A short presentation of the popular MP3 players

Jan 19, 2007 15:54 GMT  ·  By

We all admit that PCs are indispensable today, providing a good deal of fun and many possibilities to transform and manipulate information. Many people use their PCs in order to store, listen to and transform their favorite music. I won't argue about the legal issues that these uses might involve. You may download or rip music, then burn whole DVDs with your favorite tunes. But what to do when you want to take all this audio data with you? You certainly don't want to carry your power rig around, wherever you may go. Digital audio players are there to help you out when portability is an issue.

The digital jukebox Digital audio players (DAPs) are devices that store, organize and play digital music files. DAPs are more commonly known as MP3 players, as the MP3 digital music file format is by far the most popular nowadays, though it might not provide the best quality. In order to overcome this quality limitation, recent DAPs provide support for many additional file formats. These may be proprietary formats, such as Windows Media Audio (WMA), restrictive digital rights managed (DRM) files (e.g.WMA DRM and Apple's "FairPlay" from paid download sites) and eventually patent-free formats, such as Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, which provide lossless quality via inventive data compression.

One may choose among the four most popular DAP solutions that can be found on today's audio markets:

? MP3 CD players ? these devices can play normal audio CDs as well as your in-house burnt CDs containing MP3 files or other digital audio files.

? Flash-based players - solid state memory devices that hold digital audio files on internal or external media, such as memory cards. Current technological issues put limitations on the storage capacity on these devices, allowing for a maximum of 8GB. One good example in this case is the iPod Nano. Solid state memory devices do not have moving parts and thus are very resilient. For this reason, flash-based players are more reliable than hard-drive-base players, which may be affected by damaging motions or hardware fragmentation. This breed of players is also implemented in USB keydrives.

? Hard drive-based players ? include larger storage capacity HDDs, ranging from 1.5GB to 100GB, depending on the hard drive technology. At typical MP3 file sizes, this means that thousands of songs or even entire music collections can be stored on these devices. Due to their capacity and physical size, these players provide image and video media support, as well. The Apple iPod and Creative Zen are examples of popular digital jukeboxes.

? MiniDisc MP3 Players ? the latest generation of MiniDisc Walkmans digital music includes Sony's proprietary Hi-MD technology, which provides support for new and improved 1GB discs. This storage media will give users up to 45 hours of music. Clearly, these MiniDisc players support the trademark Sony codec ATRAC3, but come with MP3, WMA and WAV format support, as well. Sony also reports that these discs can store and transfer other PC specific data files, such as MS Powerpoint presentations, spreadsheets and others. The 1GB Hi-MD discs retail for about $7 and are re-recordable, too. Depending on the model, users can expect anywhere from 30 to 50+ hours of playtime from just one AA battery.

The most notable turning point for the DAP market was presented by the arrival of Apple Computer's iPod in 2001. Combine this with the opening of iTunes Music Store in 2003 and you get a huge business plan and a highly acclaimed iconic DAP that is so popular with teens and youth all over the world. Since then, a number of new digital audio players became available, each promising to be an "iPod Killer". The latest device aspiring to this title is Microsoft's Zune player.

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What lies inside the player Although the leading makers use proprietary designs, the basic components of an MP3 player are quite the same. Thus, each MP3 player should have:

*Data port *Memory *Microprocessor *Digital signal processor (DSP) *Display *Playback controls *Audio port *Amplifier *Power supply

As far as data ports are concerned, a DAP may plug into your PC via USB or FireWire ports in order to enable data transfers. All the transferred files from your PC are saved in the player's memory, which could be, as pointed before, a solid-state type or the equivalent of HDDs for portable devices ? the microdrive. Solid-state memories include: Internal Flash memory, CompactFlash cards, SmartMedia cards or Memory Sticks.

The microprocessor acts like a PC CPU for the player. It monitors user input through the playback controls, displays information about the current song on the LCD panel and sends directions to the DSP chip, telling it exactly how to process the audio information.

When you want to listen to a particular song, the DSP gathers the song data from the memory medium, applies any specified special effects or equalizer algorithms, and forwards the information to the amplifier. During this process, the DSP runs a decompression algorithm that undoes the compression of the MP3 file and then a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter turns the bytes back into sound waves. Then, the amplifier boosts the strength of the signal and sends it to the audio port, where a pair of headphones is connected.

MP3 players are battery-powered. Two AA batteries can usually provide enough power to enable for a 10 to 12 hours continuous playback. Instead of normal batteries, some players may support Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries. Players may alternatively be connected directly to outlets via AC adapters, and some even offer DC adapters for use in a car.

In addition to these standard features, DAP players may also include FM radio tuners and/or microphones for voice recording. Many players can encode audio directly to MP3 or other specified digital audio format directly from a line in audio signal coming from home stereo systems. More recent players incorporate a docking connector that allows them to slot into specially designed accessories such as chargers, or active speakers with built-in charging, or even into car players. The widest DAP accessory list currently targets the fashionable iPod player. This list features a variety of bags, cases, belt clips and armbands to carry their music players with them. Users may also have a need for battery packs and such accessories can extend overall playback times by up to 10 hours.

Another new trend is to produce Network MP3 players, which tend to be non-portable devices and may not have any storage support at all? Instead, they connect to a home Ethernet network, and receive digital audio streams from computers on the network. They are designed to connect to a home stereo, and as such, are operated with a remote control. One recent example of DAP oddity is represented by the Oakley ?Thump? sunglasses model, which has an embedded MP3 player.

Putting it to good use The first MP3 players ? the MpMans ? were released by Korean company Saehan in 1998. Since then, DAPs have come a long way. The latest developments allow DAPs to include a special podcasting feature, through which radio-like programs, or even TV-like video feeds, are automatically downloaded into the device to be played at the owner's convenience. Even a low-capacity digital audio player can store several hours of podcasts.

Returning to DAP?s playback capabilities, it should be clear by now that MP3 devices can play music that has been ripped from Compact Discs via computers. In addition to ripped CD tracks, digital audio players accept downloaded music files from online music stores. For a more secure file transfer method, such stores often use proprietary formats and DRM, which means that the tracks can only be played on suitable licensed and restricted devices. For example, songs you purchase from Apple iTunes might not work on any digital audio player other than an iPod. The main downloadable formats in use are WMA/PlaysForSure from Microsoft, AAC/FairPlay from Apple and ATRAC from Sony, all of which are mutually incompatible.

A huge amount of legal, freely downloadable Module (MOD) music files is available on the Internet. MOD files are usually compiled by individuals who allow them to be freely distributed, unlike MP3 files directly ripped from commercial CD tracks. While today's digital audio players generally do not support MOD files directly, progress is being made on that front with projects such as the TRAXMOD digital audio player. A simpler way to convert MOD music into MP3 format is by using software such as Winamp.

Dear readers, with this I end what might be the last article from the PC-related hardware series. Maybe in the near future, somebody else will decide to continue the series. I really don't know what will become of this section. Don't worry, I'm not leaving, I'm just redistributed. In this sense, I will be editing and writing hardware news starting next Monday. See you then.