| Recording audio started towards the end of the 19th | | | | the file which then decompresses it, converts it to |
| century with Thomas Edison's phonograph. This was a | | | | analogue, amplifies the signal and transfers it to the |
| machine (that consisted of a tinfoil cylinder and a | | | | headphones. This, in a nutshell, is how it works. As for |
| speaker that resembled the megaphone) that he | | | | the hardware, there is a laser device that reads the |
| invented and used to make a recording of Mary Had a | | | | CD's, just as the stylus works for the records and a |
| Little Lamb, the first song recorded. This moment was | | | | magnetic head for cassette tapes. The idea no longer |
| crucial in the history of recorded sound. Wax, metal | | | | looks puzzling now that several types of MP3 players |
| and other materials are shaped into cylinders and disks | | | | have been created and the future of the system is |
| were used for at least 50 years. In 1929 the vinyl | | | | likely to store even more revolutionary devices of the |
| records were made and dominated the scene for the | | | | kind. We will certainly see an increase in a wide range |
| next forty years. Amazingly enough magnetic tape | | | | of products but, for the time being, there are only three |
| was developed at the same time but it only gained | | | | types of MP3 players available. The smallest, cheapest |
| popularity in the 1960s. In 1985, the Compact Disc was | | | | and probably the most reliable of all are the Flash |
| developed by Sony and Philips and instantly became a | | | | Players. Their batteries are long lasting due to the fact |
| huge success and, 13 years later, the portable MP3 | | | | that they have no moving parts. The capacity of these |
| player then made its debut. It was a breakthrough that | | | | players has already reached 4GB and will surely |
| would change everything; we can now store and listen | | | | increase in the near future. The newest models are |
| to a massive amount of music, not just a few songs | | | | about the size of a credit card. Hard Drive Players can |
| that use up all the memory of the player. So, in order | | | | have a memory of 80GB so they can hold thousands |
| to be able to store much, we must get the file | | | | of tunes, photos and videos. All this on a device that is |
| compressed. This is where the codec software enters | | | | about the size of a deck of cards. Last but not least, |
| the stage; it can convert analogue music to a smaller | | | | the latest generation of portable CD-players, the CD |
| digital file which is then stored in the memory of the | | | | MP3 players, employ MP3, ATRAC and WMA |
| MP3 (the air pressure waves that we hear as sounds | | | | formats; some of them can even burn CDs, and will |
| bear the name of 'analogue audio' when they are | | | | hold 10 to 45 hours of music per disc. There are also |
| recorded). MP3 files can be constructed at higher or | | | | Minidisk models, a little more expensive than the |
| lower bit rates, with higher or lower resulting quality. A | | | | standard ones |
| mid-range bit rate setting of 128 Kbit/s results in a file | | | | Find discount MP3 Players online now. Sony MP3 |
| of about 1/10th the size of the file created from the | | | | Walkman and iPod models can be found plus many |
| original source. When we listen to our music, the | | | | more big brand names. |
| software that has been embedded in the player reads | | | | |