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 MP3
FAQ
Here is a quick FAQ to help you
get started with MP3 right away.
Frequently Ask Questions
1.
What is MP3?
MP3 or MPEG layer
3 is a sound file that has been significantly compressed through
MP3 encoding making it smaller (compressed up to 12:1) from
the original source file with very little loss in sound quality.
This compression model is based on the capability of eliminating
those frequencies which the human ear is unable to hear.
The smaller MP3 files (usually
around one megabytes for one minute of music) make it possible
to offer music downloads over the Internet. Compare to an average
audio compact disc which holds about 700 megabytes of data or
around 70 megabytes per song, that a significant improvement over
file size.
The standard bit
rates (near CD quality result) is 128 or 112 kbit/s. The
disadvantage of MP3 compression is that lots of processing power
is needed to encode and play these files as they have to be decompressed
when playing. Therefore you must play it on your computer or using
an MP3 player hardware. It can not be played on an ordinary home
stereo CD player (you can however, burn your MP3s
onto a CD and play it on your ordinary home stereo CD player.
Creating your own CD works out to be much cheaper than the price
that you usually pay for a music CD. Besides one CD can hold over
one hundreds MP3 music files!).
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2. Where can
I get MP3 files?
You can use the mp3 search engines
to help you search for mp3 files. Check out the search
engine section for some good mp3 search engines. There are
also many good sites that host mp3 files directly or provide links
to mp3 files. We highly recommend emusic
unlimited, which provides an excellent mp3 download service.
Also, check out the Top
MP3 Sites section, MP3 Links
and MP3 download page. You can
also create your own mp3 files from your favorite CDs for personal
use. Read the 'How do I make mp3 files from my
CDs'.
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3. How do I
play mp3 files?
Download any MP3 player software
to play the file. Check out the MP3
Players section for some good quality and free mp3 players
software.
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4. What is
an encoder?
An encoder is a software
that converts uncompressed
WAV (Windows) or AIFF (Mac)
files into compressed files, using a CODEC such as MP3 or RealAudio.
You can use an encoder to make mp3 files from your CDs. Check
out the Encoder and Decoder section
for some freeware encoders.
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5. What is
a decoder?
A decoder is exactly the opposite
of an encoder. It is used to convert (decode) audio files in MP3
or RealAudio format to WAV or AIFF format. It is used to
make CDs from MP3 files.
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6. What is
CD ripping?
CD ripping is a process of extracting
audio data from an audio CD and converting it into WAV file format
or other formats and storing it as digital data on your PC's hard
disk. Check out the CD Rippers section for some good freeware
CD Rippers.
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7. What is
CD burning?
CD burning is the process of using
CD-R/RW drive and burning software to put data or audio onto a
CD.
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8. How do I
decode an MP3 file format to a WAV file format?
Firstly you need a Decoder software.
Some MP3 Players software will allow you to do decoding such as
Winamp and MusicMatch. Use your Decoder to decode the MP3 files
back to WAV format. In Winamp, for example, you
can set the output to a WAV file instead of standard audio output.
Hit Ctrl-P to bring up the Preferences window and choose Plug-ins/Output.
Select Nullsoft DiskWrite on the right side, and click Configure
to choose a destination for your WAV file. For other MP3 players,
just look around the Preferences for output options.
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9. How do I
encode a WAV file format to an MP3 file format?
To encode a WAV file to an MP3
file, you need an encoder software. You can download it form the
Encoder and Decoder section
of our website.
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10.
How can I make MP3 files from my CD?
Firstly, you need a CD Ripper
and an Encoder software or a program that does both. You can download
a CD Ripper and Encoder software
from the Encoder and Decoder
section of our website. Use the CD Ripper to extract the audio
file on the CD and convert it to WAV (or AIFF for MAC) file
format. Finally, use your Encoder software to convert the WAV
files to MP3 format. If you take a track from an audio CD and
directly create an MP3 file on your hard disk, then you are ripping
and encoding in one step. Programs such as
MusicMatch Jukebox and FreeRIP
MP3 make ripping straight to MP3 files possible.
Ripping is much faster than encoding.
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11.
How can I make audio CDs from my MP3 files?
You can burn MP3s to CDs directly
by using the CD-R Burners. You can also convert your MP3 into
WAV first by using a decoder software, then burn the WAVs to CD.
You can use any CD-R Software such as the Easy CD Pro (SCSI) or
Easy CD Creator, that supports WAV files as input to burn your
CDS. Check out the MP3
Hardware page for some hardware and software that can help
you do this.
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12. Are there
any other utilities that I should know about?
Check out the MP3
Utilities and General Utilities
sections.
For more FAQs, How-To and cool
Tips, you can visit MP3
Help on CNet or the excellent How-To
and beginners guides on ZDNet.
 MP3
Glossary
Bit Rate
Bit rate is the average number of bits consumed by one second
of audio. It's the quality parameter for layer 3 encoding. The
standard bit rate is 128 kbps or 128,000 bits of audio data per
second, generally considered CD quality. Files encoded faster
than 128 kbps may have little or no detectable improvement in
sound quality.
CDDB
CDDB stands for Compact Disc DataBase.
You have to be connected to the internet to use this feature to
allow your software to retrieve CD information such as track names,
album title, and artist from a CDDB server. This is conveniently
done in the background.
Constant bitrate (CBR) encoding
CBR encoding lets you specify
the bit rate while recording, which gives you control over file
size. The higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and
the larger the file.
The higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and the
larger the file.
ID3 tag
ID3 is a small
128 byte data placed at the end of an MP3 file so that MP3 players
can display the file information such as artist, song title, comment,
etc. while the file is being played. Not all players recognize
the ID3 tag, and those that don't will simply ignore it; however,
this will not affect the playback quality. It's location at the
end of an MP3 file is also awkard when it comes to streaming mp3.
ID3v2 is a second version which doesn't has those limitations
that ID3 has such as few data fields support limited to 30 characters,
and inflexible fixed size. ID3v2 places the data to the front
of the MP3 file and can holds more information such as composer,
conductor, copyright message etc. along with the usual artist,
song title, equalizer preset info etc.
Jitter
Jitter is small digital hitches in the ripped track cause
by incompatibility problem between the ripper with some CD ROM
drivers. Most rippers have a jitter correction or synchronized
copy option to eliminate this problem.
Ogg Vorbis
Vorbis is a general purpose audio and music encoding format
contemporary to MPEG-4's AAC and TwinVQ, the next generation beyond
MPEG audio layer 3. Unlike the MPEG sponsored formats (and other
proprietary formats such as RealAudio G2 and Windows' flavor of
the month), the Vorbis CODEC specification belongs to the public
domain. It is
completely open, patent-free technology. Visit vorbis.com
for the latest developments.
Variable bitrate (VBR) encoding
During a VBR encoding, the bit rate changes to create the
best sound-to-size ratio. This feature is useful if you want to
save your mp3 files into your portable MP3 player or for voice
recordings or music in which there are pauses or long stretches
of very quite music.
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