MP3 is a computer file format. You've got your .DOC Word Documents,
.JPG pictures, and .MP3 music files. It stands for MPEG-1 Audio
Layer-3, but that doesn't help much either, does it? MPEG is
the Moving Picture Experts Group, the people
who really care about audio/video and protecting it. If you care about video, you need to
pay attention to sound as well.
Compression
MPEG is a compression technology. The MP3 technology is
specifically used to compress music. They compress the
music by removing sounds you don't really hear - the sound of someone's
voice behind a loud cymbal crash for instance. True audiophiles
probably don't want to deal with MP3, they'll stick with their HDCDs or
SACDs, (high-def and super-audio CDs) but
any other music-loving person who wants to build a digital library will
love it. Put every one of your songs at your fingertips.
OK, one more thing on compression. On an audio CD that you
play in your regular CD player, that music is stored in the .WAV format. WAV
takes about 10MB (megabytes) on your hard drive for every minute of
music. 4 minute song = 40MB file. This is too big folks.
MP3 brings those files down to about 1MB per minute of audio. So,
that's a 10-to-1 compression ratio, not too shabby.
To put things in perspective, a floppy disk holds 1.4MB. An MP3
song is normally going to be anywhere from 3-8MB for a 3-8 minute song, ya dig? So, you
can't cart your cutz on those old-school wack-ass floppy disks.
You need some new gear, but have no fear, 'cause it's all here!
The battle for the best portable storage media type is fierce.
You've got "solid state" memory with no moving parts. The
names to know are SmartMedia and CompactFlash. These are popular but
still pretty expensive. These type of cards slip in to
your digital audio devices. They come in 16, 32, 64 and 128MB storage
sizes. Still way too small if you ask me.
This brings me to one
of my biggest gripes right now. You've probably heard of Sony's
MiniDisc technology right? If not, you suck! That's a picture
of a MiniDisc there on the right. These suckers are 2.5 inch squares
that hold just as much as a normal CD, but are way smaller and reside in a
protective case! You can't scratch 'em! (Chybo,
cough cough...) Even though they have been around since 1992 they
haven't caught on yet. I guess people like buying CDs so they can
scratch 'em and buy them again or something.
Some new CD players will play a CD-R burned full of MP3s, and this is
very nice. Kenwood
and JVC are both pimpin' the MP3 thang. CDs hold up to 700MB of
data, so you can fit about 150-200 songs on a disc! With this much
music at your finger tips, the interface is pretty important - how do you
find the songs you want to hear?! You need a good screen to display
a list, and you can't have that in the car, so voice recognition is going
to be the answer. "Computer, play Chilli Peppers, Scar
Tissue" Something like that.
To
play your tunes on your PC you're going to need some MP3 player
software. You can also get portable MP3 players for taking your hits
on the go. The Creative
Nomad is probably the best, but it's expensive and there are cheaper
alternatives that'll get the job done.
So Go Grab Some MP3s!
There are all kinds of places you can go to get MP3s these days.
Peer-to-peer sharing programs are nice for us Internet people.
Napster is the most popular, but they're going to try and make their
service pay-per-play,
so we'll see how that effects their user base. Gnutella, iMesh,
and ScourExchange are some other good
ways to find your favs.
