MP3 players are available in a variety of shapes, formats and specifications. We will endeavour to guide you through this and help you choose 'your ideal' player.

There are three main categories of player's known as Solid State, CD and Hard Disk based.

To get the full benefit from your music collection you are going to want it to be portable. Up until a few years ago your only option was a Walkman or a portable CD player. The only problem with these 2 options was poor sound quality (walkman) and skipping music (portable CD player) add to the fact that they were both bulky and heavy and you can see why Digital music formats are really taking off. Most people associate MP3 with Napster and illegal downloads... well forget this and look on it as a way of carrying your CD collection around with you. Yes you can download the latest music from the Internet but remember this is illegal and could result in prosecution (not a good thing to happen). Grab your CD collection and follow this beginners guide to MP3 players.... enjoy.

MP3 - MPEG-1 Layer III (or MPEG Audio Layer III)
MP3 was introduced as a part of the official MPEG-1 standard in 1992 and until today it is the most successful audio-standard since WAV. Using MP3-compression PC-users are able to compress an ordinary music-CD to one tenth of it's original size - thus 12 hours of music could be stored on a recordable CD that can then be played by a MP3-CD-player or an ordinary PC. What made MP3 that popular in the end was the online peer-to-peer program named Napster. Millions of songs were exchanged every day via the popular program. That was solely possible by MP3, because conventional formats such as WAV or AU were too big in size with similar quality. MP3 also offered like WMA later the big advantage of being streamable (This means only a selection of the track has to be downloaded to listen to it).

Windows Media Audio - WMA
Microsoft's response to MP3, the Windows Media Audio-standard. As it is part of the Windows Media package, Windows Media Audio 8 was presented in early December 2000 and it is until now the best Windows Media product.

Windows Media Audio among other things is firmly integrated in Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Microsoft promises with this version, almost CD-quality with around a third of the source-file's size.

Above all WMA offers the advantage that copyright-protected songs cannot be published any further (Digital Rights Management). That's not the only reason why many music- and movie-corporations meanwhile decided in favour of WMA instead of MP3. Like MP3, WMA is almost predestined for the Internet by offering streaming capabilities (see MP3 for details) both with WMA and WMV (Windows Media Video).

Please note that players will refer to WMA files being supported as either with or without DRM. This relates to Digital(Personal) Rights Management which is an option within Windows Media when recording/ripping. If the WMA files that are transferred to your player are 'skipped' when trying to playback then it is likely that this option is selected and your player does not support it. It can be overcome by simply de-selecting this feature and then you will have to re-record/rip your files. This is only in reference to 'Solid State' players, CD based players do NOT support the DRM option at all and your files should be created with this option de-selected.

WAV
One of the first audio-standards; WAVE-files are virtually of the same quality as data on audio-CDs and therefore offer the best quality. At the same time these files are very large (10 MB / min.), that's why they are unsuitable for everyday exchange via the Internet.

How can I produce MP3 and WMA files?
To create MP3 or WMA files you will need some 'encoding or ripping' software. There are lots of titles out there and many of these have free downloads available. One such product is MusicMatch and is available from www.musicmatch.com. MusicMatch will allow you to encode you WAV files (or CD music) into MP3. Download the software and start ripping (converting) your music into the file format of your choice. At the moment MP3 leads the way but WMA and others are slowly rapidly.

WMA files can be created using the Media Player Software that often comes with your Windows Operating System. Simply insert your CD into your CDROM drive and select the 'Copy from CD' option in Windows Media Player. If you are connected to the internet at this time Windows Media Player can download the CD details to your PC and automatically names the files ready for you to 'rip' to your hard drive. WMA files can be smaller tham MP3 files so be sure to check the CD recording settings on your PC to optimise your recording. Also take note of the Copy Protection (or Digital Rights Management) that is possible with WMA files. If you create a Copy Protected file, you will not be able to play it back on your portable MP3 player.

Once you have converted your files onto your hard drive you can listen to them from your desktop, however if you want to listen to them on the move then a portable MP3 player is what you require.

How much music should I get on a Player?
To achieve near CD quality playback you will need to encode MP3 files at minimum 128Kbps and WMA files at 64Kbps. At this ratio we normally say 1MB of memory for 1 minute of music in MP3 and around 1MB for 2 minutes in WMA, therefore a 64MB Player will store one hours worth of CD quality MP3 files and nearly 2 hours worth of WMA. 128Kbps is the most common bit rate for encoding music. If you encoded your music at 64Kbps you would be able to store 2minutes of music to 1MB or memory. The higher the bit rate the better the quality, but the greater the file size. Obviously if you are using one of the CD based players then you can get in excess of 700MB worth of songs and at 128Kbps that gives you around 12 hours of continuous music.

The Highs and Lows
Digital audio players have several things going in their favour including their small size, but most people buy them for their ability to play songs from any album in any order they choose. Gone are the days of lugging your entire CD collection around on trips--with digital audio players you can download your favourite tracks from multiple albums to the player and create your own greatest-hits album. Best of all, you can reuse the player's memory as many times as you like, adding and removing songs from your player as often as you like.

Most of the digital audio hardware on the market is solid state, meaning that it has no moving parts. This makes the units more durable and eliminates skipping (something that owners of older portable CD-player know of only too well). However, there are exceptions to this as there are digital audio players that store files on hard drives, CD-R and CD-RW media and even MiniDisc.

A stumbling block for many solid state digital audio players is their limited storage capacity. A digital audio player with 32MB of internal memory will store around one hour of music encoded using MP3 audio compression and about 40% more using the WMA format. A 64MB player offers twice the amount. This is something to think about when buying a player especially if you're planning on taking it on holiday. However, digital audio files can be encoded at various bit rates, enabling you to store more music per MB but at a cost--the lower the bit rate, the lower the audio quality.

Filename Displays
Most digital audio players have displays that can show all sorts of information about the track that's playing, including the title, artist, and length. At the very least, try to find a unit with a backlit LCD that can be read easily at night. High-end units support detailed labels like ID3 tags (small pieces of data--such as song title, artist, and album title--that can be added to a digital audio file when it is created via encoding software), while some just show the track number and length.

Compatibility
Before buying a digital audio player, make sure it's compatible with your computer. Most players work with PCs, but not all of them work with Macs. Also note that just because your computer has the required hardware to interface with the player, it doesn't mean it will support the software that the player needs to work. For instance, PCs with a USB port must use Windows 95 (OSR2) or later in order to take advantage of it. In addition, Windows NT 4.0 does not have built-in operating system support for USB connectivity, though there are third-party solutions available for working around this. Your computer needs to meet (or preferably exceed) the system requirements listed on the box to guarantee compatibility with all the player's components. Also, just because you've got the latest OS for your computer it doesn't automatically make all digital audio players compatible with your hardware. Windows XP users may have trouble with some hardware so check the technical data and system requirements of a player before you invest.

What are the considerations when choosing 'my ideal' player?
When choosing 'your ideal' player it is worth considering how your lifestyle may affect your choice.

High Impact Leisure (ie Running, Aerobics, Mountain biking, Riding)
If you are going to do a lot of 'high impact' exercise then a Solid State player is the choice for you, because they have no moving parts and are immune to any forms of skipping caused by movement of the player. Also the units are small and compact and can be carried easily in pockets or via the included necklace / wrist strap.

General Leisure (i.e. walking, road cycling etc)
Both Solid State & CD based players are suitable for these pursuits, however it is advisable to look at a CD based player with a longer anti-shock facility.

Home use (i.e. connecting to stereo or general listening)
Although both styles of product are suitable, we would suggest CD based products being used. This is because you will be able to store much more music for continuous playback. You will also be able to play your standard Audio CD's on the 12cm players.

Other examples of use and suggested product type:

On holiday, if wanting to use your player on holiday then a CD based player is the ideal choice, as this will give you the greatest availability of music. With up to 20 hours of music on one CD then you should never tire of your holiday collection. Also because the media is so cheap a few extra CD's or backup's are very affordable.

In the car, as above.
Still unsure? Then please feel free to contact us, we will endeavour to help you make 'your ideal' choice.