MP3 Audio File Format - A New Format for Storing Sounds

MP3 is the latest and the most popular audio format that is used now. This acronym stands for MPEG Layer 3. It is a compressed audio format with a compression ratio of up to 12: 1. The sound quality of the audio in this format is very high. A normal audio file, which is 1200 KB in size, can be stored in just 100 KB if it is using the MP3 format. The size of the audio files is very small when compared to other formats of audio files. This makes it easily portable.

Where to get MP3 audio files?

MP3 audio files are widely available in CDs now. Almost any album that is released in the world is also sold in the MP3 audio format. These albums in the MP3 formats are also available in some websites that are dedicated for MP3 downloads. You can also purchase these MP3 CDs at any audio store meant for that purpose.

MP3 downloads

Free MP3 downloads are also available in some of the websites. You need to become a member of these sites for a fee to download unlimited number of songs in the MP3 format. Some of the sites charge you for each song that is downloaded. Free MP3 downloads for testing the quality of the audio is usually provided by most of these websites. Websites like www.napster.com allow free MP3 downloads if you have MP3 players from select manufacturers. You can download directly to the player by using the software provided by the website.

How to play a MP3 audio file?

To play a MP3 audio you need separate players whether it is software or a physical player that can be carried. MP3 software players are used in your PC to play MP3 audio. Physical players from many branded manufacturers are available in the market to play these MP3 audio files.

MP3 Ringtones

With the advent of the mobile phones, it has become a fashion to make your mobile call you with your favorite songs as Ringtones. Youngsters particularly teenagers are more interested in using Ringtones of the songs they like. This has picked up in such a manner that MP3 Ringtones are now being sold in websites. Many websites sell Ringtones in the MP3 format. The mobile you are using should be capable of playing the Ringtones in the MP3 format to use these MP3 Ringtones. These websites provide you with an interface to select the model of the mobile phone you have and then download MP3 Ringtones that suit your mobile phone model.

For more information, visit target="_blank">The MP3 Info Center

David Chandler
For your FREE Stock Market Trading Mini Course: "What The Wall Street Hot Shots Won't Tell You!" go to: The Stock Market Genie

Review of Rio MP3 Players

Below you will find some useful information and comments about a few of the most popular MP3 players by Rio, including the Nitrus, Carbon, Cali, and Forge. None of these MP3 players are perfect, but each offers a unique set of strengths and weaknesses that should be taken into consideration before you purchase any one of them. Be sure to compare price, usability, and the overall performance of each.

Rio Carbon 5 GB MP3 Player

Manufacturers Description: The Rio Carbon is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 (160 hours WMA) music, and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice.

Sporting an ultrathin and tapered design and with 25 percent more memory than iPod Mini, this tiny MP3 player--about the size of a business card--will slide into any pocket, virtually unnoticeable. The Rio Carbon is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 music (160 hours of WMA), and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice. Supporting USB 2.0 and a host of file formats, users can download music efficiently and easily from most of their favorite online music sites. The Rio Carbon also includes voice recording and provides seamless integration and support of both the Windows and Mac platforms.

Features:

- 5 GB of memory stores up to 80 hours of MP3 music or 160 hours of WMA music
- Plays MP3, WMA, and Audible audio formats
- Built-in microphone for voice recording
- Easily drag and drop data and music files onto your player
- Rechargeable battery offers up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge
- USB 2.0 for faster downloads
- Charge from USB or the included power adapter
- Windows and Mac compatible
- Includes Rio Music Manager, the most intuitive way to create and manage your digital music library

Comments: Users tend to agree that this is one of the best mp3 players Rio has developed. It's really quite small and slim, and can actually fit in your pockets. 5GB of memory really doesn't sound like all that much any more, but I think most new user will find that that is plenty of space. The long battery is nice (20 compared with iPod's 12), and the interface is easy enough to work with. One little dissapointment is the inability to hit any buttons on the device when it is in its carrying case. Also, it does have some compatibility issues with Mac music programs like iTunes. If you really love Mac, you may want to consider iPod or Shuffle instead (this goes for all Rio products).

Price: $230

Rio Cali 128 MB Sport MP3 Player

Manufacturers Description: Wrapped in grippy, protective rubber, the Cali 128 is built to play hard. Solid-state electronics carry over 30 songs with no skips -- ever. Comfortable Sport Clip earphones, case with armband, and integrated stopwatch with lap timer make the Cali a functional sport accessory. 5-band adjustable equalizer gives more control over your sound than most players. Onboard FM tuner means you always have something to listen to. An empty expansion slot allows you to add up to 512 MB of additional SDTM or MMCTM memory. Simple menus and intuitive controls make for easy one-handed operation.

Features:

- 128 MB of memory plays back over 2 hours of MP3 or 4 hours of WMA music (over 30 MP3 or 60 WMA songs)*
- Expansion slot to add up to 512 MB additional memory using SD or MMC cards (sold separately)
- USB 1.1 connects to almost any computer
- Transfer content between multiple PCs
- 18-hour continuous playback using one Energizer AAA Battery
- 5-Band adjustable equalizer with pre-sets

Comments: Anyone considering buying this device should be aware of some odd functional issues that may be frustrating. First of all, when changing memory cards, many users have had to actually take out the batteries in order to get the device to recognize the new memory card (another note: some users have had problems getting the device to accept 3rd party memory cards). Also, it seems that the player may not be able to play regular mp3 formats you may have on your pc hard drive. Rio admits that these mp3 files need to be converted through their own software in order for them to work. These, and other odd quirks, undermine this particular player quite a bit. On the positive side, the device has good battery life, plays clear, crisp music, and has a good radio feature as well.

Price: $120

Rio Forge 512 MB Sport MP3 Player

Manufacturers Description: The Rio Forge series is our latest generation of flash based sport players. The Rio Forge was designed for people that like to play hard and use music to play even harder. The new design integrates the grippy, protective rubber from previous models with a new shiny stainless steel face plate for added durability. Up to 20 hours of battery life allows you hours of non-stop work out time. Comfortable Sport Clip earphones and a newly designed case with armband keep your player and music secure and accessible. Simple menus and intuitive controls make for easy one-handed operation. Stopwatch and Lap Timer make the Rio Forge the ultimate gym or running companion. Plus, the new FM record feature allows you to record radio content onto your player to listen to at a later time.

Features:

- Holds 16 hours worth of Music
- Storage capacity may be upgraded up to 1 GB
- Durable Stainless Steel Face
- 512 MB of storage
- Stopwatch feature for work-outs
- Up to 20 hours of battery life

Comments: This latest generation of sport mp3 players by Rio is perhaps the best so far. What we really liked about this device is the easy to use and intuitive user interface and clear LCD screen. The one downside is the 512mb upper limit in storage (although technically you can upgrade to 1GB), which is a little low compared with the market average. Even so, the features like the FM tuner and stop watch make this a really cool little sport mp3 player. It's about as durable and user friendly as they come, plus the battery life is friendly for those long work-outs. Thumbs up on this one.

Price: $180

Rio Nitrus 1.5 GB MP3 Jukebox

Manufacturers Description: The revolutionary Rio Nitrus packs 1.5 GB into a stealthy, razor-thin design. With the ability to carry over 375 songs, never before has this much capacity been offered on a player this small. Fast USB 2.0 connection loads the player quickly. Simple menus, thoughtful controls, and a clear display make navigation instinctive. A 5-band adjustable equalizer provides a custom listening experience. Quality components throughout yield a player without compromise.

Features:

- 1.5GB HDD plays back over 25 hours of MP3 or 50 hours of WMA music (over 375 MP3 or 750 WMA songs)
- USB 2.0 for fast transfers
- Transfer content between multiple PCs
- 16-hour continuous playback with the rechargeable LiIon battery
- 5-Band adjustable equalizer with pre-sets

Comments: This is an overall fairly solid mp3 player with a few design and engineering defects that should be mentioned. First, the buttons are not quite as easy to use, or as well laid out as some of Rio's other players. Specifically, the volume buttons are smaller and closer together than they should be. Another thing is problems with the battery life, some users getting significantly less time out of their batteries than they are supposed to. And you really can't expect to get the full 16 hours. Also, the scrolling feature doesn't seem to help much. On the plus side, the device is big enough in storage size (1.5GB), and small enough in physical size to appeal to alot of potential consumers. The sound is also quite good and just about every volume level.

Price: $175

Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on Rio mp3 players, please visit our Rio mp3 webpage.

Mp3 vs. WMA

There are just a few audio compression formats out there, just like there are only a few image compression formats (you may have heard of them: JPG, GIF, BMP). Two of the most popular audio formats are WMA, or Windows Media Audio, and MP3 (Short for MPEG, Moving Pictures Experts Group, Audio Layer 3). WMA is the older audio format, produced by Microsoft, to work with Microsoft's Windows media player. The WMA compression format was designed specifically for this format, and thus can not be converted to other audio formats.

The audio quality of WMA and MP3 audio formats tends to be noticeably different. WMA is a decent quality audio format when streaming at phoneline speeds (maybe 30kbps or so). At such speed WMA almost reaches an FM level of audio quality, although not quite. At 128kbps, Microsoft claims the WMA is nearly CD-quality, although many would deny this. WMA, however, is not to be completely looked over. The compression provides relatively small audio files and they require less processing power to execute. It thus retains a diminishing niche as MP3 has become more popular and widely used.

The MP3 audio compression was developed in Germany in 1991 by the Fraunhofer Institute. MP3 typically provides higher quality sound than WMA because it uses perceptual audio coding to compress CD-quality sound by a factor of 12. As a result, MP3 has become almost the universal standard among audio usage and broadcasting. It provides CD-quality sound at reasonable compression sizes and high streaming speeds. Watch out, however, at low bitrates, as MP3 quality will likely suffer.

Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on MP3 and WMA audio formats, please visit our MP3 vs. WMA webpage.

Tips on buying an Mp3 player video

The Future Of MP3 Players

What will tomorrow bring for MP3 players and other portable media players? No doubt digital players have enjoyed tremendous success to date. They've quickly replaced portable CD players and regular radios as the perfect traveling companions. But will MP3 players continue to sell or will they be replaced just as quickly by new technology? Consider 5 possible trends of the future. 1.The MP3 Player Market Will Grow A technology research firm by the name of DC recently released a market prediction that the MP3 player market will grow steadily until 2009, perhaps by improving sales some 4 times over%. Flash player technology is also expected to advance and grow in total gigabyte storing capacity. 2.Units Will Grow More User Friendly And Energy Efficient Older models, not to mention small and simplistic devices, will be discontinued, though many have been axed already. The latest design to beat is a full-featured MP3 player with video capabilities that's as small as a regular MP3 player (IPOD anyone?). (Ideal size, smaller than a common PC mouse) Large bulky systems are out and so are internal iPod batteries that you can't replace without professional help. 3. Wireless Technology Digital players now face a serious threat from cell phones provider, which are now incorporating MP3 playback into their products. Therefore, in order to keep up with the competition, expect many MP3 players to soon utilize wireless technology and feature a Wi-Fi connection for quick and easy Internet downloads. 4. Portable Media Players MP3 Players are also being scrutinized for value when compared to similarly priced products such as Pocket PCs, Ultra Mobile PCs and even portable game consoles. The Nintendo DS and Sony PSP use wireless technology to provide users with more multimedia entertainment beyond games, including DVD and MP3 playback. Pocket PCs cannot only play MP3 files; they can also open word processors and spreadsheets, check email and browse the web. In order not to be replaced by more efficient and similarly priced gadgets, MP3 players will have to truly become media players--that is, incorporate image viewing, audio and video recording, and more into their systems. 5. Prices Will Drop Going along with that prediction, a realistic belief is that in the coming years multimedia players and especially MP3 players will drastically fall in price. Pocket PCs and Ultra Mobile PCs are expected to be reduced as technology improves and the market changes. People certainly won't mind buying a media playing device with limited features--but they won't want to pay the same price for it that they would a complete portable PC for $400.00-$500.00. MP3 player manufacturers like Creative Zen, iRiver, Dell Hewlett Packard and Apple iPod are certainly banking on the present--namely that MP3 players are relatively novel. Whether or not they bank on the future, however, remains to be seen.

About the Author
Adam O'Connor is the owner of http://www.handheldguru.com which provides free information on handheld electronics. He is an expert in this industry and his website helps people find helps people find answers to questions like how can you compare PDA's or what is the best pocket PC for you.

MP3 Players In 2007 Review

Hello... Behind 2006 has pass beyond now. In 2007 will welcome from our. I begin with 2007 MP3 players review from the world than more subscription.

1. Apple iPod Shuffle 2nd Generation

[Photo]The 2nd generation of iPod shuffle is cool it's very nice for the people because it's new style looking, little size, feather-light weight, ease of use and have low price. If you liked that model, you'll definitely be impressed by the second-generation shuffle. It's a lot smaller, has a built-in clip, and best of all costs begin $79.99 (available only in 1GB capacity), making it a perfect stocking stuffer. In fact, it's cheap enough that even if you have a full-size iPod, you could pick the shuffle up for a song and use it just for working out or running. However my idea think if using a player with no screen or extra features doesn't appeal to you, then you're better off checking out players like the iPod nano, the Creative Zen V, or the SanDisk e200 series and more model.

2. Sony Noise Canceling Walkman NW-S705F [Photo] Sony has been trying very hard to innovate these days, and this effort is clearly evident in its Walkman line of MP3 players. The company's latest addition is the Sony Noise Canceling Walkman NW-S705F. As the name implies, the included in-ear headphones on this model have a distinctive active noise-canceling feature. But unlike other noise-canceling headphones, they're powered by the player's battery rather than by a separate power source. This is a great concept and the implementation is pretty good, although I'm not terribly impressed by the player's controls and software integration.

3. Creative Zen Vision M 30GB Black [Photo]Zen Vision it's better and smaller than all and does more than play your videos, photos and music too. It displays them in their true glory on a vibrant, large full-color screen. Perfect for road trips long or short, carry your entertainment in the palm of your hand. Available in a light 30GB model, take your pick from 5 dazzling colors - blue, green, pink, black and white pattern for choose.

About the Author
http://mp3cover.blogspot.com http://mp3fine.blogspot.com

Zune Vs. Ipod - The Battle Over The MP3 Domination Begins Right Here

The ipod has been one of the best little gadgets that apple has designed in a long time. Not only was it great for mac lovers for also for those who still like owning a pc. Microsoft has something in mind that will blow the ipod and the ipod nano clear out of the water. Microsoft calls it the zune and the features that this little mp3 player so far is showing much more promise then the ipod ever did.

The zune has a retail price of $249.99 and guess what that is more then worth the price just because of all the features the little powerhouse has. It gives you storage that you will probably never be able to fill along with being able to send information to other zunes through an ingenious wireless zune to zune connection. I can see apple starting to worry about the zune not only because it is a competitor for the ipod but also because microsoft has been able to dominate the computer market for a very long time and odds are will always.

There is talk of a zune shortage during the release time and this can always be met with many trying to get their hands on them as soon as possible. There are at the moment 3 great colors for the zune and odds are there will either be updated colors or skins that could possibly go over the case. Microsoft is also setting up a song site where zune owners can get a membership to and get a ton of songs that will go right into the zune.

Whether you are an apple fan or not you have to realize that the zune will end up taking over what ipod started. There were many diehard pc fans who ended up going and buying an ipod so whatever you do don't feel like you are a traitor to your brand. You just need to go with what suits you best and has the features that you are looking for. For most though it is hot, it is new and it is something that they need right now.

There are many places where you can purchase the zune just make sure and pick one up before they get too hard to buy. Odds are you will start to see these selling on ebay for an appreciated price due o the demand. Also do not forget that there are ways to get the brand new $249.99 zune completely free. Odds are a free zune is much better then paying for one but you need to be the judge of that.

It looks like most people are going to be getting the white zune and then there are a few who are actually going to test out the brown colored one. Not really the best choice for an electronic device but looks like money none the less.

All around probably going to be one of the best devices to be sold in the year 2007 and for good reason. Stop wasting your time and get a microsoft zune today.

Don Virden - Proud Father and Internet Marketer