Question: is mpeg audio file the same as mp3

Answer: Yes, MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3 (or mp3), is an audio coding format for digital audio. It uses a form of lossy data compression to encode data using inexact approximations and partial data discarding to reduce file sizes, typically by a factor of 10, in comparison with a CD while retaining a sound quality comparable to uncompressed audio. Compared to CD quality digital audio, MP3 compression commonly achieves 75 to 95% reduction in size. MP3 files are thus 1/4 to 1/20 the size of the original digital audio stream. This is important for both transmission and storage concerns. The basis for such comparison is the CD digital audio format which requires 1411.2 kbit/s. A commonly used MP3 encoding setting is CBR 128 kbit/s resulting in file of 1/11 (=9%) of the size of the original CD-quality file, that is with 91% compression.