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MP3
Beginners Guide
Audio
Digital Music Players : MP3
Music "on the go" with portable MP3 players
Portable music players have been around for years and although many companies make these players, Apple Inc. dominates the marketplace with their popular iPod devices. The iPod music players have gone from just playing songs to include video, photos, and more. iPod players are handheld and have typically use hard disk to store the information but now include flash players such as the Apple shuffle player.
These players are often even smaller than the full-sized iPods but hold fewer songs. You can play MP3, WAV, AAC and other music file formats on these MP3 players. Some proprietary formats cannot be played. Apple iTunes website is one source for downloading songs online to your PC or Mac computer. Then you connect your iPod player to your computer and "synch" to offload the information to the portable device. Listening is typically thru a stereo earphone but you can connect the iPod to hi-fi stereo systems or to Apple's loudspeaker box ($349) for listening at home.
Apple iPod nano 8GB Player
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Apple iPod 80GB Player
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Portable music player companies:
Apple - iPod (80GB 20,000 songs), iPod nano (8GB 2,000 songs), iPod shuffle (1GB 240 songs)
iRiver
Samsung
Rio
Creative Labs
Archos
Sansa Express
Apple Computer Inc. Apple.com
Apple iPod 80GB Player (Late 2006)
Price: $349.00
Player Type: Hard Disk MP3 Player, Portable Media Player
Radio: Optional
Recording, Voice: Optional
Recording, Line In: Optional
Video Recording: No
Music Playback Formats: AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, Audible, MP3, WAV, Protected AAC
Photo formats: BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, GIF
Video Formats: MPEG4
Audio Battery Life: 21 Hr
Video Battery Life: 5.5 Hr
Screen Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels
Screen Size: 2.5 inches
Storage Capacity: 80 GB
Dimensions: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55 inches
Weight: 6.4 oz
The latest version of the iPod includes longer video battery life, support for some better games, a
brighter screen, a search feature, and larger capacity (up to 80GB).
Seamless integration with iTunes. You can transfer purchased music from iPod back to
PCs. Very good sound quality. Supports lossless and Audible formats, as well as gapless playback.
FM tuner and recording capabilities require optional accessories.
Price $$$ Summer 2007: Circuit City $322.99
This latest full-size iPod can be considered generation 5.5. The new model comes in 30GB and 80GB capacity. With the
exception of the brighter screen, all the enhancements are in the firmware, including gapless playback, a new search
feature, and support for better games. And although the second-gen iPod
nano now comes in a variety of colors, the full-size model is still limited to just black or white.
Apple iPod nano 8GB Player (Late 2006)
Price As Tested: $249.00
Player Type: Flash MP3 Player
Radio: Optional
Recording, Voice: Optional
Recording, Line In: Optional
Video Recording: No
Music Playback Formats: AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, Audible, MP3, WAV, Protected AAC
Photo formats: BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, GIF
Audio Battery Life: 26.17 Hr
Screen Resolution: 176 x 132 pixels
Screen Size: 1.5 inches
Storage Capacity: 8 GB
Dimensions: 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.26 inches
Weight: 1.4 oz
This is the best flash music player in terms of look and feel.
Very slim with a metal case. Bright screen. Supports Audible and lossless compression. Very good sound quality.
Search feature. Excellent software integration. Gapless playback. Long battery life.
Does not have a built-in FM tuner, voice recorder, or video playback. Non-removable battery.
Price: Summer 2007 - $180.00 - $300.00
Circuit City - $230.99
(Apple has released iPod nano software 1.0.2 on 9/27/06)
Apple has released the second generation of its wildly popular
iPod nano. Improvements over the first-gen nano include a brighter screen, longer battery life. The 2GB model comes in silver only while the 4GB model comes in silver, green, blue, or pink.
And the 8GB model comes in black only. This revamped nano still lacks an FM tuner, a
voice recorder, and video playback, so other premium flash players such as the popular SanDisk Sansa e200 series still
have the iPod trumped on features. One major difference between
this generation of the nano and its predecessor is that the new model has picked up the optional recording capability of
its full-size sibling; using an optional microphone adapter from Belkin, you can create voice or line-in
recordings on the iPod nano. Now that the player comes in an 8GB capacity, this is a significant new feature.
The LCD screen is still the same size and resolution as the old nano (1.5 inches diagonal, 176 by 132 pixels), but Apple
says it is 40 percent brighter. The click wheel hasn't changed except that the center select button is now slightly concave. The
hold switch is still on top, and the dock connector and headphones jack are still on the bottom.
The new nano comes with new packaging, a tiny clear-plastic box, and new earbuds, which are still white. There's also a dock adapter and a USB charge/sync cable in the box.
The iPod's navigation system is still the best in the business, and menus and scrolling work smoothly. You can customize the main menu. Apple did add one new feature: search. By choosing Search from the Music menu, you
can search for content by first letter or by keyword. When you select a letter, artists, albums, and tracks all show up in
the same list (artists and albums are denoted by icons next to them) so you can easily find what you're looking for
especially handy on the 8GB model.
As with all iPods, the new nano works only with iTunes on both Macs and PCs. You're able to load data on it via drag and
drop, but music, photos, and audiobooks must be loaded using iTunes. Thankfully, iTunes is an excellent piece of software. When you plug your iPod in for the first time, you'll probably be prompted to
update the firmware; this is now done from within iTunes instead of via a standalone updater utility, as is the Factory
Restore function.
The iPod nano supports AAC, protected AAC, Apple Lossless, MP3, AIFF, WAV, and Audible formats. It also supports JPEG,
BMP, TIFF, PNG, and GIF photos, as well as PSD files (Mac only), all of which are optimized in iTunes before they are
transferred to the iPod nano.
Where to buy:
www.vanns.com
www.amazon.com
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Learn about the various audio formats:
Audio formats
Learn about audio features:
Audio features
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