WavPack is a completely open audio compression format that provides lossless compression, high-quality lossy compression, and a unique hybrid compression mode. The lossless compression ratio depends on the source material, but generally is between 30% and 70%. The hybrid mode provides all the advantages of lossless compression with an additional feature. Instead of creating a single file, this mode creates both a relatively small, high-quality lossy file that can be used all by itself, and a "correction" file that (when combined with the lossy file) provides full lossless restoration. WavPack employs only well known, public domain techniques in its implementation. Methods and algorithms that have ever been patented are specifically avoided. This ensures that WavPack encoders and decoders will remain open and royalty-free.
