MP3 ??

[alondra]

planing on getting a CD/DVD player for my sterio. they now talk about MP3, just what is MP3, sory if this is a dumb question but I dont know. I have a burner in my comp. TNX

[This message has been edited by alondra (edited 06-26-2001).]

[Gomer]

MP3's are compressed versions of wav files. A WAV taken directly off a cd is around 50 meg for 3 minutes. Converted to MP3 @ 128kbs is about 3 meg. 128kbs indicates the amount of compression. I am happy with 128 but many others prefer higher ie 256, 512 etc.

There are many file sharing utilitys that provide a means of downloading any song you want off the net. Napster was the king, but lawsuits have trimmed its wings. Right now I use WinMX to download my MP3's off the net. I have quite a large library that I have dl'ed on a 56K modem although I make use of broadband while at school as well. You can also "rip" tracks from CD's you own. In mp3 format you can get 10 cds worth of music onto one CD.

MP3's will not play on regular CD players. Software needs to be used in order to decode the compression. Media Player, Winamp, Music Match are a few of them, but there are many others.

These players you are looking to purchase also support MP3's. You would be able to burn a CD full of MP3's (about 100) and play them on the player just as you would a normal CD.

Another nice thing about MP3's is that you can convert them back to wavs. These wavs can then be burnt to a CD in such a fashion that standard CD players can read them. However, the file is back to the 50 meg or so size you began with. The nice thing about this is you can make your own mixes of CD's.

That is the condensed version of MP3's. I am sure I have missed something or other, but that is the basics. Any specific questions, feel free.

By the way... May God have mercy on my soul for all the evil I have done in my pursuit of audio nirvana. I have deprived the poor, poor record companys of many dollars. Shame on me! I hang my head in disgrace.

er wait... It was all for legitimate back up purposes... Yeah!! that's what it was http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif =)

[Gomer]

And may the Good Lord have mercy on my soul for this horrible double post =) One of few for me I might add!

[This message has been edited by Gomer (edited 06-26-2001).]

[MiKe85]

LOL Gomer..

That first post was very informational, and accurate.

[KAknight]

Have you heard of a little thing called Napster? It was in the news every day for quite a while. That was a file sharing program for MP3s. Basically it is a near CD quality sound file. You can put around 12+ hours of music on a single CD. Some new DVD players are also able to play MP3 cd's.

[alondra]

Thank you for the clear and detailed information, I have saved it for future reference. I am not a lot into music. doubt I will down load from net. but who knows. as I understand it this is the main purpose for MP3, am presently copying 40s 50s cassettes to CD. and they seem to be enough. at least now I understand it TNX.\Al

[club_med]

alondra, MP3's is like, da bomb!

cm.