Lossless audio: Audio that has been compressed but hasn’t lost any quality in the process of rendering the file. These include every bit of information that was created when making the audio in the file. Some examples are: .wav, .flac, and .alac.

Lossy Audio: Audio that has been compressed using a method that diminished the quality of the file when rendering. These files have lost some of the information when recording, causing the audio quality to differ from the original file after exporting. Some file types include: .mp3 and .aac.

Normalization vs Compression: Normalization is a process where the DAW adjusts the overall volume of a track to a certain level set by the user. It doesn’t change any of the dynamic information stored in the track. On the other hand, compression actually changes the dynamics of the track, which is determined by the user with the compression GUI. Any sounds that are above or below the threshold are brought up or down to make the entire track sound similar in dynamic range. This means that the dynamics aren’t expressed as well, but allows the user to make lots of things in the overall track louder.