Nilakshi Handique asked:


Digital MP3 players are probably the most popular music devices today. For, it is with the advent of digital MP3 players, that MP3 downloads has become immensely popular among music lovers. The digital MP3 players allow several songs or pieces of audio to be stored without occupying a large amount of storage space.

MP3 audio files can be played on a computer, using software applications such as Winamp or Windows Media Player as well as on specialized digital MP3 players such as the Apple iPod. For all these amazing attributes the digital MP3 players are believed to usher in the dawn of an MP3 era.

There are several well known brands that have created a niche in the digital MP3 players market. Read on to get the right one for yourself:

Sony MP3 Players: Sony has earned the reputation of being a brand that manufactures top notch music players in the world. Procuring a Sony MP3 player with a minidisk player will allow you to view or store photos along with the other functions.

Sandisk Mp3 Players: Touted as user-friendly, the Sandisk MP3 players are known for affordability without compromising on performance. Buy any of these for a great music experience.

Transcend MP3 Players: Instead of opting for an over the top design, transcend MP3 players have adopted a design that is modest. If quality is what you are focusing on and looks don’t matter then Transcend MP3 player is the one for you.

Zebronics MP3 Players: Zebronics MP3 Player is upbeat about technology yet highly affordable to the masses. Omega ‘MP3DJ’, ‘MP3DJ Sigma’, ‘MP3DJ Delta’ is among the best selling brands of MP3 players from Zebronics.

If you do not own any of these great digital MP3 players then hurry just get one for that incredible music experience. You may procure one at a physical store or at an online mart. Most of the online marts display a wide variety of digital MP3 players from various brands and offer attractive discounts. And to add to it, most online marts offer free shipping options. So, if you want to buy digital MP3 players as gifts, online marts are indubitably a great option.

But one word of caution before you procure any of the digital MP3 players is that you should always check whether a particular brand is compatible with your current computers operating system. This means checking for PC or Mac compatibility before you make your purchase. You might also find that some digital MP3 players include features, such as voice recorders, FM radios, and even video players.



EARLE

David Liu asked:


A digital audio player (DAP), more commonly referred to as an MP3 player, is a consumer electronics device that stores, organizes and plays audio files. Some DAPs are also referred to as portable media players as they have image-viewing and/or video-playing support. MP3 players are now regularly built into mobile phones, making them the most common form of digital audio player. In short, an MP3 player is a portable device that plays digital music files–although many MP3 players can do much more than that. They evolved from the portable cassette and CD players that we carried around in the 1980s and ’90s. Instead of bulky cassettes or scratch-prone compact discs, most MP3 players play files stored directly on the device. Aside from a pair of headphones, there is nothing extra you need to carry to enjoy your music collection.

An MP3 is a digital audio file compressed with a standard defined by the Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG). MPEG was formed to develop techniques for dealing with digital video; since most video also contains audio, MP3 was developed as an audio extension of that work. Officially known as “MPEG-1, Layer 3″, MP3 is a lossy compression algorithm that uses psychoacoustic modeling to reduce the size of audio files by up to 90%.

Psychoacoustics takes advantage of deficiencies in the human hearing system to throw away digital bits corresponding to sounds that cannot be heard. The human ear cannot hear soft sounds in the presence of loud sounds having a similar frequency; for example, a voice conversation becomes inaudible when a jet flies low overhead. This effect is known as auditory masking, and done correctly the discarded sounds will not be missed.

MP3 is a lossy algorithm in the sense that the original bits cannot be recreated from the compressed bits. In terms of hearing, however, MP3 is lossless because the human ear cannot distinguish between a CD recording and a properly encoded MP3 version of it. MP3s achieve this transparency at a bit rate of approximately 256 kilobits per second, or roughly one sixth of the 1.4 megabits per second required by the compact disc format.

MP3s can be recorded at lower bit rates, saving even more space, but audible differences begin to appear at rates below 128 kilobits per second. At these lower bit rates, MP3 can use a trick known as joint stereo to improve quality. Audio generally consists of left and right audio tracks. Joint stereo combines, whenever possible, the sounds common to both left and right tracks into one track. Instead of left and right, it has “common” and “different” channels.

Being an open standard, and therefore available to anyone, has played a major role in the widespread adoption of the MP3 file format. While specific implementations such as those by the Fraunhofer Institute may be protected by patents, there exist numerous open source implementations. MP3s were originally only playable on computers, but inexpensive, portable MP3 players such as Apple’s iPod have since been developed.

History

The immediate predecessor in the market place of the digital audio player was the portable CD player, which was sometimes referred to as a “portable audio device.”

Briton Kane Kramer designed one of the earliest digital audio players, which he called the IXI. His 1979 prototype was capable of approximately 3.5 minutes of audio playback but it did not enter commercial production. The related patents expired in 1988. Apple Inc. hired Kramer as a consultant and presented his work as an example of prior art in the field of digital audio players during their litigation with Burst.com almost two decades later.

The first mass-produced DAP was created in 1997 by SaeHan Information Systems, which domestically sold its “MPMan” player in the middle of 1998. The South Korean company then licensed the players to Eiger Labs which distributed them—now branded as Eiger Labs MPMan F10—to the North American market during the summer of 1998. The flash-based players were available in 16 MB storage capacity.

The Rio PMP300 from Diamond Multimedia was introduced in September 1998, a few months after the MPMan. It was a success during the holiday season, with sales exceeding expectations. Interest and investment in digital music were subsequently spurred from it. Because of the player’s notoriety as the target of a major lawsuit, the Rio is erroneously assumed to be the first DAP.

In 1998, Compaq developed the first hard drive based DAP using a 2.5″ laptop drive. It was licensed to HanGo Electronics (now known as Remote Solution), which first sold the PJB-100 (Personal Jukebox) in 1999. The player had an initial capacity of 4.8 GB, which was advertised to be able to hold 1200 songs.

In October 2001, Apple Computer (now known as Apple Inc.) unveiled the first generation iPod, the 5 GB hard drive based DAP with a 1.8″ Toshiba drive. With the development of a minimalistic user interface and a smaller form factor, the iPod was initially notable within users of the Macintosh community. In July 2002, Apple introduced the second generation update to the iPod. It was compatible with Windows computers through Musicmatch Jukebox (now known as Y!Music Musicmatch Jukebox). The iPod series, which grew to include microdrive and flash-based players, has become the market leader in DAPs.

In 2002, Archos released the first “portable media player” (PMP), the Archos Jukebox Multimedia. Manufacturers have since implemented abilities to view images and play videos into their devices.

In 2003 the first MP3 players were installed into mobile phones in South Korea and the first artist to sell songs as MP3 file downloads directly to mobile phones was Ricky Martin. The innovation spread rapidly and by 2005, more than half of all music sold in South Korea was sold directly to mobile phones. The idea spread across the globe and by 2005 all five major handset makers, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG and SonyEricsson had released musicphones. By 2006, more MP3 players were sold in musicphones than all stand-alone MP3 players put together. The rapid rise of the musicphone was quoted by Apple as a primary reason for developing the iPhone. In 2007, the installed base of musicphones passed the 1 billion level, and today more than half of all moblie phones in the world have an MP3 player.

Although online music services such as RealNetworks’ Rhapsody also offer legal downloads through a subscription plan, the launch of the iTunes Store in 2003 established the model of selling individual songs and albums for purchase.

Operation

Digital sampling is used to convert an audio wave to a sequence of binary numbers that can be stored in a digital format, such as MP3.

Common features of all MP3 players are a memory storage device, such as flash memory or a miniature hard disk drive, an embedded processor, and an audio codec microchip to convert compressed sound into analogue form that is then played through the speaker jack.

Most DAPs are powered by rechargeable batteries, some of which are not user replaceable. Listening to music stored on DAPs is typically through earphones and stereo systems connected with a 3.5 mm jack.

Types

Digital audio players are generally categorized by storage media:

Flash-based Players: These are non-mechanical solid state devices that hold digital audio files on internal flash memory or removable flash media called memory cards. Due to technological advancements in flash memory, these originally low-storage devices are now available commercially ranging up to 32 GB. Because they are solid state and do not have moving parts they require less battery power and may be more resilient to hazards such as dropping or fragmentation than hard disk-based players. Basic MP3 player functions are commonly integrated into USB flash drives.

Hard drive-based Players or Digital Jukeboxes: Devices that read digital audio files from a hard disk drive (HDD). These players have higher capacities currently ranging up to 250 GB. At typical encoding rates, this means that thousands of songs can be stored on one player.

MP3 CD Players: Portable CD players that can decode and play MP3 audio files stored on CDs.

Networked audio players: Players that connect via (WiFi) network to receive and play audio.

Common audio formats

MP3 is the dominant format, and is nearly universally supported. The main alternative formats are AAC and WMA. Unlike MP3, these formats support DRM restrictions that are often implemented into files from paid download services. Open source formats, which are completely patent-free, are available - though less widely supported. Examples include Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, and Speex.

Most players can also play uncompressed PCM in a container such as WAV or AIFF.

Controversy

Although these issues aren’t usually controversial within digital audio players, they are matters of continuing controversy and litigation, including but not limited to content distribution and protection, and digital rights management (DRM).

Lawsuit with RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit with Diamond Multimedia for its Rio players, alleging that the device encouraged copying music illegally. But Diamond won a legal victory on the shoulders of the Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios case and DAPs were legally ruled as electronic devices.

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DAVID

Alden Jerry asked:


People are always looking for comfort in their lives. They want all the amenities in life. If they love music, they want to have the best music players. If photography is their passion, they need the best digital cameras.

For all those who love music, an MP3 player would be an ideal gizmo. These compact gadgets can store thousands of songs and allow you to listen them on the move. They have clear and crisp sound quality with compact headphones that fit in comfortably.

The advanced technology has given rise to various improved and updated electronic devices. From a digital camera to mobile phone to MP3 player, there is something for everyone. There are varieties of choices available with varied price ranges. You just have to make a choice depending on your budget and requirements. Music players with radio will allow you to tune in to a channel of your choice and get updated news and songs. These mini devices help you listen to music through a blue tooth device or headset.

Storing your favourite songs in a device and listening to them on the move was a dream in the past. These days, you can easily download your desired songs from the internet. There are many types of MP3 Players in the market like creative MP3 CD players, flash-based players and hard-drive based players. For a music lover, the most exciting way to enjoy music is a portable MP3 player. This small system holds the user’s personal play lists, and even allows for video recording. The device is designed for enjoying music on the go no matter where we are. Carrying these players is much more handy than carrying various CDs into your hands.

If you’ve decided that you want to buy a portable MP3 player, here are numerous choices to choose from. Battery life is something you have to consider while buying it. Compare the battery life of various brands and evaluate how long the battery will last under the normal use.



ROB

Tom Lopez asked:


MP3 players are the latest gadgets in the market making waves. Especially, liked by youngsters and working people, these tiny music players are a wonder to keep. Hundreds of iTunes can be loaded and played in a MP3 list. The good thing about a MP3 player is that you can easily categorize the music, make separate lists, shuffle them and enjoy the music for hours. 

This simple and sleek, small strip sized player come in different variations. The most basic mp3 players would include a slot in which you can save hundreds of songs; play, stop and rewind buttons and a slot of voice recording.  The design and color of this type of MP3 player would be plain and simple. The most common color of a simple MP3 player would be Black. 

With new technology coming every day, MP3s’ too evolved. They grew from being simple audio player to complex multimedia device. Now they come with colorful displays and also play movies. Some of them can also record directly from TV or download and share content over Wi-FI.

Generally MP3 players can be categorized as flash memory players, hard disk players, and cellphone in-built MP3 players. All of these come with some of the most common features like volume limiter, a larger and wider display, video playback, controls like equalizer and FM radio tuner.

Much advanced MP3 players come in bright colors and have a greater storage space. You can also find MP3 players in top branded iPods. MP3 players found in iPods have much wider use and are also more popular than the simple ones. MP3 players in iPod have advantages of flashy and designer skins, Windows XP OR Professional platform, different music files like Wav, AIFF, and AAC. With the iPod features of video player and photograph watch, MP3 players get an added life. 

Whichever MP3 player you take, do consider revising your checklist to buy a MP3 player. See to it that the weight of the MP3 is not too much, for all the good reasons extra bulk is not a good thing. Look out the headphone quality; after all you are buying MP3 to listen to music – if quality of sound is not good, there is no point in buying the MP3 player.  Lastly, do check the battery consumption hours written in the fine print. The longer your MP3 player can run, the better you will enjoy the music!



JUAN

Raisa Raima asked:


 

It has been commonly seen that music is an effective medium to give peace, happiness and rejuvenation to the tired minds and souls. This universal fact has been intact for several centuries and has the ability to sustain itself for many centuries to come.

In the earlier years, music was accessible to people only through gramophones, radio and cassette players. But, the times have changed now and probably for the better. The place of these traditional music devices has been now taken by the high-quality MP3 players. The introduction and popularity of MP3 technology has been a blessing in disguise for the music enthusiasts for many valid reasons. First of all, the latest MP3 players offer a high degree of flexibility and portability to the music lovers. Secondly, the audio solutions delivered by these high-end devices are second to none when it comes to substitute products. Last but not the least, the popularity of these MP3 players has been absolutely phenomenal in the recent years due to the entrance of new market players, stiff competition, favourable customer preferences and market trends and sustaining innovations.

When it comes to world class music devices such as the MP3 players, a name easily comes to our mind, the name is Philips. It has been a pioneer and market leader for several decades and has been able to win the hearts of its esteemed customers purely on the basis of its product quality and after-sales service.

If you are looking at some of the best Philips products in the recent times then the Philips SA 1355, Phillips SA 1356 and Philips SA 3125 are the words for you. These Philips MP3 players are high on their performance, quality, consistency and reliability and are affordably priced. Now that we have learnt several lessons about the MP3 technology and the “best” products, let us have a close look at the features to look out for before making a purchase of the MP3 players.

A prospective customer must look for brand name and awareness, overall quality, compatibility with media formats, price, market trends, discounts and schemes besides studying the traditional as well as the online market to get a reasonable deal when it comes to the MP3 players. If you still remain in doubt, place your hands on the Philips MP3 players and you will not be disappointed.



ROOSEVELT

Alden Jerry asked:


Since, this compact music device called MP3 players has hit the markets; it has kept on introducing lots of variations having continuously added with lots of advanced features day by day. Flooding number of companies both highly reputed brands and locally popular ones are emerging with countless facilities and functionalities to these minutes music device to enable their consumers carrying on copious number of songs, other tracks, videos etc., with them.

Mp3 players, which surfaced the market just as a mere music device, is now a comprehensive multimedia player with convenience to access diverse forms of entertainment as well as Internet. These music players have even gone beyond what the name; Mp3 payers suggest supporting various formats of music like wav, AAC and a lot more.

Now that you are highly intrigued by these Mp3 players to buy one at the earliest, consider studying different aspects of such music players to prevent yourself from taking hasty and wrong decisions. Here are some important points to begin with. First of all, it is the size of internal memory which will enable you to store as many songs as you want. Look for those players having at least memory space of 256 MB. However, greater the memory space it has, better it is considered. Some MP3 players incorporate flash based memory. Flash based music players are integrated wide memory space ranging from 512 MB to 32 GB.

Another equally important factor matters while it comes to buy good MP3 is battery life as it ensures span of time you can stretch for listening to your music and time limit your MP3 player will play properly. You should also see that the MP3 players are equipped with AC/DV adapter for recharging the unit faster and this is the most standard form of adapter that most of these have. Other parameters of choices of buying MP3 players may include LCD screen, AV/IN and AV/OUT capabilities, USB connectivity, FM radio etc. as the list continues as per your requisitions keep rising. Cheap Electronics



GUSTAVO

Roberto Sedycias asked:


Music is one of the best sources of entertainment. It is music that can work wonders at times. Even medical science believes in the miracle of music, and incidents are not very rare where the so-called `music therapy` has cured diseases that medical therapy has failed to do. Hence, the popular propensity towards music has improved considerably.

However, this interest for music has increased in an unprecedented fashion ever since the market was flooded with gadgets like MP3/MP4 players and iPods. These gadgets are widely popular due to their portability. But, portability is not the only deciding factor that you should consider while buying an MP3 player. There are several other elements that have to be taken into consideration before buying an MP3 player.

1. What do you want an MP3 player for? Choose according to your needs, listening to music in your bedroom is different from doing so in the kitchen or living room. In such cases, go for an MP3 player with an optional stereo dock. If you want to listen to tunes during work-out, then opting for a flash-based MP3 player is a wonderful idea.

2. It is always a good idea to spend some time with the MP3 player in person instead of assuming that it would be as good as it is shown in the ads. Incase, you want to buy it online, visit an electronics store to physically handle it and see if it is suitable in all circumstances of your day-to-day activities.

3. Always make a research before by an MP3 player. You can read magazines such as CE Lifestyles or take the opinions of your friends, colleagues, acquaintances and relatives who may have used it before. It will save you a great deal of time and after-buy regret.

4. It always pays off if you carry a small notebook to compare different shops before buying an MP3 player. Note down the standard features of each edition or brand and take the decision on the basis of that.

5. Though buying an MP3 player online has its own advantages such discount, but when it comes to possibility of return and exchange, it is actually difficult doing so online. On the other hand, if you buy the same from an actual electronics store then you are most likely to get the exact model you want.

6. Check out the earphones to find if they are really compatible with your need or if you are feeling comfortable using them. Check the battery back-up capacity and other features as well. Besides, it is worth spending some time playing the MP3 player to get used to the functions and applications of player to prevent any possible future damage due to mishandling.

Tip 1 - Know your music files.

MP3 players can play music of different formats. Some popular digital formats are WMA, ATRAC3, OGG and AAC. However, not all MP3 players can play all formats. For example, if you buy songs from an iTunes store, they are in AAC file and your MP3 won`t play them unless its software favors these formats. Hence, knowing about this will avoid future tense and disappointments.

Tip 2 - Keep your music organized with ID3 tags:

ID3 tags enable you to store data along with your MP3 files such as title, artist, album, and track number. It also allows you to edit your PM3 ID3 tags using Windows XP or any other music software such as iTunes or Musicmatch Jukebox. ID3 tags are the best way to keep your music organized.

Tip 3 - Back up your digital music:

Be on the safer side by having a back-up of your purchased tunes against any unforeseen computer crash. Most online music store including iTunes do not allow redownload facilities to the purchased files.

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author’s name and all the URLs (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.



RAFAEL

Gill Critchley asked:


The Sony NW-A808 is a very stylish MP3 player and has been hailed as a stylish contender to the popular iPod range of players. It’s not just the looks that this player has though; it also has the specs as well. There are 2gb, 4gb or 8GB of flash memory and it also has video playback capabilities. Something that really makes the NW-A808 stand out against other Sony MP3 players is that it has a healthy battery life and manages to last longer than the iPod nano as well. With this Sony player being smaller than the nano it is even more pocket friendly and therefore has yet another angle that will make it appeal to more and more people. The only thing that may put people off is the price tag, as £120, £150 and £180 seems quite hefty for 2GB, 4GB and 8GB players respectively. Another impressive player to come out was the Creative Zen. This is a credit card sized device that plays music, video and also works as a photo viewer and with the stunning 2.5-inch colour display, photos would look great on the screen that supports up to 16.7 million colours. This player from Creative is the first of their range to support AAC music and unprotected iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes online store. On top of these formats, the Zen will also play MP3 and WMA tracks as well. All of this means that you can now have up to 4,000 music tracks on this player that you have ripped from CDs via the iTunes software. If music isn’t top of your list, then this is one of the Creative MP3 players that will also play up to 60 hours of music or hold thousands of photos. Also, the player has a slot to hold a SD memory card so you can expand the memory even more. These are just two models of MP3 players out on the market at the moment and they both offer the user great features, so much so, that the deciding factor may well be based on what’s on the outside.

The NW-A808 stands out against other Sony MP3 players is that it has a healthy battery life and very pocket-friendly dimensions. If you would prefer media other than music on your player then the Zen is one of the Creative MP3 players that can hold up to 60 hours of video or thousands of photos. These models are just two out of the many MP3 players that are on offer.



CESAR

Karl Bantleman asked:


MP3 players are the ultimate device for portable audio and seem to be one of the must-haves today. As the market offers numerous different models and makes it is difficult to make a purchase decision especially if it is your first MP3 player ever.

On first sight an Apple iPod seems to be the most obvious choice. But it’s worth risking a second look at other portable audio products to determine whether they might offer more for your individual needs. The most important selection criteria are surely the sound quality, storage capacity, size and the functionality of a portable MP3 player. Apple iPods come from 1GB up to 160 GB and are still remarkably small. However, other manufacturers like Sony and Samsung have in their product range MP3 players with up to 30GB storage which is enough to store an entire music library on one single device. This storage capacity is recommended when playing videos or for those music enthusiasts who could not select a limited playlist from there library but need to have all their music on the go.

Simple MP3 players with less storage like the iPod shuffle are affordable, stylish and small enough to be carried with you at all time. Nevertheless, you might regret the choice soon when you get used to the comfort of having your favourite music at your disposal at any time.

An MP3 player with a medium storage from 4GB onwards is able to save about 1000 songs which would be enough for most people. But you have to bear in mind that this implicates not having videos and many photos stored on the same device as they use significantly more space on the harddrive. If you are thinking to use the MP3 player additionally for multi media purpose it might be worth investing a bit more and to increase the abilities and capacities.

Another criterion should be the duration of the battery. Especially active people who cannot live without an MP3 player anymore and use it for running, exercising, in the car and everywhere else should take this into consideration. Nothing is more annoying than running out of battery when you feel like listening to your favourite music. Whereas some Apple iPod’s last up to 20 hours without being charged Samsung recently launched an MP3 player which is promised to provide the user on average 30 hours with music on the go.

The perfect MP3 player depends on the your needs. A recommendation, eg. iPod is difficult so you should to go online to find which MP3 players suit you.

 



DEAN

Nilakshi Handique asked:


Music has become a way of life these days. Whether you are jogging, walking, travelling, even working or just relaxing, music can be a great companion. And this is where an MP3 player comes into play.

Among the most popular MP3 players today is the SanDisk MP3 Player. A SanDisk MP3 Player is way ahead of other MP3 players for its affordability, user-friendliness, and optimal play features.

And what’s more, with a SanDisk MP3 player you can also download digital files of newspapers, books, magazines and radio programs. Apart from that a SanDisk MP3 player also comes in a convenient thumb drive design that allows for one-handed use. Recently SanDisk MP3 player has partnered with Rhapsody for music downloading, as well as Audible for downloading non-music digital files.

Among the SanDisk MP3 player models, the SanDisk Sansa MP3 player series is the most popular.

All SanDisk MP3 player models play MP3 files and Windows Media audio files. Each of the models allows for easy navigation to sort and organize songs with various methods, either by title, artist or album names, among other options. The SanDisk MP3 player models come in a variety of styles and colors and all come with carrying case with armband for easy transport.

Among the SanDisk Sansa MP3 player models are SanDisk Sansa Fuze, Sansa 200 series and Sansa clip.Of these the SanDisk Sansa Clip mp3 player is the latest entrant. The SanDisk Sansa Clip offers impressive sound quality; ultra compact designs with a removable belt clip which is apt for outdoor activities. Useful features such as an FM radio and Rhapsody DNA integration are present. SanDisk Sansa Clip MP3 player includes support for a wide variety of audio file types, including OGG and FLAC. All these features are available at unbelievably affordable prices.

SanDisk Sansa MP3 player also has a media converter application which coverts picture and video formats in such a way that you could play video and display pictures. Resizing of pictures is also possible to make them fit into the Sansa screen.

With all these user friendly features the SanDisk Sansa MP3 player is infact the most alluring option today. Well if you want to be a proud owner of a SanDisk Sansa MP3 player, then we suggest you try online marts and get the best deals. Most of these online stores cater to the needs of customers with varying choices in terms of features, looks and budget.



ROMEO