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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 10/28/2007 : 3:38:35 PM
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Santa Claus is thinking about getting my daughters an mp3 player for Christmas, but Santa Claus is hopelessly out dated and old fashioned. What does Santa need to know/look for in buying one of these gadgets? Can one play a CD on the computer and record it on the mp3 thingie? What the heck does mp3 stand for?
Mahalo for your kokua.
Wanda
aka Santa Claus
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 4:07:29 PM
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mp3 is a way of "encoding" data in a compressed form, so it takes up less digital storage space. You do lose some sonic quality in the compression, but not enough to be particularly noticeable in the environments where you are usually listening to these files - e.g., over lightweight earphones or in a car. The standard for it was developed by the Motion Picture Engineer's Group (MPEG), and the "mp" part is an abbreviation of MPEG.
There are many, many free programs (iTunes is the one developed by Apple for its iPod players originally, but it can be used for others) that will allow you to easily pop a CD into your computer, and have it "rip" an encoded, compressed, mp3 file of the songs; then you can drag-and-drop those files to your player. Non-Apple players usually come with a disc of their own software program for doing this. We have players by SanDisk (Sansa) and Creative Labs (Zen) in our household, ranging from simple 1GB ones that hold about 20 albums worth of material, to a larger 20GB one that holds thousands of songs, as well as hundreds of photos.
What to look for? If your daughters are of the age where only the "cool" gadgets will do, go for an iPod (especially if you are a Mac household.) Otherwise, consider different brands, where you just might get more bang for the buck, as you are not paying for the Apple cachet. Though incredibly cheap these days, 1GB probably won't suit their needs (perfect for mine, however), so get as much storage as you feel is affordable. |
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NANI
Lokahi
USA
292 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2007 : 08:39:48 AM
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I love mine I even down load youtube stuff and can then listen to or watch them at any time I want I also put songs on I am TRYING to learn and then put in the head phones and play along.
I Have and iPod I have all my CDs on and my POD casts and then I also use it as a back up drive for my photos when I travel. |
"A hui hou kakou, malama pono".
Nancy |
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sm80808
Lokahi
347 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2007 : 9:52:27 PM
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| I have an iRiver brand mp3 player. I think it has really good sound quality, great build quality, and features (built-in mic for recording, and ability to record FM signals, accepts a wide range of formats) and they tend not to cost too much. They also get really good reviews on www.cnet.com. |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 07:42:12 AM
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Wanda,
The best thing is you can take your entire CD/Record collection and put it all in one little "thingie" that fits neatly in the palm of your hand. Then you could spend an entire day listening to all those songs (in random order if you like) without an AC cable or replacing a battery.
I also find recorded versions of a song I want to learn, use a free software program to slow down the song without changing the pitch, save it to my iPod Nano (Christmas present from my wife and daughters), plug them earphones in, slip the iPod in my pocket and try to play along with my guitar or ukulele -- sure makes learning a whole lot easier.
Santa thinks you ought to set one aside for yourself while you are at it -- just so you can keep up with all them modern notions yer kids have. (wink wink) |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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NANI
Lokahi
USA
292 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 3:59:16 PM
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Do you mind sharing what is the free software program that you use to slo down songs to learn with sounds like a great idea.
I love down loading from you tube with tubesock especially all the lessons then I can use them any where I want. |
"A hui hou kakou, malama pono".
Nancy |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
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les_maverick
Lokahi
USA
238 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2007 : 10:51:04 AM
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Thanks for the info Fran,
I have been looking for something to convert wav to mp3 .... |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 12:48:20 PM
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I use Audacity as well.
The function to slow down is called "Change Tempo..."
You import the MP3 file into Audacity
Select the whole song
Go to the [Effect] pull down and select [Change Tempo]
I type in "-20" (for 80% of the original tempo) and let audacity do its work
Then I listen to it to see if it is slow enough, if not, I slow down another 10 or 20%.
Then export the whole selection to a mp3 file (give this file a new name)
One thing I noticed, is that when you import the new mp3 file into iTunes it has the exact same "information" including song name as the original file, so you have to edit the "info" page and rename the song to remind yourself that it is the 80% version. I just change it to "Whee Ha Swing 20%" ;-}
I have found that anything less than 60% of original is a little distorted and too slow.
(Although even 30% of Sonny Chillingworth's "Whee Ha Swing" wasn't slow enough --- ha, ha, ha) |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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