On 21 Nov 98, Suzanne Stephens wrote:
> MPEG music is another very popular option as a high quality format option.
> (I think it's the same as mp3) We had one or two test files on our music
> site for awhile, and users demanded more. We finally scrapped the idea of
> offering MPEG, just to keep our costs down and make things easier on
> ourselves.
Yeah, it's the same thing. 'mp3' is the term used generically to reference a
particular type of MPEG audio file.
MPEG -- rather oddly, it may seem at first glance -- stands for "Motion
Picture Experts Group", and is an official standard for the digital encoding
and decoding of audio, film and video information. The MPEG standard is
developed and maintained jointly by ISO and the IEC (International Electro-
Technical Commission.
That's the simple part. Now please sit down, pour some coffee, and take
a deep breath :)
There is no such thing as "MPEG 3", not as an official standard at least.
There is MPEG 1 and 2 and 4 and even 7 (in draft stage), but no 3.
However: within the MPEG 1 & 2 standards (and I think 4 also) are 'sub-
set' specifications for the compression and decoding of digital audio (as
opposed to film/video.) These are referred to as Layer 1, 2 and 3. Each
layer is successively more efficient at compressing audio than the
previous. So Layer 3 is the best currently available format. Hence the
term 'mp3' -- an informal abbreviation for 'MPEG standard #1, Layer 3
(audio compression)', more or less.
mp3 has become quite the hot cyber potato lately. As those who
download or create their own mp3 files will know, the sound quality is
exceptional -- CD-quality, pretty near -- vis-a-vis the relatively small file
sizes. Roughly speaking, you're looking at about "a meg a minute"; about
one meg of disk space for every minute of music. Roughly :)
There are *numerous* sites around the Web that trade in mp3 recordings,
mostly copies of mainstream pop songs; this raises some obvious copyright
problems. What's more, "remote" mp3 players are starting to appear on
shelves, portable devices that let you download mp3 files onto them and
play them as you would CDs. So some of the big record companies are
becoming distinctly hostile towards the entire technology.
(In this regard, I find it interesting that the software required to convert a
CD into mp3 format is called a "ripper", and the process itself "ripping"...
there seems to be a bit of an admission that this is somewhat less than
legal.)
For anyone interested in learning more about the format I recommend
Mp3.com, the best of the "legit" mp3 sites (i.e., they don't promote or
offer copyrighted music):
http://www.mp3.com/
To get started with mp3, go to their player download page and grab a
copy of WinAmp or Sonique (Win95.) From that page there are also links
to players for other OSs, including Mac, Unix, Amiga, even BE. Note that
most players are quite compact, as little as 150K for a basic one.
http://www.mp3.com/software/players.html
Mp3.com also has plenty of public-domain mp3 files for downloading; these
are very frequently the equivalent of indie recordings, from bands willing to
distribute their music for free in exchange for the public exposure. Some
excellent stuff there.
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Brent Eades, Almonte, Ontario
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Town of Almonte site: http://www.almonte.com/
Business site: http://www.federalweb.com
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