By MICHAEL MILLER
Portable Music Player File Formats
Posted: 2007-06-06 15:21:39
One factor when choosing a portable audio player is where you're going to get your songs, and what file format you're going to use to store them. Choose the wrong player, and you might not be able to download songs from your favorite online music store.
That's because different music stores use different file formats, and not all players can play all file formats.
That said, if you're ripping music from your personal CD collection, any of these players will do since they're all compatible with the MP3 file format. Just rip your songs to MP3 files, and you'll be fine.
That's because different music stores use different file formats, and not all players can play all file formats.
That said, if you're ripping music from your personal CD collection, any of these players will do since they're all compatible with the MP3 file format. Just rip your songs to MP3 files, and you'll be fine.
While there are a dozen or more file formats used to store digital music, you're really only going to run into three major formats when you download music from the Internet:
MP3
AAC
WMA
So which audio format you should use depends on your portable audio player, and the site you use to download your music.
For example, the most popular online music store is Apple's iTunes Music Store. When you download a song from iTunes, it's in Apple's proprietary AAC file format.
Unfortunately, the only music players that are compatible with the AAC format are Apple's products. You can't play AAC-format files on any other player.
So if you like iTunes, you need to buy an iPod. And if you own an iPod, you have to use the iTunes Music Store.
Similarly, the iPod cannot play back files recorded in Microsoft's popular WMA format. So if you download music from Napster, which uses the WMA format, you can't play them back on your iPod.
If you own a Creative Zen Micro, which plays both MP3 and WMA formats (but not AAC), you can use it with any only music store except iTunes. That's the compatibility issue.
Michael Miller is a writer and commentator on technology and digital lifestyle topics.
So which audio format you should use depends on your portable audio player, and the site you use to download your music.
For example, the most popular online music store is Apple's iTunes Music Store. When you download a song from iTunes, it's in Apple's proprietary AAC file format.
Unfortunately, the only music players that are compatible with the AAC format are Apple's products. You can't play AAC-format files on any other player.
So if you like iTunes, you need to buy an iPod. And if you own an iPod, you have to use the iTunes Music Store.
Similarly, the iPod cannot play back files recorded in Microsoft's popular WMA format. So if you download music from Napster, which uses the WMA format, you can't play them back on your iPod.
If you own a Creative Zen Micro, which plays both MP3 and WMA formats (but not AAC), you can use it with any only music store except iTunes. That's the compatibility issue.
Michael Miller is a writer and commentator on technology and digital lifestyle topics.
2006-06-16 13:27:53
