Ringtones can be sounds in various formats. There are a lot of identified formats specific for the ringtones. Some of them are: RTTL, iMelody, SP-MIDI, XMF, RMF, SMAF, DLS, WAV, MP3, AIF, AAC, and WMA etc.
Of these most are related to the cell phone manufacturer and their preferred format.Lets look into each of them.
RTTL is the acronym for Ringtones Text Transfer Language. This is a ringtone format of ringtone where you can edit or make one of your own by keying in the notes of the sound.
iMelody ringtone format is just like the monophonic ringtones, but are for EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) compatible phones.
SP-MIDI is Scalable Polyphony MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) ringtone format specification was co-authored by Nokia Corporation and Beatnik Inc. This is the MIDI standard for polyphonic ringtones and multimedia Messaging. It is important to understand MIDI and what the format enables.
With XMF (eXtensible Music Format) ringtone format, MIDI music can be combined with digitally recorded music providing a richer audio experience. Instead of delivering generic Polyphonic ringtones constrained by the 128 instrument bank specified by general MIDI, XMF supports playback of DLS instruments for an infinite number of downloadable sound possibilities. This means that voiceless pop music ringtones can include voice samples of the pop artist.
Beatnik’s RMF technology and XMF allows devices to play MIDI ringtone format music and sequence digital audio samples such as vocal tracks. This powerful combination delivers very small sized audio files with high-fidelity audio, allowing customisable recorded audio for Polyphonic ringtones, interactive game audio and user alert tones.
Most Siemens Polyphonic handsets and some Samsung and Sharp phones can accept the SMAF ringtone format. It’s designed for mobile devices and according to some tends to give a better result than simple MIDI and takes less space on the phone.
The Downloadable Sounds (DLS) ringtone format, MIDI files can be combined with standardized samples of musical instruments and sound effects.
On some new phones like the Nokia 3650, 7650, 9210 and 9290 you can listen to any WAV ringtone format file. WAV files can be downloaded or copied from PC and can contain anything - voice, music etc.
