Most current portable MP3 players are about the size of a pack of cards! Is Downloading Free MP3 Files Illegal?
This makes them ideal for “uploading” to a portable player and taking on the road! Since they are basically just computer data, they can be stored “in memory”, rather than needing a CD with its larger, bulkier player.
They can also be stored in electronic format on memory cards and hard drives much easier than normal audio files, taking up much less space than straight audio (.wav files). Thus they take much less time to transmit over data lines such as network cable and telephone modems. Since the audio files are in digital format, they can be highly compressed in size.
MP3 is currently the most powerful algorithm in a series of audio encoding standards developed under the sponsorship of the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and formalized by the International Organization for Standardization (International Organization for Standardization). Using their knowledge of how people actually perceive sound, the developers of MP3 devised a compression algorithm that reduces data about sound that most listeners can not perceive. As each sample requires 16 binary digits (bits) to encode it to a satisfactory resolution, one second of CD quality stereo audio requires around 1.4 million bits of data. For The More Technically-Mindedĭigital audio is typically created by taking 44,100 samples of the sound each second. Most people, however, simply download MP3s from someone else and play them. To create an MP3 file, you use a program called a “ripper” to get a selection from a CD onto your hard disk, and another program called an “encoder” to convert the selection to an MP3 file. Winamp (PC), MacAmp (Mac), and mpeg123 (UNIX) are popular MP3 players, but there are many others. MP3 files are usually download-and-play files rather than streaming sound files that you link-and-listen-to with RealPlayer and similar products (However, streaming MP3 is possible). Otherwise, you can download a player from one of several popular MP3 sites. Many Windows 98 users will find that they have a player built into their operating system. MP3 files (identified with the file name suffix of “.mp3”) are available for downloading from a number of Web sites. The technology exist that will play both regular audio and MP3 Cd’s, but these players are still very expensive.
You will need either a special MP3 player, or a software program such as WinAmp or Real Jukebox on your computer in order to actually listen to the files. However, even though many MP3 files are offered on CD’s, most normal CD players (such as a Diskman or your car stereo’s CD-Player) will not currently play MP3 audio files directly. These files can be downloaded from the Internet, or can played by software on your computer.
MP3 ( MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) is a type of technology that allows a music or audio file to be compressed down into a very small amount of space (about one-twelfth the size of that on a traditional audio CD) while preserving the original level of sound quality when it is played. What Is MP3? The Quick and Easy Definition