from the yahoo board:
Rio and MP3 - Lengthy and technical
by: msftjc
6343 of 6346
Greetings. I'm an avid MP3 user, and thought that some of you investors might not fully understand exactly what an mp3 file is, or why it's
so important. Here goes:
MP3 stands for MPEG Level 3. MPEG is a type of compression for multimedia. That much, I'm sure you knew. Now, when you buy a CD,
it is stored in a format called Red Book Audio. (A Red Book defines the spec.) It is stored with zero compression. When you use a computer
to extract a song to a file format, it is extracted as a .wav file. (Like the Windows sounds.)
Once again, it is zero compression. When you convert it to mp3, however, you are invoking a 12:1 compression on the song. The average
song is around 40 megabytes in .wav format, but only 1/12th of that in mp3. Whenever compression is introduced, there will be some quality
loss. This is both in mp3, and in Sony's MiniDisc format. (MD has a 5:1 compression) However, in both MD and MP3's case, the loss in
quality is in frequencies above the range of human hearing.
Diamond is not the 1st to offer an MP3 player. Saehan systems offered the first, the MPMan. It was featured in many electronic magazines
earlier in the year. (www.mpman.com) While it was first, it was also $600, so not too many people bought it.
Right now, the Rio will be the 1st on a store shelf. However, the following companies are marketing MP3 players:
Saehan
They have 3 new models coming out. Iomega Clik, Flash Ram, and hard drive.
Creative
Copy of Rio.
Varo Vision (www.varovision.com)
Iomega Clik media.
Aiwa
They are partnering to make an mp3 unit for the home entertainment center. It was demonstrated at Comdex. A nice unit with around 2-4 gigs
of storage space.
What can you do with mp3? Well, I have an mp3 collection of around 100 gigabytes. It encompasses 30,000 songs. I have a computer
hooked into my stereo system, and using a TV out to display a directory listing on my TV. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse to select
songs, and have instant access to a song library that rivals many radio stations.
In short, MP3 is the future. Many companies are lobbying to get the music industry to support mp3. One company is Goodnoise. (GDNO) If
you believe MP3 will take off, you might want to throw some money there.
I check www.mp3.com on a nearly daily basis. It is *the* source for anything mp3 related.
Want to play mp3's? Check out www.winamp.com and download their excellent player.
BTW: Microsoft supports MP3 in their Windows Media Player in Win98 and NT SP4. They are also considering developing their own MP3
player after a failed attempted purchase of Nullsoft, the company who develops Winamp.
J.C.
Posted: Nov 25 1998 10:46AM EST as a reply to: Msg 1 by YahooFinance
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