Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

lossless audio compression
     
         Any kind of {audio compression} in which
        the original signal and the decoded signal are bitwise
        identical.  Lossless audio compression algorithms are usually
        based on a data compression algorithm like {PKzip} or {gzip}
        but specialized for {PCM} audio data.  The signal is divided
        into predictable {tonal} components and unpredictable noisy
        components.  Tonal components are stored as coefficients of a
        predictor, the remaining signal is coded by a {Rice},
        {Huffman}, or {arithmetic} coder.
     
        (2001-12-24)