On May 28, 2004, at 5:15 PM, Shel Belinkoff wrote:
This opens the door to copying music to some sort of portable device for use in the car and while travelling. What sorts of devices, apart from an iPod, can be used for this purpose?
There are loads and loads of portable mp3 players around. You can get accessories for some players which can transmit the music via a short-range FM signal to your existing car radio (no good for me as mine's AM only!).
Does MP3 or MP4 (that's the format, right?) sound pretty good compared to a home system or a good sound system on the computer?
Its alright... it depends on what you call "pretty good" ;) When creating the mp3 file you can specify a bitrate - 128kbit/second is pretty much standard, and that should be just fine for most listening. If you're fussy like me you can go for a higher bitrate but you'll fit less music in a given space. And you'd need a quiet environment to tell the difference (ie not a car!).
There is also a variable bitrate option where the bit rate continuously changes depending on the complexity of the music. This means you preserve extra detail when necessary but without increasing the file size in parts where the extra data isn't needed.
BTW you may also be interested to know that many new car CD players can play mp3 files off a CD-R.
As for me, I'm waiting for July when the iPod mini is released here. Then I'll be able to make up my mind whether to buy the mini or the standard iPod. And which colour to get :)
Cheers,
- Dave
http://www.digistar.com/~dmann/
