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Audio Players & Other Applications
Audio Players
The audio players you use will depend on what formats are
offered by the web sites you surf. Some sites offer the same
audio file in two or three formats but most present a single
choice.
Limited cross-compatibility does exist between some
players and files. For example, the latest versions of
QuickTime, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player will play
MP3s in addition to their own formats. However, some players
only play their own proprietary formats so you'll need a
Liquid Audio player to play Liquid Audio files and so on.
Since no one owns the MP3 format there are dozens of
different MP3 players.
The vast majority of players can be downloaded for free or
offer free demo versions. A basic player opens a small
window with regular audio control buttons like play, pause,
rewind, fast-forward, stop and volume control. Most players
let you arrange songs into play lists. Several players offer
"pro" or "plus" versions that have additional features like
graphic equalizers, bass or treble controls; but you'll have
to shell out $30-45 to get these advanced versions. Most
popular free players like RealPlayer, Windows Media Player
or QuickTime have PC and Mac versions. MP3 players are
available for Mac, PC, Linux, UNIX and some PDAs.
Not all sound formats require a separate player to operate.
You can play WAV and MIDI files with the appropriate web
browser plug-in. When you click to download an audio file
your browser can detect if you have the right plug-in, and
if you don't it can direct you to a download site. Clicking
on an audio file usually automatically launches or spawns a
separate window for a compatible audio player. You can also
tinker with your browser preferences to make a certain
player the default for a particular file type.
Portable Players
With portable MP3 players you can download MP3 files
directly from your computer into these small,
battery-powered devices and carry them around like a
Walkman. You typically connect the player to your computer
via USB port with the tracks stored in the player's Flash
RAM. Some players also pick up FM radio or act as voice
recorders.
Portable MP3 players have a storage capacity of 32 -128 MB
or more and some have expansion slots for extra memory
cards. Players are priced between CAN$100 to $500 depending
on their features and amount of memory.
Other Audio Applications
In addition to player applications, you can get programs
called jukeboxes. Once you've downloaded a bunch of songs or
sounds to your computer you can use a jukebox to make play
lists and manage your files. Jukeboxes also include CD
rippers which allow you to extract the raw audio data from a
CD and save it in an uncompressed format like WAV. Then an
encoder application can encode the file as an MP3.
To help you organize your files, some jukeboxes and players
support ID3 tagging. These tags are blocks of data stuck
onto the front of a MP3 file that provides additional
information like song title, artist, album, date and genre.
The latest ID3 version 2 tags can contain liner notes, album
art, lyrics, and bios. Not all MP3s carry these tags, and if
your player doesn't support ID3, the tags will just be
ignored. Some players and jukeboxes can automatically
retrieve the same information found in ID3 tags from
Escient's online CD database (CDDB).
Once you've conquered the basics of downloading and playing
sound files, there are numerous programs that will help you
create your own audio files. If you own a CD-R (recordable)
or CD-RW (rewritable) drive, you can then burn your own
tracks to CD. Commercial, shareware and freeware
applications are available that let you turn your audio CDs,
tapes or LPs into MP3s or other audio formats. Certain
programs also allow you to mix and edit audio files once
you've ripped the tracks from the original source.
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