
lossless	B-Algorithm
codecs	I-Algorithm
are	O
asymmetric	O
,	O
meaning	O
that	O
the	O
work	O
done	O
to	O
achieve	O
higher	O
compression	O
ratios	O
,	O
if	O
selected	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
slows	O
down	O
the	O
encoding	O
process	O
,	O
but	O
has	O
essentially	O
no	O
effect	O
on	O
the	O
decoding	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Officially	O
,	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
is	O
available	O
only	O
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
version	O
4.02	O
(	O
19	O
January	O
2009	O
)	O
a	O
DirectShow	B-Library
filter	O
is	O
distributed	O
with	O
the	O
installer	O
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
compatibility	O
with	O
most	O
media	O
players	O
running	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
is	O
also	O
supported	O
on	O
Linux	O
and	O
OS	O
X	O
using	O
JRiver	B-Operating_System
Media	I-Operating_System
Center	I-Operating_System
or	O
Plex	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
GPL-licensed	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
decoder	O
has	O
been	O
independently	O
written	O
for	O
Rockbox	B-Application
and	O
is	O
included	O
in	O
FFmpeg	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
code	O
also	O
provides	O
playback	O
support	O
in	O
applications	O
that	O
use	O
GStreamer	B-Language
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
DeaDBeeF	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
port	O
and	O
package	O
on	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
files	O
can	O
be	O
encoded	O
and	O
decoded	O
on	O
any	O
platform	O
which	O
has	O
a	O
J2SE	B-Language
implementation	O
,	O
by	O
the	O
means	O
of	O
the	O
unofficial	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
licensed	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
LGPL	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
is	O
supported	O
natively	O
on	O
all	O
modern	O
Cowon	O
multimedia	O
media	O
players	O
,	O
the	O
FiiO	O
X	O
Series	O
and	O
some	O
Cayin	O
digital	O
audio	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
other	O
hardware	O
platforms	O
,	O
the	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
firmware	O
project	O
Rockbox	B-Application
supports	O
playback	O
of	O
Monkey	B-Language
's	I-Language
Audio	I-Language
files	O
on	O
most	O
of	O
its	O
supported	O
targets	O
,	O
but	O
many	O
lack	O
sufficient	O
processing	O
power	O
to	O
play	O
them	O
on	O
the	O
higher	O
compression	O
settings	O
.	O
</s>
