One of the first and probably biggest decisions a digital composer makes is what format to use. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Formats are generally grouped into 2 categories, midi and module. Midi only encompases midi of course, however mod encompases dozens of formats, including s3m, mtm, xm, and 669. Here's a fairly technical list of some major formats available. While each format has its own advantages and disadvantages, all with the exception of midi, nearly the same way, which brings up another question; which tracker to use. Check our file archive to see which format each tracker supports. Almost all trackers, however, are nearly identical in appearance and interface, though some are better than others.
While it depends what you are doing, how you want something to sound, and your personal preferance, mod and midi both has their own difinite advantages. Here's a brief list of some common pros and cons of the two.

FORMAT PROS CONS
Mod anything can be used as an instrument instruments are a pain sometimes to sample, vary in quality, hard to keep track off
up to 16 bit 48khz cd quality sound quality varies greatly, instruments have to be good quality
easy to learn and compose not much support in games
no bad fm music big in size
natrual, crisp, non-cheesy sound does not always take full advantage of sound card
almost all software is free software varies in quality, sounds different sometimes in different programs
ideal for digital sound, easy to edit, handles artificial sound well takes way too much processor time and ram
Midi very small expensive to make, need lots of equipment usually
little processor time cheesy sounding unless high quality instruments are used
ideal for games software is overpriced
shareware programs available most midi shareware is pitiful
same structure as regular music programs can get complicated
real genuine instruments hard to get instruments to not sound like a $10 keyboard
multiple layers easily same things can be done in mods
wide support non-wavetable sound cards have heinous playback
wide support on regular non-computer instruments sequencers and external dacs mean big bucks for good sound
non-computer oriented users find it like playing regular music almost advanced techniques are complex and bothersome

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