Monkey's Audio (APE) is a lossless audio compression format. This means that, unlike lossy formats like MP3 or AAC, no audio data is discarded during the compression process. When an APE file is decompressed, it is identical to the original audio file. This makes it ideal for archiving music collections or for anyone who wants to preserve the highest possible audio quality. APE files typically offer better compression ratios than other lossless formats like FLAC, but they are also more CPU-intensive to encode and decode. The format is less widely supported than FLAC, but it is still compatible with a variety of media players and software. APE files are often accompanied by a .CUE file, which contains information about the track divisions within the audio file, allowing for seamless playback of albums or other multi-track recordings. The format is designed to be open-source, although the original encoder was proprietary for some time.