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You can withdraw your consent at any time. Here's what happens when a CD is created:. Let's break that down: 1. If an average song is three minutes long, then the average song on a CD consumes about 32 million bytes or 32 megabytes of space. Even with a high-speed cable or DSL modem, it can take several minutes to download just one song.
Over a 56K dial-up modem , it would take close to two hours. The MP3 format is a compression system for music. The goal of using MP3 is to compress a CD-quality song by a factor of 10 to 14 without noticeably affecting the CD-quality sound. This lets you download a song much more quickly, and store hundreds of songs on your computer's hard disk. Is it possible to compress a song without hurting its quality? We use compression algorithms for images all the time.
For example, a. So is a. We create. So we're familiar with compression algorithms for images and words and we know they work. To make a good compression algorithm for sound, a technique called perceptual noise shaping is used.
It's "perceptual" partly because the MP3 format uses characteristics of the human ear to design the compression algorithm. For example:. Using facts like these, 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 with well-known compression techniques shrinks the song considerably -- by a factor of 10 at least. When you're done creating an MP3 file, what you have is a " near-CD-quality " song.
The MP3 version of the song does not sound exactly the same as the original CD song because some of it has been removed. Not all MP3 files are equal. Let's take a look at the different ends of the MP3 spectrum in the next section.
The MP3 compression format creates files that don't sound exactly like the original recording -- it's a lossy format. In order to decrease the size of the file significantly, MP3 encoders have to lose audio information. Lossless compression formats don't sacrifice any audio information.
But that also means that lossless compression files are larger than their lossy counterparts. You can choose how much information an MP3 file will retain or lose during the encoding and compression process. It's possible to create two different MP3 files with different sound quality and file sizes from the same source of data.
The key is the bit rate -- the number of bits per second encoded in the MP3 file. Most MP3 encoding software allows the user to select the bit rate when converting files into the MP3 format. The lower the bit rate, the more information the encoder will discard when compressing the file. Bit rates range from 96 to kilobits per second Kbps. Using a bit rate of Kbps usually results in a sound quality equivalent to what you'd hear on the radio. Many music sites and blogs urge people to use a bit rate of Kbps or higher if they want the MP3 file to have the same sound quality as a CD.
Some audiophiles -- people who seek out the best ways to experience music -- look down on the MP3 format. They argue that even at the highest bit rate settings, MP3 files are inferior to CDs and vinyl records. But other people argue that it's impossible for the human ear to detect the difference between an uncompressed CD file and an MP3 encoded with a Kbps bit rate.
There's no denying that, quality issues aside, the MP3 format is changing music. With music services like Amazon and eMusic, customers can buy music by the song. In a way, the music industry is returning to its roots -- the music single is becoming popular after nearly dying out during the CD era. In addition, some musicians and audio engineers say that the MP3 format is changing the way music studios mix recordings. They say that the MP3 format "flattens" out the dynamics -- the differences in pitch and volume -- in a song.
As a result, much of the new music coming out of the industry has a similar sound, and there's not as much of a focus on creating a dynamic listening experience. Why work that hard on creating a complex sound if no one can detect it [source: Levine ]?
From this description, you can see that MP3 is nothing magical. It's simply a file format that compresses a song into a smaller size so it is easier to move around and store on your home computer -- or your portable music player. This group has developed compression systems used for video data.
We know it by its abbreviation, MP3. Knowing about the MP3 format isn't half as interesting as using it. The MP3 movement -- consisting of the MP3 format and the Web's ability to advertise and distribute MP3 files -- has done several things for music:. That third one was accidental but important. A big part of the MP3 movement is the fact that it has brought an incredible array of powerful tools to desktop computers and given people a reason to learn how they work.
Because of these tools, it is now extremely easy for you to:. Let's look at of the many different things you can do with MP3 files and the software that makes it possible. If you have recently purchased a new computer, chances are it already has software that can play MP3 files installed on its hard disk. Streaming music from a service like Spotify or Tidal is great, but it's not always convenient.
You'll need a solid internet connection, and while you can download songs for offline play, once you stop paying the monthly fee, access to all of it disappears. Buying digital music such as MP3s makes sense for a number of reasons. It's yours to keep and put on whatever device you want, and it better funds the artist and labels who can then keep making more music. Whether you're looking to buy a music single or whole albums, here are the best sites to visit.
We'll start with the biggies -- iTunes, Amazon and Google Play -- and move on to some of our favorites that you may not have heard of, like Bandcamp. Yes, we cheated, iTunes doesn't sell MP3s.
Instead, it sells its own AAC format, but these files can be read by almost every modern player. As the biggest digital music marketplace, iTunes still sets the standard for music downloads, and its catalog should furnish all but your most obscure needs.
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