FAQ section

1. What is mp3 all about?

Ans: MPEG layer 3, commonly known as mp3 is actually a compressed audio file with CD quality music. If you record a track from a audio CD, the saved file will be of the same quality as the CD's but it is saved as a WAV file and WAV files from a CD normally takes up a lot of space (Abt 10MB for 1 minutes of audio). MP3 take care of the big problem of WAV file by compressing the audio file and by removing the sounds the human ears cannot hear, the size is greatly reduced to only ten percent of the original WAV format while the quality remain the same.

Is mp3 legal?

Ans: Yes, in the sense that you got the mp3 file in which the song is not copyrighted or if you have the songs/album personally.
Ans: No, if you use mp3 to listen to music without paying for them.

What is the system requirements to play mp3 files?

Ans: I would say a Pentium 133Mhz is minimum requirement but a Pentium 166Mhz and above is generally recommended.

How do I play mp3 files?

Ans: You need to have a player that support mp3 format. There are many out there and the one that I like best and also one of the well known player to many others is Winamp.

How do I encode my own mp3 files?

Ans: Firstly, you need a CD ripper that convert an audio file into WAV format and then you need a MP3 encoder to encode it into MP3 format.

What is the general size of the file?

Ans: The size of files is determined by the quality of the encoded MP3 file. A good quality (128kbps, 44kHz) MP3 is approximately 1 MB per minutes of play.