The .ape is the file extension used by Monkey’s Audio files. These are the audio files compressed using Monkey's Audio lossless compression majorly used on Mac platform. The compression algorithm used by this format does not affect the quality of the file by altering or discarding the data unlike other lossy compression formats which alter or discard the data to save the space. APE includes error detection and support for tags that store information about audio files. These files are sometimes created with .CUE files to comprise an audio CD image. The files encoded to Monkey's Audio are normally reduced to about half of the original size with a proportionate reduction in the data transfer rates and bandwidth requirements as well. NOTE: APE files may be created with other programs besides Monkey's Audio as the Monkey's Audio encoder is easily available and can be integrated into other software programs.