Frequently asked questions

> What is MP3?
     The MP3 format is a compression system for music. The MP3 format helps to reduce the number of bytes in a song without hurting the sound quality. The goal of the MP3 format is to compress a CD-quality song by a factor of 10 to 14, without losing the CD quality of the sound. A 32-megabyte song on a CD compresses down to 3 megabytes or so on MP3. This lets you download a song in minutes rather than hours, and store hundreds of songs on your computer's hard disk without taking up that much space.

> Is the sound quality of MP3 better than a CD?
     No. Because MP3 is a compression format, it throws away some of the information from a CD format. MP3 format uses characteristics of the human ear to design the compression algorithm. For example:

• There are certain sounds that the human ear cannot hear.
• There are certain sounds that the human ear hears much better than others.
• If there are two sounds playing simultaneously, we can only hear the louder one.

     Using such facts about the human ear, certain parts of a song can be eliminated without significantly hurting the quality of the song for the listener. Compressing the rest of the song using well-known compression techniques shrinks the song considerably -- by a factor of 10 at least. When you are done creating an MP3 file, what you have is "near-CD" quality. The MP3 version of the song will not sound exactly the same as the original CD, because some of the song has been removed, but it will be very close.

> Where can I find MP3 files for my MP3 player?
      All that you need to do is type "MP3" into any search engine and you will find that there are literally thousands of sites on the Web where you can download MP3 files. Click here to do a search.
Some music sites and MP3 players are now partnering up to offer player-specific synchronization services. For instance, the Apple iPod is tied in with Apple's online music store, iTunes, and Samsung's (the Napster Player) is partnered up with Napster.com.

> Can I record music from CDs for my MP3 Player?
     Yes, if you have a CD collection and would like to convert songs from your CDs into MP3 files, you can use ripper and encoder software to convert your favorite songs. A ripper copies the song's file from the CD onto your hard disk. The encoder compresses the song into the MP3 format. By encoding songs you can play them on your computer or take them with you on your MP3 player. The ripper and encoder software may come with your MP3 player.

     To convert your CD songs into MP3 format, you will need:

• a computer
• a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-R, or CD-RW drive (internal or external)
• ripper/encoder software

     The specific instructions will vary with the individual software programs, but the following steps will definitely take place:

• Place the CD from which you want to convert songs into your drive.
• Select the track(s) that you want to convert to MP3 format.
• Convert the selected track(s).
• Copy the new MP3 files onto your computer's hard disk.

     Now, you are ready to download these files into your portable MP3 player.

> Can I record music from my MP3 player to a CD?
     Yes, if you have a writable CD drive in your computer, you can convert (decode) your MP3 files into full-size CD tracks, and then save them to an audio CD. This allows you to listen to your favorite MP3 files on any CD player.
WinAmp has a plug-in that will create full-size WAV files from an MP3 file, and some of the encoders will also decode. Once you have the full-size CD tracks, the software that comes with your CD-R drive will let you create an audio CD easily.

     The CD-Recordable FAQ is an excellent source of information on getting data and music onto a CD.

> Is MP3 legal?
     Yes, MP3 is merely a data compression format. However, what you do with that format can be legal or illegal. The distribution of music in MP3 format over the Internet has prompted much legal debate and action over copyright law. In fact in the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America won a suit against the original Napster over illegal distributions of MP3 files. (Napster is now back online as a legal pay-for-music service.) This issue will become increasingly important as new music data compression algorithms become available.

> What is sampling rate?
     Sampling rate refers to how often samples are taken from the original music signal. The higher the sampling rate, the better the sound quality, or fidelity; however, the higher the sampling rate, the more storage space is needed for the file. .