MP3 Players

Since Apple launched the iPod, MP3 players have been in big demand. The ability to take your music with you wherever you go, coupled with the small size of MP3 files has led to a revolution in the way we listen to music.

Even the smallest  mp3 players will store much more than the "walkman" style portable cd players - with the larger hard drive players you can fit your entire music collection in your pocket. 

Although they are termed "mp3 players", there are a number of other file formats, or "codecs" which are used for encoding music files. Some of these are wma, ogg vorbis, wav, and each have different strengths and weaknesses. Some produce smaller file sizes, some better sound quality. If you have a need to use any of these other formats, you should check whether it is supported by a particular MP3 player.

Organise your music and take it with you

MP3 players allow you to organise your music in a way you could never do before in a portable unit. MP3 files contain ID3 tags that list the artist, track, album name, genre, and more. Using this information, you can create playlists of your favourite tracks and take your music with you wherever you go.

There are 3 types of MP3 players - Flash MP3 players, Hard disc MP3 players and MP3 CD players - the type that is best for you depends on where, when and how you want to use it.

Most can also store other files, so you can also take documents, photos etc with you too.

What is MP3 Anyway?

MP3 is a file format for storing music in a compressed form. An average song may take up 40 Mb of space on a CD, but when it is compressed into MP3 format, it might take up only 4 Mb of space.

This small file size has led to a revolution in music - MP3 files are small enough to be downloaded over the internet, and small enough that many of them can be stored on a small, portable MP3 player.

Compression of MP3 files is done by reducing the number of bytes which are used to represent the music. Although compressing music naturally reduces its quality, MP3 files retain near CD quality.

MP3s can be encoded at different qualities or bitrates. A bitrate of 128 Kbps is the most common bitrate for recording music for near CD quality. 96Kbps is equivalent to FM quality, while 256 Kbps gives CD quality even on an advaced HiFi.

Where do I get MP3s from?

MP3s can be obtained from various sources. If you have a CD collection, they can be converted into MP3s and downloaded onto your player.

To do this you need a PC with ripping and encoding software. Many MP3 players come with this software, if not there are various programs available on the internet.

The software allows you to select a track on the CD, then converts it to MP3 format and saves it on your hard drive from where it can be downloaded to your player.

There are also many places on the internet where you can download MP3s from. Some can be free of charge, although they tend to be from artists who are either new or unknown.

Commercial music can be downloaded for a fee or on a subscription basis. You should note that with a subscription service, you rent the music, not buy it. If you stop subscribing, you are no longer entitled to listen to the music. The subscription plans encode the music with digital rights management technology to enforce the subscription agreement.

Many players now have a built in FM radio, and with some you can now download directly from your CD player to your MP3 player