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| What is MP3 MP3 is a file format standard for stored digital audio files. MP3 files are stored digitally in such a way that, despite a relatively small file size, the sound quality is excellent. Compared to traditional formats, MP3's have a compression ratio of 12:1. However, because of this intense compression, to listen to an MP3 on a computer generally requires a Pentium class personal computer processor and at least 32 MB of system memory. You can identify MP3 files on a
Personal Computer by the "mp3"
file extension. They are automatically recognized by the Windows 98
and up (Win 2000, Win XP) operating system. The compression ratio and high sound quality
of a MP3 make it ideal for the Internet medium. On the
Internet, millions of people download and trade MP3's of their
favorite artist's songs and albums everyday.
MP3 is the shortened name for MPEG-1 Layer III (or MPEG Audio Layer III) and is an audio subset of the MPEG industry standard developed by ISO (Industry Standards Organization) and became an official standard in 1992 as part of the MPEG-1 standard. Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG), a German company, was the company originally involved in MP3 development and holds key patents regarding the technology.MPEG-1 Layer III is an audio only compression component and is a direct descendant from MPEG-1 which is low-bandwidth video compression, the type that is used over the internet and MPEG-2 which is a high-bandwidth audio and video compression which is the standard for DVD technology. Development of MP3 started back in 1987 in Germany at the Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen and its given name was the EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). With the involvement of Professor Dieter Seitzer of the University of Erlangen, an algorithm was developed and eventually became known as the ISO-MPEG Audio Layer-3 standard. January 1988 saw MPEG itself established, its full title Moving Picture Experts Group, not an organization in itself, but a subcommittee of the ISO/IEC (International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission). Fraunhofer received a patent in April 1989 for MP3 in Germany and in 1992 Fraunhofer’s algorithm was integrated in MPEG-1 for which the specification was published in 1993. MPEG-2 and its specification was published in 1995. January 26th, 1995 saw Fraunhofer apply for the patent of MP3 in the U.S.A. and it was granted on November 26th, 1996. September 1998 Fraunhofer contacted independent developers of MP3 encoders (rippers) and decoders (players) that were based on the ISO source code. Fraunhofer had patent protection on the algorithm they were using and developers who wanted to develop their software applications further would have to apply to Fraunhofer for license. Sub Pop, an independent record label, began in February 1999 to distribute selected music tracks in the MP3 format. Since the beginning of 1999 the popularity of MP3 increased to such an extent that major manufacturers flooded the market with portable MP3 players, the next step on from the Walkman and Portable CD and Mini Disc players. Music sites popped up everywhere on the internet offering free legal MP3 music and also music to purchase. Is MP3 legal? Truly legal MP3's are rare and often the songs are from lesser known artists. Because of these difficulties, most MP3 trading on the Internet is technically "illegal". Reality dictates that downloading and playing MP3's is not a serious offense that warrants any sort of prosecution or investigation. In many ways, MP3 trading is likened to the copying of movies or television programs. Many search engines and software utilities have been forged to help MP3 users trade song files. These search engines and utilities are often backed by large companies, who don't seem to be afraid of the medium's controversial nature. In general, if you simply listen to
songs for personal use, there is no real problem. If you start
using MP3 to make bootleg CD's, or begin selling them in bulk, you
will start to find trouble. In the most simple case, no special software is needed to play or download MP3's. Any web browser is able to download a MP3 file and the Windows Media Player, which comes as part of the Windows operating system on Windows PCs, is capable of playing them. However, most MP3 users do not find these basic tools adequate. Most MP3 users prefer a customized MP3 player program such as WinAMP and download utilities such as GoZilla, Getright or the new Napster. These programs make the experience of listening to your MP3's a little more pleasant and prevent headaches often associated with sorting and playing more than one MP3 file on your computer. MP3 Players Portable MP3 Players How do I find
MP3's? Several search engines have been
developed specifically for MP3's. Lycos MP3 Search, Scour and
Palavista are a few of these useful search engines.
Additionally, software utilities like Napster allow MP3 users to
search for, and trade, MP3's through a client - not unlike AOL's
Instant Messenger. As the MP3 phenomenon grows, more efficient
searching and downloading tools will be available for MP3
users.
Music files are quite bulky and CD tracks, in their original form, are far to large to be transported over the Internet. The process of converting a CD track to a MP3 is relatively simple and can be accomplished with many software packages such as Audio Catalyst, MusicMatch Jukebox and others. These programs come in quite handy, as an entire CD can be stored on a hard drive at a fraction of the space or on a Zip disk. What is a portable MP3 Player? MP3 players are the hottest gadgets on the market and for good reason: they allow you to hear all that great music that's available on the Web and take it with you everywhere you go. Weighing in at only a few ounces, these battery-powered devices are simple to use. Most portable MP3 players come bundled with software including a ripper that allows you to convert songs from your CD collection into MP3 files on your computer's hard drive and a file manager that lets you organize, store and transfer MP3s from your PC onto the portable player. First, just download some MP3 files from the Web (free sites or from an online store) to your computer or rip some tracks off a CD. Once you're finished, using the portable player's supplied software program (usually on the supplied CD) to manage your music files, transfer the files onto your portable MP3 player via your PC's USB port. (You would connect the portable player to your computer by way of the supplied USB cable) Detach the cable, and you're ready to hit the road. (You may need some time to get familiar with the navigation and operation of your players music manager software.) Portable MP3
players are just a fraction of the size and weight of a personal CD
player, and since the music files are stored in solid-state flash
memory, your music won't skip. And for music lovers, MP3 is a dream
come true. Tracks by thousands upon thousands of artists, from the
established to the obscure, are available for download on the
Internet. Some outlets charge a small fee for downloads, but a lot
of independent music is available for free. Consider these important Portable MP3 player features: • Interface: Portable MP3 players generally interface with a computer in one of three ways: parallel, serial and USB. Parallel and serial interfaces are standard ways to connect an MP3 player to a computer. USB (Universal Serial Bus) transports information from your computer to your MP3 player through one of the fastest cable connections available today.• Internal Memory: The amount of internal memory (also called onboard memory) that comes standard on the player varies, but the average is 64 or 128 or 256MB. Most players have additional memory slots so removable memory cards can be added. So, how much memory is enough? 32 MB will store approximately six songs, so in general, the more memory that comes standard, the better. • Expandable Memory: Most players allow you to add extra memory and have maximum capacities of 32 MB, 64 MB and over 128 MB. Portable mp3 Player: Storage Size MattersA little background on mp3 player technology may help you figure out what you need - MP3 players have four components, a decoder chip, a storage system, a display, and a control system. The decoder chip and control systems are all made from very compact parts that are very cheap to make - only a few dollars. So it is the storage system that represents the bulk of the cost, and determines the size of the player and its main features. Let's look at the different storage technologies used in mp3 players:
If you buy a player that stores about a dozen songs, the display size and features are not very important. If you opt for a player that can store thousands of songs, the display size becomes very important as you will spend more time navigating to find the song you want. Although other companies are catching up, Apple's iPod is the clear winner in the display size, quality and navigational areas. The iPod is not just for the Macintosh. It works well with Windows computers too. Convenience of mp3 PlayersFrom the table you can easily see that the disk drive or "jukebox" players are the most convenient for quick access to many songs. With blank CD's being so cheap the MP3 CD players offer the cheapest access to many tracks but at some inconvenience: you have to burn, carry around and change the CD's. mp3 Player ReliabilityThe most reliable players are the ones with Flash storage because they use no moving parts for storage that could wear out. If you already use flash cards, in a digital camera for example, you might consider picking a player that uses the same kind of card. USB flash card readers are readily available for all 6 formats of flash card so it is easy to put your songs on the cards from any modern PC. mp3 Player Software and ConnectivityAnother important factor to
consider is which kind of computer you have and whether the software
bundled with the player will work well on your system. All the
players work with Windows PC's and most use the USB 1.1 connection.
The recent jukebox players use the new faster, USB 2.0. Audio FormatsAll the players do a good job on mp3 format files. Microsoft has another audio format, WMA which is more space efficient and quite popular but not all the players support it. Apple's proprietary format used in their popular music download store works well on the iPod but is not available on other players yet. General RecommendationsIf you are just exploring the world of mp3 players or buying for a young person, you should probably go for one of the cheaper Flash memory players such as the Nomad IIc. If you want the state of the art with no compromise on capacity or convenience go for a jukebox like the new Creative Labs Zen or the Apple iPod. If you are already weighed down with portable gadgets consider a device that integrates mp3 player and other functionality like the Fuji Finepix digital camera or the ultra-slim Casio Exilim digital camera and mp3 player. New and already very popular devices from IRiver include an FM tuner and the ability to do voice recording, direct recording from the radio and high quality recording from an external source. Musicians will find the special speed change feature of the Nomad Jukebox and Zen products very useful for learning musical phrases. These players can slow down the audio as much as 50% without changing the pitch of the recording. Where to find mp3 Downloads and mp3 FilesAll the players come with software to "rip" audio tracks from your CD's and put them into mp3 form. One of the best download sources you can try for free is EMusic. They have a large source of big name artists and it is very easy to download whole albums. What are some of the primary features to look at when comparing MP3 players? The features which are most commonly used to compare MP3 players are listed below. While these are not the only features which can be considered, they cover the basic considerations of usability. Platform, software, connection type, memory and power source are most commonly used as they directly affect the connection and after-sale cost of using the MP3 player. Platform: Refers to the type of computer and operating system required to connect to and transfer files to and from the MP3 player. The two primary computer types are PC and Apple®. The two primary operating systems are Microsoft® Windows® and Apple's Macintosh® OS. An MP3 player which can be connected to a computer will support at least one or possibly both of these platforms. Occasionally, the Macintosh-compatible software will be made available for download rather than being packaged on the CD. Generally, you would need to contact the manufacturer of the software to determine if they support a particular version of your operating system (such as Windows XP or Macintosh OS X).
Connection Type: Refers to how the MP3 player is connected to a computer or how information is shared between the computer and the MP3 player. This is usually done through a direct cable connection or a cradle; however, depending on the player, this may also be accomplished using a memory card reader. Direct cable connection is through one (or more) of the following types, with USB being the most common:
Memory Type: Refers to the type of external memory that the player can use. There are four types of memory typically used in MP3 players. SmartMedia™ and MultiMedia™/Secure Digital™ Cards are the most common types, followed by CompactFlash™, then Memory Stick and then PCMCIA cards. SmartMedia (SMC): 45 mm x 37 mm, up to .76 mm thick. Multimedia (MMC): 36.4 mm x 24 mm, up to 1.4 mm thick. Secure Digital (SD): 32 mm x 24 mm, up to 2.1 mm thick. Secure Digital cards are similar to Multimedia cards, except that they use a different number of pins and incorporate SDMI requirements. Devices with SD slots can generally use MMC cards as well. CompactFlash (CF): 36.4 mm x 42.8 mm There are two types of CompactFlash memory card available.
The Memory Stick format was created by Sony® but is now offered by other manufacturer. It offers a range of memory sizes. PCMCIA Cards: 85.6 mm x 54 mm Short for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, PCMCIA cards come in three types, with Type II and Type III being the most common. Because of the larger size, PCMCIA cards are rarely used in MP3 players.
When not using the MP3 player or when using the AC or DC power supply only for an extended period, you should remove the batteries to prevent leakage and/or corrosion.
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