rip your own digitizing your records and tapes

External flash-based memory would be more like a removable memory card, like thoseyou’d find in a digital camera or a cell phone, which can store music and be inserted into amusic-capabl

Rip Your Own:

Digitizing Your Records and Tapes

Casey Kim

Course Technology PTR

A part of Cengage Learning

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© 2011 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section

107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners All images © Cengage Learning unless otherwise noted.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008929221 ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-583-6

ISBN-10: 1-59863-583-2

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20 Channel Center Street Boston, MA 02210 USA

Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan Locate your local office at:

Rip Your Own: Digitizing Your

Records and Tapes

Thanks and appreciation to Orren Merton, Cathleen Small, and Barry Wood for their endless encouragement and patience Special thanks to Alana McDonald :)

About the Author

Casey Kimhas more than 10 years of experience as a digital

audio engineer, composer, sound designer, musician, and DJ

From original sound and music creation to remastering “classic”

audio, she has produced and worked on countless projects

within film, television, gaming, web, and interactive industries

Currently, Casey focuses her attention on comprehensive digital

media creation and content development using a synthesis of

audio, video, animation, and graphic design to deliver complete

conceptual media experiences

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 The Digital Lifestyle 1

What Exactly Is a Digital Lifestyle? 2

So How Do I Fit in to All of This? 3

Chapter 2 Choose Wisely: An Overview of Digital Music Players 5

Device: Storage Types 6

Flash-Based 6

Hard Drive–Based 7

External Media–Based 8

Device Roundup 11

Apple Inc 11

Creative Labs 19

Microsoft 23

SanDisk 25

Sony 27

Chapter 3 Imported Goods: A Guide to Digitally Importing and Transferring Music onto Your Computer 35

Digital Formats 38

Sound Quality 38

Original Formats 41

Destination Formats 44

Software for Importing Music 50

Rippers and Media Players 50

Recording Software 60

Chapter 4

From Analog to Digital (and Everything in Between) 67

Digital Audio Interfaces 68

Connections 69

Internal versus External Audio Devices 72

Internal Soundcards 75

External Soundcards 85

Other External Devices 89

Signal Flow 91

Chapter 5 The Good, the Bad, and the Audibly Ugly 95

What Exactly Is Audio Restoration? 96

To Restore or Not to Restore Yeah, It’s a Question 97

Different Types of Noise 99

Getting Acquainted with the Editing Environment 100

How to Read a Waveform 103

Basic Audio Restoration Techniques 105

Initial Preparation 105

Analysis 106

Noise Reduction 107

Impulse Artifact Reduction 115

Software Tools for Audio Restoration 120

Plug-Ins 120

Chapter 6 Organized Chaos: Organizing Your Digital Music Library 125

Hard Drives: The “External” Question? 126

Hard Drive Specifications 126

Desktop or Portable? 128

Hard Drive Preparations 130

Options and Preferences 133

A Word on File Organization 135

Filenames and Nomenclatures 136

What to Do with Your Old LPs, CDs, and Cassette Tapes 137

vi

Table of Contents

Chapter 7

Putting the Pieces Together 141

A Word on Music Management Software 142

Options and Preferences (Part II) 143

Library Location 143

File Format 145

The Order of Operations 146

What to Expect 149

Extra, Extra! Read All About It!: Keeping Current 149

A Box Is Just a Box Until You Open It and There’s Stuff Inside 150

The First Date 151

Second Base 151

Sharing May Be Nice, but Protected Files Aren’t 153

Sometimes You Have to Disconnect to Reconnect 154

Do This, Don’t Do That: Best Practices for Successful Audio Adventures 156

Dos 156

Don’ts 157

Index 160

vii

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First and foremost, I’d like to thank you for picking up a copy of Rip Your Own Whether

you’re standing in a bookstore thumbing through the pages or sitting in your favorite chairabsorbing the material through osmosis, as an author it’s good to know that in the age of

the Internet and the dawn of the e-book, physical books are still being read Your support

is genuinely appreciated

To be completely honest, when I started writing this book, I was concerned about whether

a publication on the subject was worthwhile or even necessary When you work in the field

of digital audio, the digitization and management of audio is a second language It becomes

a daily encounter that you rarely ever think about But while promoting Rip Your Own,

I spoke to many individuals who expressed a need for the subject of media digitization

to be explored from the ground up The primary complaint was that existing books on

the subject weren’t written in plain English and seemed to approach the subject from the

standpoint of someone who already has a great deal of audio experience

My goal in writing Rip Your Own was to make the subject more accessible, no matter how

much experience you have That being said, Rip Your Own is written for the beginner to

the intermediate user I’ve tried to combine information about digital audio fundamentals

while cutting to the chase This means that even if you have little or no experience with

digital audio, the chapters have been constructed in a way that will bring you up to speed

And if you do have some experience with digital audio, it should be pretty easy to skip over

the preliminary “butter and pumpkins” and get right down to the more involved audio

processes and concepts

I’d like to say that the methods and techniques described in this book are certainly not the

only way to go about digitizing, restoring, and managing audio Through experimentation

and your own resources, you may discover new ways of obtaining the desired results and

achieving your own digital audio Zen that were never even mentioned here I’ve been

working with audio for more than 10 years now, and I still learn something new almost

daily At the very least, you should walk away from Rip Your Own with enough fundamental

information to get you on the right track So study up, try new things, and above all,

HAVE FUN!

ix

Art courtesy of Alana McDonald.

B ack in the day, have conversations Information used to be organized and storedpeople used to walk to each other’s houses to

in filing cabinets And listening to your favorite music meant ing it performed live Over no short period of technological evolution,

see-we now have the ability to have entire conversations on cell phones withpeople on the other side of the planet Personal computers are the newfiling cabinets, and music can be brought to life at any time and in anyplace And we owe it all to technology

Every single day, we interact with some sort of technology that makes

some aspect of our lives more convenient Interestingly enough, this

interaction often occurs without us even realizing it But beyond simpleinnovations, such as electric can openers and trash compactors, designed

to help us perform simple daily tasks with ease, lies the seductive andall-consuming world of gadgetry

This is where something I call the “digital lifestyle” comes in to play.Portable media players, GPS navigation systems, and cell phones thatcan surf the Web, take a five-megapixel photo, and walk your dog allbefore you wake up in the morning are just a few examples of digitaldevices that go well beyond the scope of being simply convenient Yes,

we could do without these things, but do we really want to? The answer

is generally no And once we accept that answer, we giddily embrace adigital lifestyle In fact, I hear there are support groups for this sort ofthing

1

The Digital

Lifestyle

What Exactly Is a Digital Lifestyle?

You may already actively partake in a digital lifestyle It sneaks right up on you If you own

a laptop, a PDA, a digital camera, or a cell phone, you’re already a willing participant The

mere fact that you’re reading this book indicates that you have, at the very least, an ing curiosity

exist-The concept of the digital lifestyle has always been It’s technology that has changed over

time If you’ll consider this, there have always been ambitious pioneers pushing the lope to bring new technologies to the public And the public has generally always wanted

enve-to be on the frontier of the latest advances, whether for convenience or a fascination withthe technology itself The individuals who were the first to put new technologies to uselived on the forefront of advancement And chances are they were already looking for whatwas coming next The first person to trade in his record player for an 8-track was probablyalso the first person to trade in his cassette deck for a compact disc player The desire toacquire the latest shiny gadgets is the concept behind a digital lifestyle It’s not about who

has the most toys It’s about who has the coolest toys

Now that the concept has been defined, let’s draw a distinction between it and the digitallifestyle itself The digital lifestyle is the integration of new technology in your daily life It’snot a dependency, but a preference to not go without it Imagine that you’re rushing out ofthe house to run some errands You get in the car, pull out of the driveway, and are halfwaydown the block when you suddenly realize that you’ve left your cell phone on the kitchencounter Do you A) decide that it’s okay if you’re incommunicado for an afternoon; or B)slam on the brakes, throw the car in reverse, and frantically run inside the house, hopingyou haven’t missed a text message as you went from zero to separation anxiety in less than

60 seconds? The answer, of course, will vary depending on your need to be reached thatday, how pressed for time you are, and so on, but I’m not going to lie…I’ve been guilty of

the latter on occasion I highly prefer not to leave the house without my phone, even

though I know that it wouldn’t be the end of the world Sometimes, I prefer to check my e-mail on the road, even though I’ve got a perfectly good Internet connection at home And I prefer to have my portable digital music player with me when I go to the gym, eventhough I can certainly get a decent workout without it

In the last 20 years, a lot of us have had to make the conversion from living without certaintechnologies to using them daily Today, public schools teach fourth graders more aboutcomputers than some of us may ever know Anyone born after 1995 was pretty much raised in a world where new technologies seem as functionally commonplace as the

refrigerator in your kitchen The generation of which I speak was born into a digital lifestyle.

The Digital Lifestyle Chapter 1

It’s a world where address books and good memory retention have been replaced by the

contact list on your mobile phone, “hard to refold and always too big to read in the front

seat” paper road maps have been trumped by global positioning systems, and handwritten

letters are delivered instantly and electronically in the form of e-mail messages with the

click of a mouse Later generations may never have memories that life was ever any other

way, and the tall tales of how things used to be will be appropriately exaggerated and passed

on around campfires…or at the very least, inside solar-heated RVs during the commercial

breaks in quality satellite-television programming

So How Do I Fit in to All of This?

It might be that a portable digital music player will be the first and possibly only gadget you’ll

ever buy It definitely isn’t a prerequisite that you fully immerse yourself in technology to

gain benefit from Rip Your Own And of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with

getting a digital music player for practical and functional purposes (At least, that’s what

I tell myself every time I upgrade.) Then again, this could be the beginning of a beautiful

friendship between you and technology

Regardless of how involved you currently are or intend to be in a digital lifestyle, the

specific point of this book is to be your guide to digital music players There is a lot of

information here, but I’ve done my best to keep it well organized and at all costs prevent

a brain meltdown caused by information overload You and I have the same goal here: to

help you get the most out of your music and whichever digital music device you choose

In any event, let’s get on with it.… Welcome to the digital lifestyle

3

Brief History of Recording Technology—

Part 1: The First Recording

The earliest known recording of sound was discovered in Paris in March of 2008 by

a group of American audio historians Researchers reported that the 10-second vocal

recording of “Au Clair de la Lune” was captured on a “phonoautograph” on April 9,

1860 That’s almost two decades before Edison invented the phonograph!

Art courtesy of Alana McDonald.

W hich music player you choosedecision It’s not important like “Should I become an organis an important

donor?” or deciding whether to take a vow of silence or anything, but it’s still important The right digital music player with theright features and capabilities will ease the process of getting startedand make the overall experience of using a digital music player moreenjoyable

When choosing your digital music player, there are a lot of things toconsider, such as manufacturer, model, feature sets, capabilities, formfactor, storage types, capacities, and connectivity, to name a few Soundoverwhelming? Fear not I’m here to guide you through the selectionprocess

In this chapter, we’re going to take a look at the most popular digitalmedia players available on the market today We’ll review the differentmodels, what they can do, and how choose the one that will work bestfor you based on your specific needs So, let’s get started

Device: Storage Types

What type of device do you want? Of course we’re talking about digital music players, but do you want a player with a large internal hard drive? How about a small-capacity,flash-based device? Or maybe you’d like to use a music-capable device that uses externalmemory cards Regardless of which storage type you’re leaning toward, or even if you have

no inclination one way or another, this section will discuss various storage types and thedifferences between them so that you can begin whittling down the options

Flash-Based

Flash-based music players, like those shown in Figure 2.1, rely on either internal or externalflash memory Flash memory is a method of storing data that requires no moving parts.Think of it a bit like a thumb drive or a memory stick with a headphone jack The mostcommon types of flash-based music players have a predetermined amount of internal flashmemory and do not use external memory cards Flash-based players are limited to smallercapacities that range anywhere from 128 megabytes up to 64 gigabytes And because thereare no moving parts, there’s much less potential for errors or skips in the audio due tomovement or impact Another advantage to flash-based music players is that they generallyhave a very small form factor This is great if you have an active lifestyle into which you will

be incorporating your music player

External flash-based memory would be more like a removable memory card, like thoseyou’d find in a digital camera or a cell phone, which can store music and be inserted into amusic-capable device for playback One of the advantages of external flash-based memorycards is that they’re very affordable if you already have a music-capable device that can usethem Also, if you fill up your memory card and don’t want to delete any of your music tomake room for new songs, you can always just get another memory card and switchbetween them

External flash-based memory cards can get all the way up to 32-gigabyte capacities these

days, but not all devices are designed to use these larger-capacity cards Most devices, as of

the time this book was written, are only capable of using up to 8-gigabyte flash memorycards But inevitably, as time goes on, card capacities will get larger, and devices will beupdated to make use of them Be sure to check the external memory capabilities of yourspecific device before committing to external memory for storing music

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Hard Drive–Based

Another very common storage type for digital music players is the internal hard drive (see

Figure 2.2) These types of players actually have a very small hard drive, moving parts and

all, running the show inside They typically have a larger form factor than that of internal

flash-based drives, and they always have a small screen on the front that provides feedback

as to what you’re doing or listening to on your music player

You can get a music player with an internal hard-drive capacity of up to 120 gigabytes

Large storage capacity is one of the great benefits of an internal drive One hundred and

sixty gigabytes can store about 40,000 songs, or approximately 111 days’ worth of music

(in dog years…just kidding) I keep referring to the hard drive of these types of music players

as “internal,” but that isn’t to suggest that the drive may be removed or replaced As with

internal flash-based players, the drive size is predetermined and cannot be upgraded to a

If you’re looking for high-capacity storage for mass amounts of music, you want to use largerfiles or lossless file types (which are explained in Chapter 3, “Imported Goods: A Guide toDigitally Importing and Transferring Music onto Your Computer”), and form factor is less of

a consideration, then a hard drive–based music player may be just the ticket

External Media–Based

All right, so do you remember those external memory cards we talked about a momentago, when we discussed flash-based players? That type of storage would also fall under thiscategory Digital music devices that use any type of removable media, such as a memorycard or a MiniDisc, are considered to be external or removable media-based devices because,

as the name suggests, you can separate the storage from the device itself

Music-capable cell phones/PDAs, “advanced devices,” and MiniDisc players all use removablemedia Typically, any multifunction device—or a device that does more than simply playback music, such as a cell phone or a PDA—has a limited amount of internal memory, andit’s mostly reserved for storing necessary operational software on the device Therefore, inorder to store additional data—or in this case, music—external removable media must beused to increase the amount of available storage the device has The most common types ofremovable media for music-capable devices are flash-based SD, Mini SD, and Micro SD cards,which are available at different speeds and in a variety of capacities

Another noteworthy type of removable digital media is the MiniDisc, or MD MiniDisc wasdeveloped by Sony as a solution for a high-quality portable optical storage device MD discsare housed inside a hard plastic casing, like a cassette cartridge, to prevent the physical disc inside from being scratched MD players and media had a much smaller form factorthan conventional CDs and portable compact disc players Compared to a CD, a MiniDiscwas about half the physical size, but it could fit just as much audio as a regular CD (seeFigure 2.3) You could almost say that the original MiniDisc was the first step toward theultra-compact digital music players that are available today The technology even utilized

a computer connection and software solution for transferring music and managing yourplaylists, which up to that point (1991) had never been done before

The original MiniDisc could hold up to 80 minutes of CD-quality digitized audio The rent generation of MiniDisc is called Hi-MD Hi-MD offers 1 gigabyte of storage that can be

cur-used for audio or data This means you can store roughly 100 minutes of near CD-quality audio or about 200 compressed MP3s (about 1,000 minutes of music) as data, which is still

accessible as listenable audio on a Hi-MD player The only quirky thing about MD is that it’s proprietary You can only listen to Hi-MD discs on a Hi-MD player and nowhere else,whereas with some other types of removable media, such as SD cards like the one shown

in Figure 2.4, you can move them to any other device that uses the same kind of media

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

9

SD Memory Types

SD stands for Secure Digital SD memory is the most common removable memory

type used in music-capable multifunction devices, and it is available in several types:

SD, SDHC, and SDXC

씰SD (Secure Digital) SD memory cards are standard-capacity memory cards

that range anywhere from 128 megabytes up to 4 gigabytes

씰SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) These are second-generation SD cards.

They’re also referred to as SD 2.0 and are available in capacities ranging from

4 gigabytes all the way up to 32 gigabytes SDHC cards have write speed class

ratings for better performance with devices that require the memory to

cap-ture data quickly in real time Think of the write speed of an SDHC card in

the same manner as the write speed of a CD writer in your computer Obviously,

the higher the write speed, the faster the card will be able to record and save

data Write speed can certainly be an advantage in some scenarios, such as

with digital cameras or audio recorders, but when it comes to storing and

listening to music, the write speed of a card will not be a deal breaker

• Class 2 = 2 MB/s – 13x

• Class 4 = 4 MB/s – 26x

• Class 6 = 6 MB/s – 40x

씰SDXC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity) SDXC was announced in early

2009 It’s said to eventually have a maximum capacity of 2 terabytes, but

the largest capacity card planned as of the time this book was written is 64

gigabytes, which is pretty good for a storage device that is only slightly larger

than a guitar pick

There are several ways to transfer music from your computer onto your SD card so

that you can listen to it on your music-capable device We’ll explore this in more

detail in Chapter 7, “Putting the Pieces Together,” but at this point, for the sake of

simplicity, the method I recommend is a memory card reader

Memory card readers range between $10 and $20 dollars at any general electronics

store Some computers even come with a card reader built right into the tower or

laptop If you have a memory card reader, you can take the memory card out of your

music-capable device, plug it into the card reader on your computer, and then drag

and drop music files directly over to the card as if it were a hard drive Then all you

have to do is simply reinsert the card back into your music-capable device and

com-mence listening enjoyment

External or removable media/memory is great if you already own a multifunction device,such as a music-capable cell phone In the case of memory cards, it’s definitely the leastexpensive way to start listening to your music on the go Also, the ability to continuouslyexpand your storage space by adding multiple cards can give you some options with regard

to managing your music For example, I know a guy who stores different genres of music

on each memory card and just swaps them out on his music-capable phone depending onwhat mood he’s in

A MiniDisc player, such as the one shown in Figure 2.5, may be a good option if you wanthigher storage capacities and the tangibility of a disc but without the bulk of a conventional

CD Also, in the event that you’d like to digitize a live recording, many MD players double

as stand-alone MD recorders with stereo microphones that will record a live audio signaldirectly to a MiniDisc

So the question to be answered is, do you want a capacity device or a small-storage-capacity device?

large-storage-If you want a larger-capacity device that can hold more than 16gigabytes of music, a hard drive–based music player would be theway to go If you want a small-capacity device for 8 gigabytes orless, a flash or external media–based device may be just the ticket

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Device Roundup

All right, so now you should be pointed in the right direction toward what type of storage

you want your digital music player to have This decision should help narrow down your

choices a bit from the buffet of players currently available Digital music player

manufac-turers typically offer at least one device in their product line that uses one or more of the

aforementioned storage types Simply put, no matter which brand of player you choose,

you should have the option of flash- or drive-based models

As you can imagine, there are hundreds of different manufacturers and models of MP3

players out there If I covered all of them, the information in this book would be obsolete,

because you’d probably be able to have music telepathically beamed directly into your

brain by the time you finished reading it Having considered that, I’ve tried to focus on the

mid- to high-quality devices and the most popular manufacturers The reason is this: With a

good understanding of the general features and functionality of the devices we do discuss,

you’ll easily be able to find your way around any device you choose

This section is organized first by manufacturer and then by model We’ll cover different

product lines, specifications, capabilities, price ranges, and even what accessories they

come with Because actual pricing may vary, I’ve used symbols to convey the price range

And as always, you can check out the manufacturer’s website for up-to-date pricing and

Apple Inc made its mark with the original iPod back in 2001 and has been a major

player in portable digital audio ever since If fact, in most retail environments, digital

audio/media players are categorized in one of two ways: MP3 players…and iPods With its

signature clickwheel navigation and sleek styling, the iPod family is easily one of the most

recognizable lifestyle music products in the world Also, the white earphones are a dead

giveaway

11

Since the initial launch, more than 150,000,000 iPods have been sold worldwide, and thenumber continues to grow iPod culture, much like Apple culture, is a society of loyalty:

Once an iPod user…always an iPod user So consider that a percentage of that 150,000,000

are people who’ve previously purchased an iPod, and then when it was time, replaced itwith another iPod Perhaps even several times!

Apple Inc really struck a fine balance between form and function with the iPod You caneven have your iPod custom-engraved free of charge when you buy it directly from Apple’swebsite The entire iPod family works optimally with Apple iTunes (of course) for transfer-ring music, but it is also supported by other software players So, you’ll have some otheroptions when pairing your music player with a music library program in the event thatiTunes isn’t quite your cup of tea

All iPods support a multitude of different audio formats, such as AAC (16 to 320 Kbps),Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3,and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF And all but the iPod Shuffle offer enhanced supportfor photo and video formats (We’ll discuss audio formats in Chapter 3.) Also, most modelshave a range of preinstalled organizational features, such as a contacts list, a calendar, aclock, and even games to round out the iPod experience Multi-format support, lifestyleintegration, ease of use, reliability, and stunning good looks has quickly cemented the iPod

as a fixture of modern culture Ranging in price from $79 to $399, the current iPod productline consists of the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and iPod Touch (see Figure 2.6).Let’s take a closer look

12

Figure 2.6

The iPod family

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

13

Clickwheel Navigation

Clickwheel navigation is Apple Inc.’s easy-to-use signature interface for the iPod

family of digital music and media devices It can be found on the face of the

flash-based iPod Nano and the drive-flash-based iPod Classic

The clickwheel’s basic functionality allows you to access the iPod’s menu, scroll

through and highlight items, and make selections, in addition to performing basic

transport functions, such as start, stop, forward, fast forward, back, and rewind

Clickwheels are comprised of two components, the “click” and the “wheel,” for a

total of five buttons (the center click and four directional buttons around the wheel;

see Figure 2.7) What is unique about clickwheel technology is that aside from the

physical click, the interface has no moving parts The wheel component itself is

touch-sensitive and responds to the light contact of a fingertip You can scroll

through selections, change volume, change the position within the song, or set your

song ratings by simply moving your finger around the wheel clockwise or

counter-clockwise, as if you were rotating it The center button allows you to choose or

con-firm a selection you’ve made, and the four directions around the wheel can be

clicked to control the transport or access the iPod menus

It’s a lot easier to use than it sounds And without the bulk of physical buttons with

all their silly moving parts, the clickwheel definitely contributes to the iPod family’s

sleek appearance and makes its members unmistakably recognizable Also, in all the

years I’ve used iPods, the clickwheel has always functioned flawlessly

Figure 2.7

Clickwheel navigation

Apple iPod Shuffle

The iPod Shuffle is Apple Inc.’s smallest flash-based music player (see Figure 2.8) In fact, itmay be the smallest music player ever Measuring at only 1.8" 
0.7" 
0.3" and weighingless than a small Bic lighter, at 0.38 ounces, it has a whopping 4 gigabytes of storage space,

or the equivalent of about 1,000 songs

As the name suggests, the iPod Shuffle does indeed shuffle your songs, but you can also listen to them in order or in your own user-created playlists as well The third and latest

generation of the iPod Shuffle has a new feature called VoiceOver that, with the press of a

button, will actually speak the name of the artist and song you’re listening to It’ll even tell

you the names of your playlists, which is really nice considering that, due to its incredibly

compact size, the iPod Shuffle is the only model in the iPod family without a screen on it

to display this information Prior to the availability of VoiceOver, there was really no way to

know, other than auditory recognition, what was playing When activated, the shuffle

function would play a musical grab bag of sorts, which may even be why the iPod Shufflegot its name in the first place

The player functions are accessed through the included inline remote located on the earphone cord, as there are no actual controls on the player itself The iPod Shuffle alsocomes with a USB cable to accommodate a computer connection for transferring music and charging

Price: $

14

Figure 2.8

iPod Shuffle

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Apple iPod Nano

The iPod Nano is the next flash-based offering from Apple, Inc (see Figure 2.9) It’s actually

considered a media player, because it’s capable of displaying photos and video in addition to

playing music This little guy stands only 3.6" 
1.5" 
0.24", is incredibly lightweight at 1.3

ounces, and is available with 8 or 16 gigabytes of storage capacity, which gives you roughly

2,000 songs on an 8-gigabyte model and about 4,000 songs on the 16-gigabyte version

The Nano has few features that you won’t find in its little brother It has a high-resolution

2" (diagonal) color LCD screen that displays visual feedback for songs, playlists, menus,

photos, videos, and more The clickwheel navigation allows for enhanced song functionality,

such as the ability to fast forward or rewind to any exact point in the current song, and the

use of a ratings system where you can give your songs zero to five stars, indicating which

tunes are your favorites In addition, the iPod Nano offers a clock, calendar, contacts list,

notepad, stopwatch, and a few games You also get a Hold feature that prevents the

click-wheel from being accessed accidentally, which is great for situations in which the Nano

might be in a pocket during rigorous physical activity

In the box, you get a set of Apple earphones, a USB 2.0 cable to charge the device and

accommodate music transfers from your computer, as well as a dock adapter for an Apple

iPod charging base (which is sold separately) And for those of you looking to coordinate,

the iPod Nano is available in a wide array of different colors

Price: $$

15

Figure 2.9

iPod Nano

Apple iPod Classic

The iPod Classic was the original iPod (see Figure 2.10) “Classic” was only added to its name

after Apple began releasing different versions of the device, starting with the discontinuediPod Mini The original iPod was only available in the color white It had a black-and-whitedisplay for what we would now consider to be a reasonably primitive operating system thatlooked a bit like Mac OS 9 and was considerably bulkier than the iPod Classic we knowtoday

The iPod Classic is a drive-based media player Slimmer and sleeker than ever before, thesixth-generation iPod Classic measures 4.1" 
2.4" 
0.41" and weighs only 4.9 ounces.Available with a 160-gigabyte hard drive, the Classic can hold up to approximately 40,000songs It features a 2.5” high-resolution screen, clickwheel navigation, all of the iPod family’s common organizational features, and the best-sounding iPod audio engine to date

When you pick up an iPod Classic, you’ll get Apple earphones, a USB 2.0 cable, and a dockadapter This bad boy is currently only available in black or silver

Price: $$$

16

Figure 2.10

iPod Classic

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Apple iPod Touch

The iPod Touch is the most “gadgety” iPod of the group (see Figure 2.11) It’s an all-around

multimedia device that plays music and video, displays photos, is WiFi capable, and can

even use the Maps location-based service You could almost think of it as an iPhone, but

minus the phone Since we’re primarily discussing digital music devices, we won’t get very

deep into the non-audio features of the iPod Touch, but it’s great in the decision-making

process to know that they’re there

With the world of personal technology moving toward touch-screen interfaces, the Touch

departs from its clickwheel predecessors and has evolved into a multi-touch display

inter-face This yields the benefit of a larger viewable high-resolution screen that occupies almostthe entire face of the device at an “enormous” 3.5 inches The screen also automatically

changes orientation when the Touch is held either vertically or horizontally, and, well, it’s

just downright fun to play with

The device itself is slimmer than the iPod Classic, though slightly taller, at 4.3" 
2.4" 
0.33",and weighs just 4.05 ounces Its compact size is due largely to the use of flash memory

You heard me: Just like the Shuffle and the Nano, the iPod Touch is a flash-based media

player However, this also means that because of the current size limitations with flash

memory, the iPod Touch is only offered in small- to medium-capacity models with 8, 32,

or 64 gigabytes of storage space (Sixty-four gigs equals about 14,000 songs.)

17

Figure 2.11

iPod Touch

Beyond its music capabilities, one of the iPod Touch’s more notable features is WiFi 802.11 b/g wireless for accessing the Internet, checking your e-mail, looking up weatherreports or stock quotes, or even downloading new songs from iTunes Music Store directly

to the Touch Like the other devices in the iPod family, it has Nike + iPod support for ing your cardio workout (which requires additional components), and it also allows you

track-access to literally thousands of games and applications that were designed specifically for

the iPod Touch, utilizing its multi-touch interface and high-resolution display You can evenget directions and traffic updates and find local businesses using the Maps location-basedservice

The iPod Touch comes with Apple earphones, a USB 2.0 cable, a dock adapter, and a ing cloth (woohoo!) One color suits all

around the access point is called a hotspot In order for a WiFi-capable device (such

as the iPod Touch) to access the Internet, it must be within range of a WiFi hotspot.WiFi hotspots are everywhere From coffeehouses to public transportation, you canget connected to the Internet with your WiFi-capable device just about anywhere

Now, how does this relate to digital music? Ever had song in your head that you justcouldn’t remember the name of? Then one day, after years of wracking your brainfor the artist’s name just so you can find the album the song was on, it hits you like

a ton of bricks? (Enter choirs of angels and rays of heavenly light.) You grab youriPod Touch, quickly connect to a local WiFi hotspot, access the iTunes Music Store,and BAM!—the anthem of your adolescence is downloading so that you can live it allover again

Question: How does WiFi relate to digital music?

Answer: Instant gratification

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

We’ve now come to the end of the current iPod line For more information on the Apple

iPod series of players, please visit www.apple.com

Creative Labs

The Creative Zen series is a line of digital media players manufactured by Creative Technology(see Figure 2.12) You may recognize the name Creative Labs—the American division of

Creative Technology—for their range of computer peripherals, such as high-fidelity

multi-media surround-sound speakers, digital audio soundcards, graphics cards, web cameras,

and more

With the Zen series, Creative Labs has become a major contender in the digital media player

market Offering several different storage capacities, expandable SD/SDHC memory,

built-in FM radio tuner, photo display, video playback, multi-format support (MP3, WMA,

non-protected AAC3 (.m4a), WAV, and Audible 4 on most models), as well as organizational

features, such as a calendar, contacts list, and task list, the Creative Zen series of media

players is a great choice for experiencing your music and media on the go while keeping

track of the important things in your life

There are several different models available, but we will primarily focus on the Zen Mosaic,

Zen, and Zen X-Fi and Zen X-Fi with Wireless LAN

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Figure 2.12

The Creative Zen family

Creative Zen Mosaic

The Zen Mosaic is a feature-packed flash-based media/music player from Creative Labs (seeFigure 2.13) It’s aesthetically distinguishable by the mosaic pattern on its keypad and isloaded with more bells and whistles than a tiny circus car is loaded with clowns If you’re

looking for a smaller device like the iPod Nano, you are using a PC for music transfers, and

you want to consider other options, the Mosaic is a great player to make your comparisonswith

The Mosaic squeezes a 1.8" color display, a built-in speaker for listening without headphones,storage capacities of 2, 4, 8, and 16 gigabytes, a built-in FM radio tuner, a voice/memorecorder, organizational features, and multi-format support all into a compact little package

measuring at 3.1" 
1.6” 
0.05” and weighing in at only 1.6 ounces Good things really do

come in small packages

The Creative Zen Mosaic comes with installation software, a set of earphones, and a USB2.0 cable for music transfers from your computer Something I’d like to mention here isthat the software that comes with the Creative Zen Mosaic is compatible with Windowsoperating systems only Sorry, Mac users

The Zen Mosaic is available in black, grey, and pink

Price: $–$$

Figure 2.13

Zen Mosaic

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Creative Zen

The Zen portable media/music player from Creative Labs is a credit card–sized, flash-based

device (see Figure 2.14) It features high-quality audio playback; a high-resolution 2.5”,

16.7-million-color LCD screen; a built-in FM tuner; multi-format support for music; as well

as support for displaying photos and playing back video

The Zen is the first model in the Creative MP3 player line with an SD card slot for SD or

SDHC expandable memory that can be used to increase the storage capacity of the device

Another noteworthy difference between the Zen and the rest of Creative’s MP3 player ings is that, of all the different models of the Zen media player we discuss in this chapter

offer-(Mosaic, Zen, Zen X-Fi, and Zen X-Fi with Wireless LAN), this is the only model that doesn’t

have a built-in speaker

Available in 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-gigabyte models, the Zen measures only 3.26"  2.16"

 0.44", weighs 2.1 ounces, and is currently offered in black, grey, and pink

In the box, you’ll get a set of earphones, a USB 2.0 cable for computer-to-device transfers,

and a Windows installation CD with bundled software

Price: $–$$

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Figure 2.14

Creative Zen

Creative Zen X-Fi

The Zen X-Fi is the more refined older brother of the Zen It features X-Fi, or Xtreme Fidelity

Audio, technology that enhances the listening experience by “restoring” the quality of

previously compressed music Essentially, X-Fi expands the stereo field of compressedaudio, making it seem wider and giving it more perceived dimension In theory, the effectcounteracts the unpleasant and aurally restricted characteristics of compressed audio, thusvirtually improving the overall fidelity of your music

The Zen X-Fi is available as an 8-gigabyte model only, but the Zen X-Fi with Wireless LANcomes in a 16- or 32-gigabyte configuration (see Figure 2.15) The Zen X-Fi with WirelessLAN has the added ability to stream music and photos from your PC directly to your Zen X-Fi within a wireless home network The Wireless LAN feature also allows you to communicate by way of instant messenger through chat clients such as Yahoo! Messenger

or Windows Live Messenger

Many of the physical attributes and features of the Zen X-Fi and Zen X-Fi with Wireless LANare identical Each measuring at 3.3" 
2.2" 
0.5" and weighing in at 2.4 ounces, theselightweight models should fit conveniently and comfortably into almost any pocket Bothhave a 2.5", 320  240, 16.7-million-color LCD screen for displaying song feedback, pictures,and videos; a built-in FM radio tuner; a voice/memo recorder; and SD/SDHC card supportfor even more storage Creative even brings back the built-in speaker so that you can enjoyyour music anywhere with or without headphones

Devices ship with premium high-quality EP-830 earphones, a USB 2.0 cable, and a Windowsinstallation CD and are available in black only The Zen X-Fi with Wireless LAN, specifically,also comes with a quick guide detailing its Wireless LAN functionality

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Creative offers a broad range of MP3 player models beyond the ones we’ve discussed here

For more details on the Creative Zen series players, check out us.creative.com

Microsoft

Microsoft is a household name best recognized for the Windows operating system found

on most PCs The Zune is Microsoft’s contribution to the digital media player market and

a strong one at that With several different capacities available; multi-format support for

Windows Media Audio Standard (.wma), WMA Lossless, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)

(.mp4, m4a, m4b, mov), and MP3 (.mp3); a built-in FM tuner; and Wireless Sync for

transmitting your music, pictures, videos, and podcasts wirelessly through your home

network, the Zune is a great choice for your digital music and media needs

Microsoft Zune

The Microsoft Zune device family is a bit different from the others we’ve discussed to this

point (see Figure 2.16) Rather than being distinctly different models, the Zune players

share all the same features and functionality The primary differences between models

are the physical size and storage capacity We’re basically going to break them into two

categories: flash-based and drive-based

In the flash-based range, the Zune player is offered in 4-, 8-, and 16-gigabyte capacities

Each features a 1.8" scratch-resistant, 320 
240, 18-bit color glass screen for displaying

song info, pictures, and video; Microsoft’s Zune Pad with touch control navigation; built-in

FM radio; and Wireless Sync The Zune 4, Zune 8, and Zune 16 stand 3.6" 
1.63" 
0.33"

and weigh only 1.7 ounces The Zune 4 and 8 are available in wide range of colors for a bit

more personalization The Zune 16 is available only in black

23

Figure 2.16

Zune family

In the drive-based range, Microsoft offers the Zune 80 and the Zune 120, both named fortheir storage capacity You still get Zune Pad touch control navigation, FM radio, andWireless Sync, but these higher-capacity models also offer a larger 3.2" scratch-resistant,

320 
240, 18-bit color glass screen With a larger screen comes a larger form factor, at4.26" 
2.4" 
0.5", and slightly more weight, at 4.5 ounces Both the Zune 80 and Zune

120 are available in red or black

One thing that sets the Microsoft Zune apart is the customization options When you orderany Zune from the Zune website, you can choose a color for the front of the device andthen choose from a wide range of original graphic designs and/or customizable text thatwill be etched into the back

Every Zune player comes with headphones (80 and 120 models ship with premium headphones), three pairs of replacement earpiece covers, and a Zune Sync Cable The Zunesoftware, used for ripping audio CDs and managing music, is for Windows only

Price: $$–$$$

For more information about the Microsoft Zune series players, please visit www.zune.com

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The Zune Pad

The Zune Pad is Microsoft’s custom navigation control for the Zune series of mediaplayers The user interface consists of three main buttons: the Play/Pause button,the Back button, and the Zune Pad

씰Play/Pause button Plays or pauses the current song, video, or podcast.

Press and hold to turn the Zune on and off

씰Back button Takes you back to the previous screen Press and hold to return

to the home screen

씰Zune Pad The main navigation button that scrolls, moves forward and

backward, skips, and selects using various touch gestures with the tip of your finger (see Figure 2.17)

Figure 2.17

Zune Pad navigation

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

SanDisk

SanDisk is a leader in flash memory Remember those SD cards I mentioned earlier in this

chapter? How about USB flash drives? SanDisk manufactures a vast array of both SD flash

memory and USB flash drives and has taken flash memory to the next level and applied it

to the flash-based SanDisk Sansa series of digital music/media players as well Now, because

SanDisk devices use flash memory, the largest capacity currently available in a Sansa player

is 32 gigabytes (found in the Sansa View), but Sansa music players definitely pack a punch

in their weight class (see Figure 2.18)

All models are available in different, moderately priced storage capacities They also share

features such as built-in FM radio tuners, voice recorders, and USB 2.0 ports for music

transfers and charging Sansa players are PC (Microsoft Windows)–compatible only, but

in Windows, you can use Windows Media Player or any other music library software that

recognizes the device to transfer music from your computer to the player Overall, SanDisk

Sansa players are a lightweight, low-profile, small- to medium-capacity digital music

solu-tion that won’t break the bank

Sansa Clip

The Sansa Clip gets right down to business Function first, without all the bells and

whis-tles (see Figure 2.19) As you may have guessed from the name, this device comes with a

clip so that it can be worn anywhere The Clip is the lowest-profile player that SanDisk

offers Standing at only 2.17" 
1.35" 
0.65" and weighing only 92 ounces, this

micro-mini bad boy is available in 2-, 4-, and 8-gigabyte storage capacities Featuring a 1" screen

for viewing song feedback, an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and multi-format support for

MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, and FLAC, the Sansa Clip is great for business travel or providing

waves of musical motivation during your workout routines

In the box, you get the Clip accessory, which allows you to clip the device onto your

clothing, a USB 2.0 transfer cable, and a set of earphones

Sansa Fuze

Also available in 2-, 4-, or 8-gigabyte models, the Sansa Fuze is the next step up in SanDisk’sline of digital media players (see Figure 2.20) The Fuze features a 1.9" screen for viewingnot only song information, but also pictures and video It supports MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC,and Audible audio formats and has a built-in FM tuner, voice recorder, and Micro SD/SDHCslot so you can expand the storage capacity of the device with SD/SDHC memory It all fitsinto a package weighing only 2.1 ounces and measuring at 3.1" 
1.9" 
0.3"

The Sansa Fuze comes with a set of earphones and a USB 2.0 transfer cable and is available

in many different colors to satisfy your style needs

Price: $$

Sansa View

The View is the top of the line in the Sansa series (see Figure 2.21) Boasting a 2.4" screenfor song feedback, pictures, and video, it’s available in 8-, 16-, and 32-gigabyte capacities Italso has common Sansa features, such as the FM tuner, built-in voice recorder, and MicroSD/SDHC slot, and it supports all major audio formats, such as MP3, WMA, WAV, Audible,and AAC It even has a backlit scroll wheel for accurate navigation in low-light environ-ments The View is 4.29" 
1.95" 
0.41" and weighs just 2.92 ounces Ultra-slim simplicityand functionality; it comes in black only

Yup, you guessed it It comes with earphones and a USB 2.0 cable for PC-to-player transfers

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

Sony

If you’ve never heard the name Sony before, you may have been living under a rock (in

which case this book is perfect for you!) Seriously, though, Sony has been a brand leader

since the beginning of time (I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a portrait of Thomas Edison holding

a Walkman before.) In everything from car stereos to computers, Sony has established itself

as a trusted name in electronics

Among its minor accomplishments, Sony pioneered the original audio cassette Walkman,

then the CD Walkman…then the video Walkman…and the MiniDisc Walkman.… In fact, the

term “Walkman” used to be a worldwide Sony trademark, but in 1979, the claim to its

exclusive use was revoked in an Austrian court under the reasoning that the term “Walkman”

had been integrated into common usage after being defined in a German dictionary as any

portable stereo player in general (useless fact #1,187) However, in the United States, the

Walkman trademark is still synonymous with Sony’s line of portable digital media players

These days, Sony’s Walkman efforts are concentrated on the E-Series, X-Series, and MD

(MiniDisc) digital music/media players Let’s have a look, shall we?

E-Series Walkman

The E-Series Walkmans are Sony’s small-capacity flash-based media players for music, pictures,and video Consider the E-Series a strong competitor against players at the iPod Nano,

Creative Mosaic, and the Sansa Fuze level Offered in a 4- or 8-gigabyte model, the E-Series

players are good, solid workhorses without the overkill of features you’ll never use

For displaying device feedback, pictures, and video, the E-Series media players offer a 2"

QVGA TFT, 240 
320, 262,144-color display with an LED backlight They’re incredibly

compact, weighing just 1.8 ounces and standing at 1.75" 
3.38" 
1.03", which is great

for active lifestyles E-Series players also support a broad range of audio and video formats

(MP3, WMA, AAC, Linear PCM, MPEG-4, WMAMP3) and include a built-in FM tuner for

listening to local radio when you’re not enjoying your vast music library

The E-Series media players include headphones, USB-to-WM-Port cable, and a CD

contain-ing transfer software that is compatible with Windows operatcontain-ing systems only

There is also an S-Series available that is nearly identical to the E-Series in every way, but

which features a noise-cancelling technology, an improved sound engine, and upgraded

earphones for better sound quality at about twice the cost of the E-Series See Figure 2.22

Price: $–$$

27

X-Series Walkman

The Sony X-Series Walkman video MP3 player is a flash-based device that uses an OLED, or

Organic Light Emitting Diode, technology (see Figure 2.23) This makes it possible to have a

display with superior brightness and contrast, a fast response time, a wide viewing angle,and accurate color reproduction when viewing movies, videos, and photos on the X-Seriesplayer Oh…did I also mention that it’s a touch-screen interface? With an enormous 3"-wide,

432 
240 pixel, 262,144-color WQVGA display, you’ll be able to view your media with crystal clarity and the greatest of ease

Choose Wisely Chapter 2

The X-Series is available in 16 and 32 gigabytes It has built-in WiFi and an FM tuner,

supports a wide array of media formats (MP3, WMA, AAC, and more), and comes with

100 free song downloads In a neat little package weighing 3.5 ounces and standing at

2.12" 
3.87" 
0.40", the Sony X-Series is a great choice for a moderate-capacity player

with “big” features that won’t slow you down

The X-Series comes with software for content transfer, ear-bud headphones, a USB cable,

audio input cable, and a plug adapter for in-flight use Windows only

Price: $$$–$$$$

Hi-MD Walkman

Hi-MD players, or MiniDisc players, seem to be harder to find these days in the consumer

market, but they are still available and worth a mention, even if only honorably Hi-MD

devices walk a fine line between the category of a consumer device and a pro audio device

And while they’re currently geared toward slightly more advanced users, there may be

some situations in which the features of a Hi-MD player will be more appealing to you

than those of other media players

For instance, if you want to make a live recording, Hi-MD players come with stereo

micro-phones that would allow you to digitally capture a performance to Hi-MD media You couldthen either listen to the recording on the Hi-MD player itself or transfer it via USB connec-

tion to your computer for editing If you have a lot of analog audio equipment, such as a

turntable or a cassette player, Hi-MD players feature an audio input that would allow you

to record the analog output of these devices directly to a Hi-MD disc And the high-fidelity

recordings that Hi-MD devices produce sound great—crystal-clear digital quality

Another major difference between Hi-MD and standard digital music players is that rather

than storing audio or data to internal flash memory or a hard drive, Hi-MD devices use

external Hi-MD media, which is like a small CD inside a compact protective casing

Depending on how you organize your music library, the tangibility of using removable

media may be appealing to you First and foremost, as long as the Hi-MD media isn’t

physi-cally destroyed, you’ve pretty much got a permanent backup for the music that is recorded

onto the disc Hi-MD media is also much smaller than a compact disc, so even if you had an

equal number of Hi-MD discs as you had compact discs, they’d occupy maybe only a third

of the physical space

One thing to note is that during my research for this book, I was able to find only one Hi-MD

player that you can still purchase brand new With this in mind, I’d say the best use for a

Hi-MD player is to be a digital through-point for either making live recordings that will

become part of your music library or archiving your music from your analog audio sources

29