Why Buy an iPod or MP3 Player?

Have you ever been driving somewhere listening to your favorite radio station and all of a sudden the station is nothing but static or fades in and out? Quick, grab your iPod or Mp3 player! Now, you have your favorite music or sport at your fingertips.

You can choose your favorite show or music on your digital media player at a touch. No more trying to adjust the radio or be distracted from watching the traffic.

With an iPod or MP3 player along, that much needed exercise, whether its at the gym, jogging or just staying home to exercise, will not seem so boring. Some players allow you to monitor your mileage while you run. The time will go faster when you are listening to your favorite music, sport or watching a video on your digital media player. Put a spring in your step while cleaning your home or shopping by listening to your favorite tunes.

Your iPod or MP3 player can brighten your day, regardless of your activity.

If you play sports, for fun or professionally, you can record your "moves", then analyze them to see if you are following through or need to make some adjustments.

What to consider before your purchase an iPod or MP3 player

Ask yourself these questions:
Do you want your iPod or MP3 player solely for music or for others things as well?
What size iPod or MP3 player do you want?
What kind of display should you select for your iPod or MP3 player?
What memory or storage capacity do you want? Do you want to only play music or store pictures and videos as well?

Depending on the investment you make in your iPod or MP3, it may be upgradeable to future formats and features.

What about battery life for your digital media player? What type batteries do you want? Disposal of batteries is dependant on the state or principality you live in.
Do you have a favorite color for your player?
Is price a factor when purchasing an iPod or MP3 player?
When shopping for an iPod or MP3 player consider sound quality, durability, ease of downloading music, cost, benefits and design.

What functions, features and accessories are available?
Features and capabilities will increase or decrease the size of your player. Digital media players are very portable going anywhere with you.
They can be as small as a pack of gum and weigh less than a car key. Depending on the capabilities will increase or decrease the size.

Various iPod or MP3 player system requirements are:
· PC: Microsoft® Windows® 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP, Intel® Pentium® II 350MHz or AMD K6®-2 450MHz processor
· Macintosh: USB port, Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later (Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later recommended for use with low-power USB ports)
Additional system requirements can be: Windows Media Player, CD-ROM drive (for installation and import or playback from CD), USB 2.0 compatibility and Internet connection, (broadband suggested).

Large memory in your iPod or MP3 player enables you to store thousands of songs for music on the go plus thousands of photos and videos. From 120 songs to 10,000 songs, photos and videos.

Memory or storage capacity is measured in bytes. The more bytes, the more songs, photos or videos you can store. The K in 512 KB stands for kilobytes or 1,000 bytes, and 512 KB player can store around 120 songs. The G in 30 GB for gigabytes or a million, 1,000,000 bytes. A 30 GB player can store up to 10,000 songs. Below is an example of iPod and MP3 players and their song capacity. As you can see, the size of the players is as diverse as what they can hold.

Flash or Hard Drive
Based on 4 minutes per song
512MB
120 - 350 songs
1GB
250 - 500 songs
2GB
480 - 500 songs
4GB
1,000 or more songs
5GB
Stores 166 hrs of music
6GB
1,500 songs
8GB
4,000 songs
20GB
5,000 - 9,000 songs
30GB
7,500 songs
40GB
10,000 songs
60GB
15,000 songs

Some players have available expansion slots. Expansion slots are integrated receptacles for installing additional memory via a removable memory card (Secure Digital, Multimedia Card, Compact Flash, etc.). Installation is simple; the card simply pushes in and clicks into place.

Via the USB 2.0 connection from your computer, you can transfer your favorite tunes from a music website to your iPod or MP3 player in as little as a few seconds. IPod or MP3 players have a wide compatibility with many online subscription and pay-per-download music services. Some iPod and MP3 players are "PlaysForSure" compatible. When purchasing your player, look for this logo on the packaging. Any music download service displaying the "PlaysForSure" logo will work.

Display screen size is a personal choice and can be as varied as the players themselves. Screens can be as small as a 4-line graphic LCD, similar to a calculator, to as large as 3.6" color high-resolution LCD with 320 x 240 pixel resolution.
You can press a button and transfer an entire CD to your player in as little as a few minutes using the USB 2.0 connectivity from your PC.
"MP3" might be the buzzword, but it's not the only digital music file format out there. Fortunately, most online stores and digital music players support a full range of digital file formats. Here are the more popular formats in use:
· ATRAC3 which stands for "Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3", WMA, MP3, ACC (used only used by the Apple® iPod(TM)), and WAV/AIFF
· There are many additional file formats used by the MP3 and iPod industry, not all of which are listed here:
· MP3, WMA, WAV and DRM are audio formats.
· Display formats are JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, and PNG.
· Image formats and AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPG, MPE, VOB, DAT, ADF, QuickTime MOV and WMV video formats

Docking cradles, power supply, AC adapters and cables, belt clips, personal speakers, headphones/ear buds, cases, car FM stereo transmitters, lanyards, sync adapters and management software are some of the accessories available with iPod or MP3 players

Additional considerations are: digital audio, micro-photo, FM transmitter, PC compatible and voice recorder. Depending on the iPod or MP3 player you purchase will determine which options are available and work for you. Options like digital audio enhances the sound quality. Micro-photo players can take and display photo images. Some players have voice recording options while others are PC compatible. You can also get players with FM radio receivers allowing you to tune in your favorite radio station.

Some players have vertical touch pads to make navigation easier than ever. These are micro-sized and curved to fit your hand, allowing for enjoyable pure ergonomic comfort and bliss.

Removable, rechargeable batteries are used in iPod or MP3 players, some use lithium, rechargeable Lithium-ion or lithium polymer rechargeable type batteries, while others use alkaline batteries. Depending on how you plan to use your player will help you decide how much battery your will need. A 16 to 24-hour playing time is a good length of time before needing to recharge. Recharging your iPod or MP3 player can also be done in various ways, with either car chargers, wall chargers and/or the USB port on your computer.
If you get tired of your stored music, tune in to your favorite radio station with the built-in FM radio. As many as 32 preset stations are available on some iPod or MP3 players. Some players have games already loaded, while others allow you to download games for playing, as well.

Use the recording feature for multi-function convenience or record music from the FM tuner. With the built-in recorder in your iPod or MP3 player, you can record your baby's first words, the interview at the office, or anything else that is important to you. Record messages to yourself and play them back later, never again forget that anniversary gift!!

Personal organizers including daily tasks list, contact list and calendar; which easily syncs with Microsoft Outlook, are available on Ipod and MP3 players with hard drives instead of flash drives.

Make your ears happy!!! Enjoy skip-free playback, with custom equalizer and pre-set EQ settings, this lets you get your music just the way you like it - there are settings for acoustic, classical, disco, house, jazz, new age, pop, rock and vocal at the touch of a finger.

Ipod and MP3 players fit on your arm, in your pocket, on your belt, just about anywhere. Some digital media players weight as little as 0.8 oz. The lightweight of the players makes them as portable as your lifestyle demands.

The price of a digital media player ranges from $100 to $300 depending upon the features and memory capabilities you choose. Digital Media players come in a wide range or prices - the price range is dependant on what features and capabilities you get. Ipod and MP3 players' general price ranges vary from up to $100.00 to $300.00 or more.

Digital media players come in many colors and a wide variety of colored cases. You can make them as distinctive and personal as you are!

Clara Luber is writer and senior administrator for IpodsForFun.com which specializes in Ipods and Ipod information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clara_Luber

How Does Apple Manage To Dominate The Mp3 Player Market With The Ipod

In the realm of MP3 players, Apple (producer of Macintosh computers and related technology) is the definite dominator when it comes to having the most highly-purchased products among the other manufacturers. One of the main reasons for this – simple as it may seem – is basically out of customer loyalty to the originator of this portable audio device. It was the first of its kind on the market and still remains today, the brand of choice.

Apple actually released the iPod in 2001 as a portable audio device that was strictly compatible with Macintosh technology. Working in unison with Apple’s iTunes, Mac users were able to create, maintain and utilize countless numbers of sound files in their music and audio libraries. However, due the growing popularity among its customers, many Windows users were feeling left out and wanted to be able to take advantage of this great new way of listening to and downloading music and other audio as well. So, in 2002, Apple produced a new form of iPod that was compatible with both Macintosh and Windows interfaces. And later in 2003, they gave the Window’s world a compatible version of iTunes as well. This made the audio playing and storing consumer market very happy.

Then eventually, other companies like Sony and Samsung began producing MP3 players as well but have never reached the level of success that Apple has with their iPods. And moreover, it doesn’t look like those competitors ever will. Statistics show that Apple and their iPod actually dominate the MP3 player market with a 70% selling advantage over other manufacturers of these types of portable MP3 audio devices. And when it comes to hard-drive based MP3 players, they’ve got a whopping 90% lead over the competition.

The main reasons consumers complain about the non-Apple brands of MP3 players is that not only are the competitor versions too expensive, but they are strongly lacking in form. They just don’t have the ease of operation in terms of user-interfacing and also don’t include a lot of the convenient and ‘cool’ features that the Apple iPod does either. Generally speaking, the iPod emphatically outperforms the other manufacture’s brands of portable audio devices by a mile (or more).

And with the addition of Intel into the Apple product line as a whole, the iPod is only going to continue to be improved upon causing it not only to remain the favorite, but also further expand its appeal throughout the music-loving universe.

by: Gray Rollins - http://www.totalmp3player.com/wholesale/ and http://www.salehooreview.com/.

Ipod As The Most Popular Mp3 Mp4 player

This is an mp3 / mp4 player that music lovers acknowledge the most in the modern time. US-based Apple, one among the largest producers of computers, notebooks and computer hardware and software, introduced iPod in 2001 with a single model for the international music market. Apple kept on introducing new iPods for each generation. The latest one is the iPod 5G. Apple also came up with two different variants: the iPod Shuffle (without digital display), the iPod Nano (the smaller version of iPod). Recently, Apple came up with the new-generation of iPod, the iPhone that integrates the conventional MP3 and video player with an internet ready mobile phone.

This article compares each iPod by its special features. One of the most popular model is the iPod 5G that comes with 30 or 80 GB storage capacity. It is not just an mp3 / mp4 player, you can store, view and share complete music videos, movies, podcasts, play games, share photos, playback music and videos, connect to a video output device, and much more. It can play your favorite music for up to 20 hours as this iPod boasts of higher battery life.

The iPod Nano has many of the same features as the full-size iPod, but with much lesser storage capacity. It comes in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB models. It has up to 24 hours of battery life and is comparatively lighter and smaller. It also suffers from some limitations; the iPod Nano doesn't support voice recording and media storage via third-party peripherals. iPod Nano is a great mp3 player for people who would just like to listen to audio files.

Apple's most-pocket friendly iPod is iPod Shuffle. It offers a host of advantages: it's affordable for everyone; its sound quality is as good as that of any other iPod; it has flash memory rather than a hard drive; and it's really portable. However, the disadvantage is that it doesn't include a screen for steering up to specific songs. It has a limited storage capacity, 512 MB to maximum 1 GB. So it's good for those who want to be in fashion, yet can compromise on memory space. But the size of this mp3 player is so small that you can easily clip it to your clothes.

With digital music being in-vogue, many portable jukeboxes hit the market, since Apple kick-started the music revolution of our time. Other portable MP3 and MP4 players, besides iPod, are available in the entertainment world of mp3 / mp4 players. There are many Chinese, Korean and Japanese brands manufacturing low cost players in bulk. These are much cheaper, but have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. The fact remains that iPods are the most popular among all, and hold the biggest share of this market. There are enough iPod users in the market and a lot of new things are getting developed around iPods.

Some people just can't do without their iPods, from jogging time to bed time. It sticks to their ears. Obviously, the battery drains out of the device. The latest buzz is that Andrew Schneider, a student from New York University, is exploring a solar-powered bikini that can charge iPods. Yes, it is true! The bikini will soak up the sun rays thru photovoltaic film strips. That means, while the iPod user is getting a sun tan, his mp3 / mp4 player is also getting a charge of 6.5 volts of solar power.

iPod has become a very desired mp3 / mp4 player around the world. iPod player just seems to be ahead of its competitors. Not just by delivering good quality products, but also in providing new solutions for eager electronic consumers. Let’s just wait what will be next in the iPod revolution.

by: Roberto Sedycias - http://www.polomercantil.com.br

We Can Download House & Dance Music Or Mp3 Music Easily From The Internet Easily

We are waiting with breathless anticipation the release of Samsung’s new Ice Touch and My Fit MP3 players, which could happen any day!

It has been almost a year and a half since Samsung Electronics America, Inc., a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, introduced its award-winning widescreen portable multimedia player, the P3. The P3 was chosen as an honoree in the CES Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Awards for the way Samsung combined a high-end design with quality multimedia playback. The P3 sports a bright 3-inch touch screen which allows for widescreen enjoyment of video and photos at a 16:9 aspect ratio without the need for letterboxing. Adding a new level of connectivity between the player and its user, the P3 includes Samsung’s upgraded EmoTure™ touch interface. One of its hottest features, the Music Hot Touch Key, located just below the touch screen, allows users to instantly access favorite music features and selections without needing to cycle through multiple menus. Samsung's P3 player has held the crown for the past year and a half, but we predict the crown is about to be passed....

The arrival of Samsung's newest MP3 players is expected any day, and they will have tremendous appeal to two distinct groups of consumers. They are Samsung’s new IceTouch and MyFit Wellness Promoting MP3 Players.

The IceTouch MP3 player handles both videos and music with revolutionary enhancement. It will be available for purchase in either 8 or 16GB units. Because it is loaded with applications to support many other features, such as a photo album and a high quality video player, the IceTouch MP3 player will bring more versatility to the table than has any other MP3 player before it. Further, the IceTouch has DNSe 3.0 and 5.1-channel sound enhancement technology, which will allow you to hook it up to your home stereo system. The IceTouch's most unique feature is its transparent full color 2 inch Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode transparent touch screen. The screen is what gives the name "ice" to the player, as you can see right through it from either side, making it absolutely unique. Imagine being able to control the player by touching either side of the screen, as you scroll through the options! For those of us who have been waiting for an MP3 player that combines superbquality in both music and video, our patience will be soon rewarded! It doesn’t hurt that the transparent androgynous screen impacts a WOW factor that will make you the envy of your peers!

The other much anticipated Samsung M3P player is the new MyFit, which will be the first MP3 player to incorporate customized workouts and features such as stress and body fat measurement tools with music. MyFit will be popular with the fitness crowd, allowing them to become healthier while enjoying their favorite music tracks. These units also deliver on Samsung's unique DNSe 3.0 sound enhancement technology to support media playback, including FM radio. MyFit MP3 players also are available in either 8 or 16GB units. It is a product that will encourage a healthy lifestyle yet it can be fully customized. There is a Tapping Control mode which makes it easy to change to the next song without the need to stop moving and have your heart-rate drop. MyFit provides the first fat and stress sensors located on the top of the player which measures the user’s fitness indicators and helps keep people on target with their fitness goals. Users can record the number of calories consumed with the included database, and calories burned while exercising are automatically tracked. Two additional applications which are built into the MyFit include a water intake manager and a stop-smoking program.

by: Jacob Alston - http://www.samsungmp3players.org

7 Great Places To Download MP3 Music

If you are looking for free music then the internet is the right place for you. You will find a lot of websites where you can download MP3 music. Many of these sites offer free MP3 downloads or charge only a minimum amount of money, but the download is allowed usually only one-time.

The reason why MP3 is getting so popular is that that MP3 music usually is cheaper than any CD's or DVD's and some sites even offer it completely for free.

But the distribution of MP3 files over the internet may also have some downsides. The MP3's you can download on many sites are protected by copyright, so the distribution and download of these MP3 files is illegal. Although there have been filed several lawsuits over this particular issue, but this practice still continues to flourish.

Luckily there are also some sites that offer only legal MP3 music for download, so you can be assured that all of your downloads from these sites are absolutely legal. No copyright or law will be broken, so you and your MP3 downloads remain secure.

The following list is only a short excerpt of the available sites that offer legal MP3 Music downloads, so a little research will bring you up with more sites.

You Can Download MP3 Music at MP3Musiq.com
MP3Musiq is the music downloading service that everyone is talking about.
They are proud to be the #1 downloading mp3 service that allows you to easily download Millions of FREE MUSIC MP3s, CDs, Games, Movies and much more!
With MP3Musiq you are not just limited to top music downloads you can download all kinds of DVDs video games and full version software programs.
Membership mean access to millions of music files, movie files, software programs, pictures, games, movies and TV shows...all without a single download fee.

You Can Download MP3 Music at Amazon.com

Amazon.com is not only an online bookstore, but also a place for free music as well.
The collection of free music they have in their archive will surprise you. Have a look at their MP3 music downloads section. You will find MP3 music downloads in various genres like, hard rock, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop, urban, metal, electronic, rock & pop, alternative, and many more.
If you are looking for dance tunes then this is also the right place for you. Also you will find jazz, reggae, country ditties, Latin, blues, and so on. To top it this site also features various collections from artists like Eminem, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, etc. If you want to stay updated Amazon.com with online news and so on, Amazon.com is your place to visit each and every day.

You Can Download MP3 Music at MP3.com
 MP3.com is not only a great place to gather lots of MP3 Music files for many enthusiasts and music fans, but it is also one of the most popular and interactive communities you will find online.
Their product-range includes not only MP3 Music but also photo galleries, videos, album reviews, and free streaming. This community is one of the most popular you will find online.

You Can Download MP3 Music at eMusic.com
After you sign up for an account with eMusic.com, you get access to one of the most extensive collection of MP3 music for sale or purchase. As you have to pay if you want to download MP3 music from this trusted site, you can be assured that this takes place without breaking any law.
If you act fast you can get a little bonus at their site. At the moment they are running a promotion that allows you to download 25 MP3 music files for free, so you do not have to pay for them.

You Can Download MP3 Music at GarageBand.com
Garageband.com is another wonderful place if you want to download MP3 music. If you are a friend of indie music then this site is for you. Different independent artists and musicians will help you to broaden your musical tastes. You will definitely not find such an extensive collection offered anywhere in the physical world.

You Can Download MP3 Music at YourMP3.net
YourMP3.net is another great site if you look for MP3 music downloads. There you will find songs right off the charts, including songs like Numb/Encore by Linkin Park Feat. Jay Z,
Don't You Want Me (brand new club hit) by DJ Hero.D, Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys and many more. You will also find song lyrics, full albums, and free software and screen savers. They also provide you with an online request form so you can ask for music you are looking for.

You Can Download MP3 Music at Lycos.com

There are many sites that offer MP3 music downloads and Lycos.com is one of them.
They also offer extensive background information for all featured artist, including bios, discographies, photos, videos and lyrics. Their collection of MP3s and songs of many well known artists is really huge. So you only need to type in their name at the search box at the top of the page and if available you receive a list of links to that artist's MP3 music downloads.

Copyright © 2006 Andreas Obermueller

About the Author:
Andreas Obermueller is webmaster of Hit4Biz.com - Marketing Related Information [http://www.hit4biz.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andreas_Obermueller

MP3 Players For Sale - The 7 Critical Factors You Need To Look For Before Buying An MP3 Player!

Three of the most popular products stacking up at your local garbage dump have got to be records, cassettes and CD's as the most compact, convenient and simple-to-use gadget to play music on is now known as the mp3 player. Everyone from hip-hopping teenagers to bored office workers just can't seem to live without mp3 players and due to the growing popularity of mp3 players, there are many different types of mp3 players for sale in the marketplace. Well known companies are extremely eager to show off newer and better mp3 players for sale.

Before you buy an mp3 player for sale, it's important to understand that there's a huge number of companies in the marketplace that carry mp3 players for sale. Not all brands of mp3 players for sale are what I would call excellent in quality and offer the best bang for your buck.

To save you time, energy and potentially hundreds of your hard-earned dollars, here are the 7 critical factors you need to look for before buying an mp3 player for sale >>

1. Mp3 players for sale - Perhaps the most critical factor you need to look for before buying an mp3 player for sale is connectivity. What is connectivity? Simply put, it's the way your mp3 player speaks to your computer in efforts to transfer mp3 files, back and forth. You can move mp3 files through USB or FireWire and a few mp3 players for sale are offering a wireless transfer system. Sometimes a special type of cable for your mp3 player is included in the packaging that you can connect from your mp3 player to your computer. You will be able to move the mp3 files over after your computer recognizes the mp3 player.

If you're running a PC and not a Mac, then I'd recommend a USB connector for your mp3 player as FireWire is primarily supported only on Macs. However, both USB and FireWire have unique strengths and weaknesses. USB's universal nature makes it perfect for mp3 players that require high compatibility with current hardware. FireWire's generous power and internet architecture lends well to external storage and mp3 video applications.

Regardless of the connector you choose, realize that transferring mp3 files to and from your mp3 player can take time, especially depending on how many mp3 files you want to transfer.

2. Mp3 players for sale - Who wants to go partially blind by forever squinting to see the characters on an mp3 player? Not me! Even though the display screen on most mp3 players for sale is tiny, you should be able to see the display clearly under all conditions, including being outdoors on a sunny day. Or else, it will be extremely difficult to see what music is playing on your mp3 player, as well as navigating through options such as; song shuffling, volume control and the equalizer on your mp3 player.

3. Mp3 players for sale - Check to see what file types the mp3 player supports before you buy that mp3 player for sale, or else you may waste hours of your precious time prepping mp3 files only to realize they're not compatible for your mp3 player at all! You see, when mp3 files are transferred onto your computer from a CD or downloaded from a website, the type of file it's saved as can vary. Most often, it will default to the mp3 format. However, it could also end up as a .wav, .aac, .wma file or something else.

4. Mp3 players for sale - How many times have you ordered an electronic gadget only to be left with an annoying help file that's impossible to understand and leaving you seething with anger, frustration and less hair follicles in return? Even if that's never happened to you, it's extremely important to know ahead of time if the mp3 player for sale includes software with guided instructions on how to install mp3 files in a quick and easy manner.

5. Mp3 players for sale - Are you related more closely to a hip-hopping teenager who plans to use an mp3 player for motivation as you chase the opposite sex, or an office worker who wants to listen to relaxing music on an mp3 player during a coffee break? That is an important question to answer because mp3 players for sale come in two types of storage capacities: flash based mp3 players and hard drive mp3 players.

Flash based mp3 players for sale are tiny and shiny, normally dropping into the consumers pocket without a snag. They are designed for more energetic mp3 player users, but are offset by the fact that they can't carry more than a few dozen mp3 files unless an expensive memory card is added.

Hard drive mp3 players for sale can hold mp3 files in the thousands and are fantastic for when you want to listen in solitude without having to tug dozens of CD's around. The problem with hard drive mp3 players however, is they have more movable parts, which means bounding along on the Cross Trainer may cause your music to skip if your mp3 player is without a memory buffer.

6. Mp3 players for sale - It's hard to know ahead of time before buying an mp3 player for sale if it can literally bounce off a carpeted or non-carpeted floor, paved sidewalks, the street and other places without losing a beat. Coming up, you'll discover my top 3 picks of durable mp3 players for sale that can do just that!

7. Mp3 players for sale - The mp3 player for sale that you order should come with a variety of accessories that enhance your musical experience! Everything from mp3 player cases, mp3 player stereo ear buds, mp3 player screen protectors, mp3 player auto FM transmitters to chargers are available and often included with your mp3 player of choice. A word of warning... when buying a new mp3 player accessory, make sure that it's compatible with your mp3 player ahead of time. Not all mp3 player accessories will work with the other.

That was a report on the 7 critical factors you need to look for before buying an mp3 player for sale and I guarantee that my top 3 picks of mp3 players for sale have all those qualifications and more!

by: Rich Tweten - http://www.MP3PlayersForSale.blogspot.com

Cranking the Volume on Your iPod or MP3 Player Can Damage Hearing

Kids have always loved listening to their favorite music, and the louder the better – much to their parents’ dismay. In the 1980s, the portable tape recorder with headphones – which came to be known as the “Walkman” – enabled teenagers to listen to their music as loud as they wanted, anywhere they wanted, without disturbing anyone around them.

But the more modern rendition of the Walkman – portable MP3 Players and iPods – pose a major threat to our children’s hearing health, and to ours.

The problem is a combination of the technology of portable digital devices that creates a non-buffered crystal clear sound, and the type of headphones typically used with them, which do not have a buffer either. In December 2005, Dean Garstecki, an audiologist and professor at Northwestern University reported that more and more young people were being diagnosed with the types of hearing loss typically found in older adults. He attributed this trend to the “earbud” type headphones that usually accompany iPod and MP3 Players.

With the earbud headphones, the sound frequencies are not buffered as they are with the more traditional, ear cup-style headsets. Newsweek Magazine recently reported that researchers at the House Ear Institute found that listeners can unfortunately increase the volume of today’s portable digital devices without the “signal distortion that occurs with traditional analog audio.” The older-model headphones that were popular just 15 to 20 years ago – that have ear cups outside of the ears – had that distortion when the volume was turned up, which functioned as a much-needed buffer to protect our hearing. Today’s technology does not provide that buffer – the earpiece is placed in the ear, not outside of it, and the digital devices do not create that distortion, no matter how high the volume.

In addition, people often listen to these devices while they are on the go, and have a tendency to crank the volume in an attempt to drown outside noise, further posing a risk to our hearing. Using the earbud style headphones during activities such as exercise, for example, puts the user at a greater risk. During exercise, blood, which can act as a buffer, is diverted from the ears to other parts of the body – so our already vulnerable hearing is in even more jeopardy.

Headwize reports that a study conducted on music listeners using headphones revealed that while indoors with no background noise, the participants were comfortable with their music at 69 decibels. Outdoors, where the background noise was recorded at 65 decibels, participants using their headphones turned the volume up to 82 decibels and as high as 95 decibels to drown out the surrounding noise. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines limit exposure to noise at this level to no more than four hours each day. The study concluded that the participants were at risk for hearing damage and recommended “avoiding continuous use of [portable stereos] in noisy conditions.”

Northwestern University’s Dean Garstecki offers more specific guidelines: His 60 percent/60 minute rule – listen to MP3 Players and iPods for “about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume.” The problem is, most of the population using headphones – young music fans – listen to their music for much longer than one hour per day. But, you can help minimize hearing loss, damage and problems while listening to your favorite music as long as you want to – the secret is in the headphones.

Headphones such as the EX29 Extreme Isolation Noise Reduction Headphones help block out external noise allowing you to hear the fine details of your music without blowing out your ear drums. The ear cup fits over the ear, and not in it, and the headphones are lightweight, don’t require batteries and can be used with your MP3 Player or iPod. With 29 decibels of isolation from outside sound, the quiet headphones block outside noise and there is no need to crank the volume of your music.

Aging rock stars like the Who’s Pete Townsend, who has some permanent hearing loss from years of exposure to loud music, and Mick Fleetwood, who has teamed up with Energizer batteries to promote hearing loss prevention, have brought public attention to the fact that many of us take our hearing for granted. But there’s no need to turn off your music – just be smarter about how you listen to it. If you are using your MP3 Player or iPod when you’re exercising, in a noisy environment or you just want to hear the fine details of your music, ditch the earbud headphones and reach for a set of noise reduction ones instead. And you’ll be enjoying your favorite music for a long time to come.

by: Lee Blue - http://www.quietheadphones.com/.

How To Buy An MP3 Player That Works For You

If you've just decided that the time is now right to buy an MP3 player then you might well feel completely confused about the choices you have to make. It doesn't matter whether you have a big budget or whether you want to keep it cheap and simple - there are a bewildering number of different players out there to choose from. Like any purchase if you buy the right MP3 player then you'll spend your money wisely - buy the wrong model and you'll end up having to spend more money in the long run.

The key thing to think about first of all when you look to buy an MP3 player is the type of player that will suit you best. There are two primary choices for you here. The first type of portable player you can look at is one that uses Flash memory. Players that use Flash memory have no moving parts - they work on an embedded memory chip. So, these models will be small and won't skip or jog even if you're training for a sprint or working out at the gym.

The downside here is that you won't get a huge memory capacity with a Flash player - but, if you're only using the machine to listen to music for short periods while you exercise or while you are out and about for a few hours then this won't be an issue.

The second type of MP3 player to consider is one that works on a hard drive principle. These machines hold their memory in a hard drive just like a computer - so they can hold more memory as they will have larger capacity than Flash drive models. Nowadays it's perfectly feasible to buy a player with a massive 60GB of built-in memory which is enough to keep the keenest music fan happy for a long time!

This does mean that these kinds of players will be larger than Flash based models - but with today's technology this won't mean a huge increase in size. And, you will find that a player with a hard drive is that bit more fragile in terms of skipping/jogging. Basically these models are not designed to let you listen to your audio while undertaking strenuous exercise!

Your choice here really comes down to what you want to buy an MP3 player for. If you have a vast CD collection that you want to rip to a player or hanker after using a download service to build up your music collection then you'll probably end up opting for a player with a hard drive to get a decent memory capacity. But, if you simply want to take your player out while you exercise or while you commute to work then you may well opt for a Flash based player instead.

It is vital to get this choice right as - if you get it wrong - you'll probably find you end up upgrading sooner rather than later. You cannot add memory to the majority of MP3 players - you have to buy a new one if you need more capacity as time goes on. There are however some players that come with memory card capacity slots which could be an alternative solution but this won't allow you to store all of your music on the player and you'll have to keep a library of memory cards as well.

For many of us the MP3 player of choice is the Apple iPod. This player has become a 'must-have' fashion accessory as well as a great MP3 player. There's nothing wrong with going with an iPod because it looks good and you'll score some points with your friends - but, if this isn't so important to you, then do shop around and look at other models before you make your final choice. Many manufacturers have made great moves to make their players look just as good as Apple's products (take a look at the Creative Zen Micro range as an example) and many will even give you features and benefits that you won't get from an iPod.
Many of us buy an MP3 player on impulse but this really isn't the way to go. If you want to make the right choice for your needs you should do dome research first and the easiest way to do this is to go online and read some reviews or guides - ideally those written by other consumers like yourself as well as the official literature produced by the manufacturers. These kinds of consumer reviews will give you a great idea of how a digital player will actually work 'in the field' so you'll get an instant feel for the best player for your needs.


For example, if you read reviews on particular players you'll learn all kinds of stuff that you wouldn't otherwise be able to find out without buying and using a player. There are all kinds of issues associated with finding the right player that don't get covered elsewhere. A good review, however, will tell you all about stuff such as:
Downloading compatibility You may be able to find out if the player you favor works with specific MP3 music download services or not. Don't assume that all players work with all services as this isn't the case.
Battery life Some players have a built-in battery that you need to recharge and others work on standard batteries. In either case you need to get a feel for how long a battery charge will actually last - if your batteries only last a couple of hours then your player will be expensive to run and not as truly portable as it should be. The actual battery time can be a lot less than the time quoted by manufacturers in their marketing literature.
Software issues Most MP3 players come with their own software to help you manage your audio ripping and downloads. If you take some time to look at reviews you'll get an idea for how the software works and how useful it actually is from people that have already used it.

Sound quality One of the biggest issues with MP3 players is the sound playback quality of the players. A good review will tell you what you need to know here.

Ease of use All MP3 players are not equal and some are not as easy or as convenient to use as you might think. Again, consumer player reviews will give you an insight into this.

Finally, the best way to buy an MP3 player is to make sure that you get it at the cheapest cost possible. Prices in the sector are extremely changeable and it's always possible to get a good bargain if you shop around a little. Online price comparison sites are always very good at digging out the lowest cost with major stores both on and offline and could help you save a lot of money.

By Carol Finch of http://www.mp3-players-n-reviews.com

Comparing MP3 Players

The main benefit of the Digital Age is convenience. MP3 players are one of the most popular components in recent years. They way they work is simple. You simply download your favorite music to an MP3 player and begin enjoying your music. MP3 actually refers to a method of audio compression that maintains the original quality. People often download music from their favorite CDs onto their MP3 player, but downloading music from the Internet is becoming more popular. There are websites available that enable you to subscribe to their service that allows you to pay either a monthly fee for downloading music or on an individual basis.

When you think of MP3 players you probably think of iPod. iPod may be the biggest name in MP3 players, but it is far from the only type available. There are actually numerous MP3 players on the market. Think all MP3 players are the same? Just view the MP3 players featured on iPodMini.us and you will see how MP3 differ. MP3 players can be categorized according to the size of their hard-drive. The size of an MP3’s hard-drive basically translates into how many songs you are able to store on the player.

The lower-end of MP3 players, referred to as flash players, have a hard-drive from 512 MB to 1 MB and you can store about 200 songs. These players cost about $200 and are great when you want a compact player, such as when you go jogging. Many of these players are so compact that they can easily fit in a front shirt pocket. Popular flash players include the iPod Shuffle, Sony Network Walkman (1 MB), and the Oregon Scientific Waterproof MP3 Player. If you’re on a tight budget, the SanDisk MP3 player is available for just $70.

Middle-of-the road is always a safe way to go, especially when it comes to technology. Capable of storing anywhere from 350 to 1,000 songs, micro hard-drive MP3 players such as the iRiver H10 and iPod Mini are your best bet. The price tag for these players is about $200.

If you want to store a large music collection, MP3 players with a 20 GB or higher hard-drive should suit you just perfectly. The iPod Photo leads the pack of this level of MP3 players. With this MP3 you can store 16,000 songs. In addition to playing audio files, you can also use this player to view video files. The player supports the most common audio and video file types, including TIFF, BMP, JPEG, MP3, and WAV. The Creative Nomad Zen Xtra player is highly competitive to the iPod Photo. It also has a 60 GB hard-drive. Other top models in this category include the Sony Network Walkman (20 GB) and the Dell Digital Jukebox.

The MP3 players mentioned so far are portable. If you spend a significant amount of time on the computer, you may want to use a player such as Rhapsody. These players feature a lot of extras. For example, in addition to downloading music from the Internet, you can generally burn CDs, listen to the radio, or import CDs. These players typically feature a free basic model, which is fine for general music listening. If you want the advanced features you will need download a more advanced model, which includes a monthly subscription that may or may not include free music downloads.

by: Nicky Pilkington - ipodmini.us

MP3 - a Worldwide Mania

Who is the one who had never downloaded a song from the Internet? Although companies try to prohibit or simply prevent people from downloading, MP3 download is a reality: MP3 is there, at anyone’s disposal. All that people need is a computer and a connection.

All this concern about this type of download has to do – of course – of how much money the music industries are not earning. Besides, there is risk of piracy. Studies suggest that piracy – the practice of building CDs or DVDs with no permission of the owner’s – has increased a lot in the past few years. Music companies and artists blame the possibility to download their songs or videos from Internet.

The possibility of downloading the most different types of music from the farthest parts of the world is not like a one-way street. Although some companies have fought to forbid the MP3 free download – alleging that this type of procedure reduces their profits – there is the other hand of the process. If those free downloads reduce music industries’ profits, it also makes heir songs famous. It puts songs that are not played by the regular radio stations in the media. And they cannot complain at that.

There are already some laws that protect the copyrights of the composer’s or music band’s. These laws usually keep their eyes on websites and software that guarantee free MP3 download. For the specialists, these websites and software are the most probable to be breaking the law.

However, it is not that websites that charge people a fee in order to download their songs are not breaking the law. They also may be breaking the law. Nevertheless, they are less probable to be doing so.
The laws and the companies of the music business requires that a website or software must have a previous authorization from the company in order to put MP3 music formats available for download.

Magazines and websites – the reliable ones – in general places the top 10, 25, 50 or 100 download of the week or of the month, depending on how up-to-dated is the website. And you can take a look ate the top 10 list of two reliable websites sites.


 by: Party Bell - www.mp3-top100.com