This is just a simple test/demo of the HTML5 <audio> tag with which to test browser support.
Assuming you have a modern web browser with working <audio> tag support, click the "play" button in the player below to hear which audio format your browser defaults to. Below this, you'll see a form showing which major web formats your browser SAYS it supports, and buttons to click to try out the other formats.
20180501: UPDATES INCOMING!Late last year, I recorded new audio for mp3 and flac to reflect mp3's new legal status and flac's now-ubiquity. I've also added "WebMv2", which is just .webm audio with the opus codec instead of vorbis. (The original WebM specification was vorbis-only. Opus is now also a permitted codec in webm.).
I do intend to also re-record updated versions of the others as well (especially the opus one, which was originally recorded under much worse conditions than I usually record in now).
One other update: Apple still doesn't support anything anyone else does besides mp3 and maybe flac. They do, supposedly, support the opus codec in recent OS versions...but only in "Core Audio File" format. Thanks, Apple. You're so special. FFMPEG 4.0 is able to multiplex opus audio into .caf, so I've added it to the page! I have no Apple products so I can't tell if it works or not - you probably won't be able to tell, either, unless you're using a recent Apple product (or your web audio is handled by a plugin for ffmpeg or vlc).
ANOTHER NOTE: Feel free to try formats that the browser claims it doesn't support - the browser may be lying.
If you're willing, use the drop-down boxes (which say "(untested)" when you first start) next to each sample that you try to indicate if the audio works for you, then click the "(Click to report your results when ready)" button when you've tested the formats that you're interested in. The form will let me know which browser you're using and what results you reported - I'll start posting results once enough people have submitted them.
Some of the notes below still need to be updated. I also note that Firefox, supposedly, has support for accessing audio metadata, so if I get time I may try to add tests of metadata reading and display as well to this page.
Opus is awesome: Firefox and Chrome (and "Chromium") and derivatives should all support both .opus and "webmv2". I haven't tested yet, but Microsoft Edge is supposed to also now support webmv2 out of the virtual box in current versions, and support for proper .opus (in OGG, along with vorbis-in-.ogg!) is supposed to be immediately available as an add-on. This leaves...only Apple being behind. Again. Still.
Apple's limited and strictly-controlled media support is probably a lost cause. As Microsoft becomes IBM (in a good way, I mean), Apple is busy becoming Microsoft (abusively and belligerently proprietary). Perhaps when EVERYONE else (including Microsoft) supports .opus, Apple MIGHT drag themselves into the 21st century on the web.
Safari: I recommend installing the free WebM Quicktime Component, which not only enables Safari to play weba audio (and webm video) but also allows any other QuickTime-using software to play or create WebM media. You may also want to install the also-free XipQT QuickTime Component which does the same for Ogg Vorbis audio, as well as FLAC, Speex, and several other legally-free formats. (This advice may be somewhat out of date - apparently Apple has increasingly clamped down on allowing "unapproved" media formats on "their" devices. As a result, you might be better off just using Firefox or Chrome...)
Android Browser: ALL versions of Android come with built-in Ogg Vorbis audio support, but support for the HTML5 <audio> tag wasn't added until the "Gingerbread" release (Android 2.3). For some odd reason, Android browser reports that it doesn't support WebM Audio, but it actually does (This is a known bug since August 2011 in "Gingerbread", and still present in the current "Ice Cream Sandwich" version - Wake up, Google!).
iOS: You're stuck with just the few proprietary formats that Apple corp. permits you. On this page, that's just mp3, and possibly wav, and supposedly .flac on the most recent versions. Sorry, nothing anyone can do as long as Apple forbids you access to other formats.(NOTE: I also recently added a .caf sample using the opus codec, which is supposed to be supported on recent Apple environments. If it turns out iOS devices allow this, there'll at least be one way to get good opus audio streamed to them.