What Kind of Music Media Does the PlayStation 3 Play?

Optical Drive Media

• The PS3's optical drive can read CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. CD audio discs can be played back using the PS3's media player. DVD-A discs aren't supported by the PS3, but DVD video and Blu-ray video discs that have music content such as recorded concert or music video compilations can be played back using the PS3's DVD/Blu-ray movie player.

MP3

• MP3 files are supported by the PS3 and can be saved to the PS3's hard drive or played directly off of a connected USB storage device or MP3 player. The PS3 also reads MP3 IDv2 file tags and will display artist name, song title and album name if the MP3 file is appropriately tagged.

MP4

• The PlayStation 3 can also play audio stored in MP4 files. Though some features of MP4 aren't supported as of April 2011, such as internal subtitles, the PS3 can play MP4 files that have audio data embedded in them as well as M4A files, which are audio-only MP4 files.

WMV

• Windows Media Video files can be played back on the PS3, but users must first enable WMA playback in the PS3 System Settings menu. The option to enable WMA playback is found by browsing to the "System Settings" menu then selecting "Enable WMA Playback."

ATRAC

• ATRAC files can also be played on the PS3. ATRAC-enabled devices like the Sony PlayStation Portable and the Sony Walkman can be plugged directly into one of the PS3's USB ports and ATRAC files will be read from the device's memory. ATRAC must be enabled first by browsing to "System Settings" then selecting "Enable ATRAC" from the menu.

WAV

• WAV files can be played back on the PS3. The PS3 can read and play files with file extension .WAV on an external device or on the PS3's internal hard drive.