Mp3 Vs Wma

Writen by Bradley James

There are just a few audio compression formats out there, just like there are only a few image compression formats (you may have heard of them: JPG, GIF, BMP). Two of the most popular audio formats are WMA, or Windows Media Audio, and MP3 (Short for MPEG, Moving Pictures Experts Group, Audio Layer 3). WMA is the older audio format, produced by Microsoft, to work with Microsoft's Windows media player. The WMA compression format was designed specifically for this format, and thus can not be converted to other audio formats.

The audio quality of WMA and MP3 audio formats tends to be noticeably different. WMA is a decent quality audio format when streaming at phoneline speeds (maybe 30kbps or so). At such speed WMA almost reaches an FM level of audio quality, although not quite. At 128kbps, Microsoft claims the WMA is nearly CD-quality, although many would deny this. WMA, however, is not to be completely looked over. The compression provides relatively small audio files and they require less processing power to execute. It thus retains a deminishing niche as MP3 has become more popular and widely used.

The MP3 audio compression was developed in Germany in 1991 by the Fraunhofer Institute. MP3 typically provides higher quality sound than WMA because it uses perceptual audio coding to compress CD-quality sound by a factor of 12. As a result, MP3 has become almost the universal standard among audio usage and broadcasting. It provides CD-quality sound at reasonable compression sizes and high streaming speeds. Watch out, however, at low bitrates, as MP3 quality will likely suffer.

Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on MP3 and WMA audio formats, please visit our MP3 vs. WMA webpage.

Internet Streaming Media And Radio

Writen by Paul Philbeck

As with many things in the world today media is transitioning to the internet. You can now get News Casts, online movies and of course radio on the internet. As the broadband user community grows rapidly so does the use of these online services. The transition is being closely watched by many of the industries biggest players as they reap the benefits of broadband usage. Many smaller and independent broadcasters as well are also getting satisfaction from the change.

The majority of internet radio broadcasters are individuals that broadcast from their homes using SHOUTcast, a free broadcasting script developed by NULLSOFT. They are not looking to make a profit but rather share their collection of music via streaming radio and possibly gain some recognition for their efforts.

Guidelines have been set up with the agencies that monitor the music industry which makes available licensing to play copyrighted music online to the internet radio community. In this way musicians can receive royalties for their work and internet radio broadcasters remain within the legal boundaries of the industry.

Due to the availability of wireless internet connections spreading across the country there has even been mention of including internet radios within the auto industry. There have even been predictions made that internet radio will replace satelite radio within the next 10 years.

I own and operate RadioNC Online an internet radio station Located Here

The free software referenced by NULLSOFT can be obtained Here

Streaming Audio Get Creative

Writen by Douglas Taylor

Use your imagination and you will find many uses for streaming audio. There has never been a better time to get started adding streaming audio to your web site. Audio can take your website to new heights. Here are some things to get your thought process flowing.

Personal: Adding streaming audio to your personal site makes a lot of sense and can be a whole lot of fun. Image your loved one opening your blog to find audio buttons there. Upon clicking the buttons she hears happy birthday in your voice coming over her computer speakers.

Newsletter: Sending out your newsletter with links back to your web page with streaming audio on it should increase your conversion rates. This type of multimedia is pretty new and should make your subscribers orders come alive.

CD Sales: Musicians and bands now have a worldwide audience to sell their music to. No longer does a local band need to stay that way. You can sell your Cds anywhere.

Book Your Band: Adding audio buttons to your band web site is an excellent way to get more gigs. You can save a lot of money by no longer having to send out promo kits. Send the promoter that is considering hiring your band to the band website to listen to your music rather than mailing out a CD.

Products: Audio can make your products worth a lot more money. The products you create can be expanded with streaming audio. Simply getting a small recording set up and reading the book and recording it can easily add profits to the books you have written. The audio version of your product can be offered as a bonus or you can up sell your customer for added profits.

Streaming audio is a great way to make your web site different and unique. Setting yourself apart is usually a good thing to achieve.

Doug Taylor has been creating audio online since 1999. If you think that putting audio files on a website will be a lot of hard work and hassle then download a free 16 page special report Mastering Streaming Audio. Visit http://www.create-streaming-audio.com/csa_ezine.html for streaming audio tips, tricks, shortcuts, and techniques.

Why I Hate Flash Audio And What I Did About It

Writen by Sallie Goetsch

I love spoken-word audio. I've been listening to seminars, lectures, and books on tape for years.

I love downloadable audio. Missed that teleseminar you signed up for? Just download the MP3 (or Real Media, or Windows Media, or QuickTime) file and it's almost as good as being there--maybe better.

But I really dislike streaming audio of the kind you can't download, and I find the new trend to use Macromedia Flash to provide audio clips online particularly irritating.

Why? Because I don't want to have to sit in front of my computer screen to listen to something. The only time I might want to do that would be if I were taking notes, or if the recording were a set of instructions on how to do something with a computer program. When I'm at my computer, I'm usually busy doing something that requires concentration (like writing).

I want to do my listening when I'm away from my computer and doing something that occupies my hands but not my full attention. In my case, that's primarily when I'm driving and when I'm cooking. And while I could theoretically prop my laptop on the passenger seat while I drive, I can't (yet, anyway) get a connection to the Internet while going 65 miles an hour. Besides, the car stereo has much better speakers than the laptop does.

The whole point of podcasting, after all, is to allow people to download and listen at their leisure, the same way RSS news aggregators let you collect blog headlines and other news at your own convenience. These streaming-only audio clips (.ram as well as Flash) don't give you that option. And that snarks me off.

And yes, I do realize that people want to protect their intellectual property and that's one reason they use non-downloadable streaming audio. I respect that. But I don't want to sell or otherwise redistribute their material. I just want to listen to it on my time. To users of streaming audio I pose the question: would you rather I just didn't listen? Would you really prefer that I just miss your marketing message altogether?

Because that's what was happening before I thought of a way around the Flash barrier.

In May I made one of my best investments of 2005 and bought a $10 mini-stereo audio cable. I plug one end into the laptop's headphone socket and one end into the cassette recorder's microphone port. Or I plug the other end of the cable into the microphone port on the laptop and record it onto my computer to play on my new MP3 player. (My current preferred recording software is the freeware program Audacity, available at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ in versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux.)

It works like a charm. I now have access to all kinds of things I never would have listened to before, all thanks to a simple cable.

Now all I need is one of those car stereos with an MP3 player built in.

(c) 2005 Sallie Goetsch

"Author-izer" Sallie Goetsch started helping other people with their writing at the age of nine. Before going into business for herself, she translated, directed, produced, and was sometimes forced to act in Greek and Roman plays, as well as founding an electronic journal. Her FileSlinger(TM) Backup Blog (http://www.fileslinger.com/blog) was recently featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. Visit http://authorizer.fileslinger.com to learn how to become an author whether or not you can write.

How To Add Audio Elements To Your Website

Writen by Matt Bacak

Are you interested in creating a multimedia Internet marketing campaign? Have you decided that adding audio and video features to your website will help improve your sales conversion rate? If so, then congratulate yourself for taking a step forward into the future of Internet marketing. You are on the cutting edge of Internet marketing.

Now the question still remains - How do you add audio to your website? Do you picture a studio full of audio professionals that know an intricate mix of commands to create the audio files? Erase that complicated scenario from your mind. Creating audio elements is in fact very simple and you can do it from the comfort of your own home or office.

Answer these questions before we go into the specifics of creating audio files for your website.

· Do you know how to type a paragraph in Microsoft Word or other word processing program?

· Do you know how to highlight a word, sentence, or paragraph in Microsoft Word or other word processing program?

· Do you know how to "delete" a word, sentence, or paragraph in Microsoft Word or other word processing program?

If you answered "yes" to these questions then you already have what it takes to create and edit audio files. Don't worry if you answered "no" to these questions because you can acquire these skills quickly.

The first task is to fill your office or home with the proper tools for audio recording. You need to invest in a microphone (preferably of high studio quality), computer, and quiet room. These are three basic necessities you need to get started.

Next you will need to verify that you have an interface that will connect your microphone with your computer. Most new computers have audio capabilities built in. If your computer is older you can consult with a computer technician at your local computer store.

Now it is time to actually record your audio message. You can use software called "Sony Sound Forge". Sony Sound Forge enables you to create CD tracks and web audio files. You can even capture audio from an analog source and digitize it onto CDs and MP3s.

You should use the MP3 format when creating audio files. This is the accepted format in 98% of the world. Therefore you know most customers will be able to hear the audio. The basic steps to creating a MP3 audio file are to hit the record button, mark spots where you make a mistake, and edit out these mistakes through the delete option. Sony Sound Forge has a free trial offer and also provides tutorials on how to use their software.

You can also integrate music and sound effects into your audio file. Make sure, however, that you select music that is royalty free. You can search for this type of music by typing "royalty free music" and "buy out music" in Google.

Adding audio to your Internet marketing campaign has never been easier. Take a giant leap above your competition by adding audio to your website. You can create an intimate web experience for customers which can lead to immediate and future sales.

Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine's e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets To Unleash The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign up for Matt Bacak's Promoting Tips Ezine ($100 value) just visit his website at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or http://promotingtips.com.

How Do Jay Abrahams Fundamental Truths For Increasing Your Profits And Audio Tie Together Part 2

Writen by L A Parmley

Let's recap. In part 1 of this article, we touched on the three ways to increase your profits; through your marketing, your products and your back-end. We also explained how audio could be used effectively to increase all of them.

So what's the bottom line here? Well, Jay Abraham teaches that if you can increase each of the three components we discussed by a small amount (even just 10%), you will see an exponential increase in your profit.

To really get your attention, let me ask you this. Do you think adding an entirely new dimension to your marketing, your products and your back-end has a 10% limit? What if you could really master the art of incorporating effective audio (and don't forget, once you've mastered that, there's video too) into your products and your marketing strategies?

Here, let's break it down into numbers. Suppose you have 50 new customers purchase your $47 ebook every month. That's $2,350 in average monthly sales. Not bad. You only have the one product (for now) and haven't yet implemented any back-end strategies so you know things can only get better.

Next, you learn how to make your own audio. You create an audio marketing message and see a 10% increase in sales conversion (remember that people have claimed to actually see a 300% increase so 10% is um, well, a little low). Now you sell to 55 customers every month. You also record your ebook and add in an audio interview, which you distribute along with your original ebook file for $97 (that's a very reasonable mark-up). So that's 55 x $97 = $5,335. You are now selling $5,335 of products every month. You've more than doubled your income.

Like I've mentioned before, the best part is that once you get the audio recorded and set-up on your site, there is no extra work. As you can see, the time and cost of learning how to create audio files can more than pay for itself.

In our imaginary scenario, you're selling $64,020 worth of your ebook/audio set yearly. Imagine if you got really smart and added in a back-end marketing system? Now imagine what would happen if you used an audio sales message to help market these additional products? In all likelihood, you could expect an exponential explosion of profits.

For those of you just starting out, mastering audio (even just the marketing aspect of it) could very well be the difference between failure and success.

Just imagine how you can incorporate audio into your marketing, your products and your back-end. What will that mean for your profits?

...I'd guess that your profits will only go up!

Want to learn more about audio and other multimedia techniques? Then visit Best Multimedia Tools. Get up to speed with free information and tools sure to knock your prospects socks off!

Reasons You Should Add Streaming Audio To Your Website

Writen by Douglas Taylor

There has never been a better time to add streaming audio to your website. Doing so puts you ahead of the game. Below are several reasons to add streaming audio to your website and put yourself ahead of everyone else.

Adding streaming audio to a website is simple: No longer do you have to be a technical whiz kid to add streaming audio to your pages. In the old days you had to be well versed in Flash or some other hard to learn software program. Now there is an abundance of easy to use software programs that convert your audio to a streaming format for you and the software will give you the code you need to copy into your web page.

Inexpensive: No longer are the costs of audio out of reach for the average web master. You no longer need a special server for audio. The software is very affordable and the gear it takes to record professional quality audio is at an all time low.

Ahead of the game: Adding streaming audio to your site should put you ahead of if those that are not using streaming audio. Streaming audio is cutting edge technology that is new enough that people still seem to like it.

Remember better: Most people comprehend audio better than the written page. If the percentage your customer remembers is higher when he listens to your audio it stands to reason you stand a better chance of getting your customer to take the action you want him to take.

Adds credibility: Streaming audio adds credibility to your website. People usually prefer to do business with someone they know and trust. Streaming audio helps your customer to get to know you. They will get to know your voice and that should boost your conversion rates.

Doug Taylor has been creating audio online since 1999. If you think that putting audio files on a website will be a lot of hard work and hassle then download a free 16 page special report Mastering Streaming Audio. Visit http://www.create-streaming-audio.com/csa_ezine.html for streaming audio tips, tricks, shortcuts, and techniques.

Wav Useful Applications Recording Your Tapes Or Lps To Cd

Writen by Brian Beshore

My first article about digital recording that I have had published in various places on the net for some time, talks about the two main audio formats midi. and wav.

I have decided therefore, to devote the next few articles to addressing some of the questions I have received about this first article.

Keep in mind that the wav. format is the one that is used for burning directly to CD. To do this, you just need to open your CD burning software, find your wav. file and drag or drop it into your burn list.

Also keep in mind that you can record directly to wav. and forgo the midi. format completely. Midi. has some specialized recording uses that I will cover later in subsequent articles.

For now, some useful things that you can do by recording directly to the wav. format;

For example, someone asked about recording your old L.P.s (What's that?) or tapes to CD.

To do this, you need to hook-up a tape player or record player (?) to the input of your sound card.

Most newer computers have a sound card, accessible from the back panel. If you look there, you will see the inputs to your sound card; an input for a microphone that will usually have a little microphone picture by it and another input for stereos and such. You will usually also find outputs for additional speakers.

The general input for stereos and such is where you plug the output of your player.

Next, find the software for your sound card. This can often be found in accessories. The software should include a recorder. You may have to select the proper input in your recorder's options or file menu.

Next, play your tape or L.P. while recording it with your sound card recording software. This recording can be saved directly as a wav. file and then easily burned to CD.

If your source is an older L.P. that has scratches, there is software available to clean it up.

If, by chance, you don't have a sound card, you may wish to purchase one. Go down to your local computer store and pick one up for a surprisingly low price.

I have recorded entire L.P.s to CD including some rare 45s of luminaries like Mario Lanza

Brian Beshore is a graduate of the Peabody School of music. He has played in many groups, in well known venues such as the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, where he was part of the opening act for Hunter S. Thompson. You can hear his music at http://www.dizzyobrian.com