Frequently Ask Questions

1. What is MP3?

MP3 is an acronym for MPEG layer 3 which is a format/algorithm to tightly compress audio files. MP3 files have the .mp3 file extension on them. Up to 12 to 1 compression is attainable and produces high sound quality with very little loss.

The beauty of the MP3 format is that it contains to file header information - it is all contained with in the audio stream. This fact makes it perfect for the internet where audio can be streamed with quality and at relatively low transfer speeds.

The downside to all this, is that it takes a really good decoder (player) program to properly decompress the mp3 stream. This means high CPU usage. Its also the reason older platforms like Win3.1 have very few mp3 players available.

2. Is mp3 legal?

Yes, mp3 is just a file format. Like most things, it can be used legally or illegally. Its legal to play mp3's as long as the copyright holder of the mp3 has granted permission to use the mp3. That can either be through purchase or Freeware public domain distribution agreements.

3. How do I play mp3 files?

Download any MP3 player software to play the file. Check out the MP3 Players section for some good quality and free mp3 players software.

4. What is an encoder?

An MP3 encoder is the software using an MP3 Codec (compression/decompression algorithm), to make MP3s. Most encoders convert wav to mp3 although many can convert other formats such as WMA to MP3.

There are very few unique encoders. Most software out there uses only about 4 main encoding engines due largely in part by the patents held by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and other companies that helped produce the ISO source that MP3 is based on. Although no one company owns exclusive rights, MP3 software companies must pay a licensing fee to develop their own ISO source encoder which is expensive. The major encoding engines are LAME (non-ISO source), BladeEnc, Fraunhofer Encoders, and Xing.

5. What is a decoder?

The purpose of an mp3 decoder is to convert audio data in compressed format (i.e. mp3) to uncompressed format like .WAV, AIFF, or PCM. The uncompressed data can then be edited or burned to a CD for use in most common CD players (home, car, etc.). When decoding mp3 to wav, you cannot gain any kind of quality that you had before compression. MP3 is a lossy format and some of the original audio data has been discarded in the encoding process and cannot be regained. 

6. What is CD ripping?

"Ripping" refers to the process of extracting audio data from an audio CD (generally via Digital Audio Extraction, rather than via an analogue recording link) and storing it as digital audio data of some form on your PC hard disk.

7. What is CD burning?

CD burning is the process of using CD-R/RW drive and burning software to put data or audio onto a CD.

8. How do I decode an MP3 file format to a WAV file format?

Firstly you need a Decoder software. Some MP3 Players software will allow you to do decoding such as Winamp and MusicMatch. Use your Decoder to decode the MP3 files back to WAV format. In Winamp, for example, you can set the output to a WAV file instead of standard audio output. Hit Ctrl-P to bring up the Preferences window and choose Plug-ins/Output. Select Nullsoft DiskWrite on the right side, and click Configure to choose a destination for your WAV file. For other MP3 players, just look around the Preferences for output options.

9. How do I encode a WAV file format to an MP3 file format?

To encode a WAV file to an MP3 file, you need an encoder software. You can download it form the Encoder and Decoder section from the website.

10. How can I make MP3 files from my CD?

Firstly, you need a CD Ripper and an Encoder software or a program that does both. You can download a CD Ripper and Encoder software from the Encoder and Decoder section of our website. Use the CD Ripper to extract the audio file on the CD and convert it to WAV (or AIFF for MAC) file format. Finally, use your Encoder software to convert the WAV files to MP3 format. If you take a track from an audio CD and directly create an MP3 file on your hard disk, then you are ripping and encoding in one step. Programs such as MusicMatch Jukebox and FreeRIP MP3 make ripping straight to MP3 files possible. Ripping is much faster than encoding.

11. Where can I get a good, legal, free MP3 encoder?

If you download CDEX (from http://www.cdex.n3.net/) and unzip it into a directory, then execute the main file, cdex.exe, it has options to go from CD to WAV, CD to MP3, WAV to MP3, and MP3 to WAV. For the options which go to MP3 you need to go to Options / Settings, and on the MP3 Encoder tab select which encoder you want to use, and the parameters (bitrate, stereo mode etc...) that you want to use. The LAME and Blade encoders come with CDEX, as does an MP2 encoder.

12. What is the best free MP3 encoder?

It depends exactly how you define "free" and how you propose to determine the "best". I wouldn't presume to make an authoritative statements about the best, but if you download CDEX from:

http://www.cdex.n3.net/

it includes the Blade and LAME encoders, both of which are very good at bitrates of 160 kbps or higher. And yes, it is free.

The various versions of encoder produced by Fraunhofer are very good, but about the only version that's legitimately "free" is the one included with Microsoft Netshow (downloadable from http://www.microsoft.com/) and that only works up to 56 kbps, which is pretty useless. If you download a program called L3encwin, which so far as I know is still available from various shareware sites (I believe I downloaded it from http://www.winfiles.com/), it includes the old Fraunhofer encode and decode programs that work up to 128 Kbps. L3encwin itself is just a Windows front end you can use, since the old Fraunhofer programs just work from a command line.

MP3 Glossary

Bit Rate
Bit rate is the average number of bits consumed by one second of audio. It's the quality parameter for layer 3 encoding. The standard bit rate is 128 kbps or 128,000 bits of audio data per second, generally considered CD quality. Files encoded faster than 128 kbps may have little or no detectable improvement in sound quality.

CDDB
CDDB stands for Compact Disc DataBase. You have to be connected to the internet to use this feature to allow your software to retrieve CD information such as track names, album title, and artist from a CDDB server. This is conveniently done in the background.

Constant bitrate (CBR) encoding
CBR encoding lets you specify the bit rate while recording, which gives you control over file size. The higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and the larger the file. The higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and the larger the file.

ID3 tag
ID3 is a small 128 byte data placed at the end of an MP3 file so that MP3 players can display the file information such as artist, song title, comment, etc. while the file is being played. Not all players recognize the ID3 tag, and those that don’t will simply ignore it; however, this will not affect the playback quality. It's location at the end of an MP3 file is also awkward when it comes to streaming mp3. ID3v2 is a second version which doesn't has those limitations that ID3 has such as few data fields support limited to 30 characters, and inflexible fixed size. ID3v2 places the data to the front of the MP3 file and can holds more information such as composer, conductor, copyright message etc. along with the usual artist, song title, equalizer preset info etc.

Jitter
Jitter is small digital hitches in the ripped track cause by incompatibility problem between the ripper with some CD ROM drivers. Most rippers have a jitter correction or synchronized copy option to eliminate this problem. 

Ogg Vorbis
Vorbis is a general purpose audio and music encoding format contemporary to MPEG-4's AAC and TwinVQ, the next generation beyond MPEG audio layer 3. Unlike the MPEG sponsored formats (and other proprietary formats such as RealAudio G2 and Windows' flavor of the month), the Vorbis CODEC specification belongs to the public domain. It is completely open, patent-free technology. Visit vorbis.com for the latest developments.

Variable bitrate (VBR) encoding
During a VBR encoding, the bit rate changes to create the best sound-to-size ratio. This feature is useful if you want to save your mp3 files into your portable MP3 player or for voice recordings or music in which there are pauses or long stretches of very quite music.