This is the time when there are so many options for us computer freaks that it sometimes overwhelms us. Think back a year and you could not have imagined half the stuff that is going on right now. We were awed by small portable mp3 players that could hold 8-10 songs, we were impressed with the second and third generation portables that added more features and memory but the problem that always manifested itself with every iteration was the limited capacity of SmartMedia cards (the media of choice for portable). These cards ranged from 8MB to 64MB, a fully loaded player with 64MB internal memory and 32MB external memory could hold around 18 songs and a player with 128MB total could hold many 22-24.
What’s the problem? You can always buy more SmartMedia cards. WRONG. SmartMedia is not cheap like donuts, they are actually VERY expensive at around $100-150 for 32-64MB, these are a luxury reserved for the economically prestigious and the rest of us are left with transferring out the old songs and uploading new ones, draining battery life and adding time to an already busy schedule. The smart people over in Korea recognized this problem and designed something along the lines of an mp3 player and a computer in one and created an mp3 player with a built in hard drive to store songs with. Smart idea, right? Not really.
Hard drives as we all know belong inside a computer, which is plugged into a wall, which provides an endless stream of electricity. Hard drives take up an enormous amount of power (that is, when you’re considering the unit being powered with standard AA batteries) when it spins up and spins down, which it does frequently when it accesses songs to put in a buffer. Also, hard drive based players take a while to access songs because it needs to spin up and down to move those files into the buffer memory. Sure, it’s a large amount of memory but would you be willing to have 15 hours of songs of which you can only play 4 hours of before the battery runs dry? Plus, the cost of the drives and technology adds a lot of money to the cost of the players which range from $400-600. Then came the generation of mp3 players/CD players in one. These devices can play mp3 files burned on a CD as well as CD audio. A good idea because they would actually go 8-10 hours without running out of juice and can hold a full 650MB worth of mp3’s and your CD collection as well. With CD media dropping in price, this seems to be one of the better ideas for a player. Today we will look at one suck device made by D-Link Systems called the DMP-CD100
http://www.slcentral.com/reviews/hardware/periph/dlink/dmpcd100/
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Terratec Promedia m3po Hi-Fi MP3 CD Player Review
MP3 technology has been ever-evolving, and has moved into nearly everyone's lives. There is an abundance of MP3 devices like portable MP3 players, portable MP3 CD players, etc, etc. It seems like every time you visit Best Buy, there's a few more out there.
We have even seen MP3 players move into all sorts of applications, including the automobile, but today we will see MP3's delve into the high-fidelity home theater.
The product we're going to look at is the Terratec m3po MP3 CD player. What is meant by an MP3 CD player is that you can either have the choice to burn actual MP3 files onto a CD and play them from the player or have the MP3's on a hard drive and play them from the player like that. Don't quite understand, or want to hear more? Don't worry, I'll be going more in depth later on in the review.
So, you've never heard of Terratec have you? Terratec is a company based out of Germany. They make a plethora of multimedia-related products including, sound cards, web cams, and more. You can check them out on the web at Terratec.net.
Specs
Technical specifications
* Playback of MP3 files direct from CD
* Playback of conventional audio CDs
* Playlist support in the widely-used M3U format
* Additional installation space for a conventional 3.5 inch AT-bus hard disk
* Supports ISO9660/Joliet and FAT16/32 file systems on CD and harddrive
* MP3 data over interpret, album and title (ID TAGS) are read and directly shown in the display
* All MPEG audio bit rates, scan rates and variable bit rate streams (8-48 kHz, 8-320 kbps) are supported
* Clear and practically-oriented infrared remote control
* Variable playback speed possible without affecting pitch
* Quick access to titles using the shuttle
* Title list saved in the internal RAM
* Special playback modes for a variety of uses
* Later update of the operating system is possible through CD-ROM
* 32-bit RISC processor for controls
* High-quality hardware MPEG decoder
Outputs
* Line Out (Cinch)
* Separately adjustable headphone output (6.5 mm jack)
http://www.slcentral.com/reviews/hardware/periph/terratec/m3po/
We have even seen MP3 players move into all sorts of applications, including the automobile, but today we will see MP3's delve into the high-fidelity home theater.
The product we're going to look at is the Terratec m3po MP3 CD player. What is meant by an MP3 CD player is that you can either have the choice to burn actual MP3 files onto a CD and play them from the player or have the MP3's on a hard drive and play them from the player like that. Don't quite understand, or want to hear more? Don't worry, I'll be going more in depth later on in the review.
So, you've never heard of Terratec have you? Terratec is a company based out of Germany. They make a plethora of multimedia-related products including, sound cards, web cams, and more. You can check them out on the web at Terratec.net.
Specs
Technical specifications
* Playback of MP3 files direct from CD
* Playback of conventional audio CDs
* Playlist support in the widely-used M3U format
* Additional installation space for a conventional 3.5 inch AT-bus hard disk
* Supports ISO9660/Joliet and FAT16/32 file systems on CD and harddrive
* MP3 data over interpret, album and title (ID TAGS) are read and directly shown in the display
* All MPEG audio bit rates, scan rates and variable bit rate streams (8-48 kHz, 8-320 kbps) are supported
* Clear and practically-oriented infrared remote control
* Variable playback speed possible without affecting pitch
* Quick access to titles using the shuttle
* Title list saved in the internal RAM
* Special playback modes for a variety of uses
* Later update of the operating system is possible through CD-ROM
* 32-bit RISC processor for controls
* High-quality hardware MPEG decoder
Outputs
* Line Out (Cinch)
* Separately adjustable headphone output (6.5 mm jack)
http://www.slcentral.com/reviews/hardware/periph/terratec/m3po/
Blaupunkt ditches the CD player in latest car stereo release
CDs could be headed the way of the near extinct cassette tape when it comes to in-car music playback if this latest release from Blaupunkt is any indication. With MP3 players already replacing cumbersome and easily scratched CDs as the format of choice in automobiles, the Melbourne SD27 car radio embraces our new consumer habits and completely by-passes the CD to enable direct playback via an SD/MMC card as well as from portable audio players.
The Melbourne SD27 features an SD/MMC card-slot, a plug and play input for portable audio players as well as a 25-preset AM/FM radio. The device can also cater for iPod and Bluetooth/USB interface modules so that it can be integrated with cell phones, portable players and MP3 storage devices. The front panel display can hold up to127 directories of music and displays ID3 tag information up to 30 characters for ease of navigation.
The unit supports both MP3 and WMA audio files at bitrates of 8 to 320 kilobits and the 3.5 mm front-panel auxiliary input is compatible with the headphone or aux outputs of nearly any portable device. It includes adjustable bass, treble, and X-Bass EQ functions and EQ presets for rock, pop, or classical music.
The product is aimed at tech-savvy consumers who believe CDs to be a thing of the past. Blaupunkt USA General Manager Lutz Marschall believes that people no longer have an interest in CDs. "They buy their music from the internet, download it to their hard-drive music server, and take it with them on their iPod…The Melbourne is a far better solution for these consumers – no CD required: they just plug in a memory card or portable MP3 player and they're on their way," Marschall said.
Car makers are also addressing this concern with an MP3 player jack becoming standard issue for vehicles of which the new model Mazda 2 is but one example. For those not looking to buy a new car any time soon you can buy the Melbourne SD27 for US$159.95.
http://www.gizmag.com/go/8076/
The Melbourne SD27 features an SD/MMC card-slot, a plug and play input for portable audio players as well as a 25-preset AM/FM radio. The device can also cater for iPod and Bluetooth/USB interface modules so that it can be integrated with cell phones, portable players and MP3 storage devices. The front panel display can hold up to127 directories of music and displays ID3 tag information up to 30 characters for ease of navigation.
The unit supports both MP3 and WMA audio files at bitrates of 8 to 320 kilobits and the 3.5 mm front-panel auxiliary input is compatible with the headphone or aux outputs of nearly any portable device. It includes adjustable bass, treble, and X-Bass EQ functions and EQ presets for rock, pop, or classical music.
The product is aimed at tech-savvy consumers who believe CDs to be a thing of the past. Blaupunkt USA General Manager Lutz Marschall believes that people no longer have an interest in CDs. "They buy their music from the internet, download it to their hard-drive music server, and take it with them on their iPod…The Melbourne is a far better solution for these consumers – no CD required: they just plug in a memory card or portable MP3 player and they're on their way," Marschall said.
Car makers are also addressing this concern with an MP3 player jack becoming standard issue for vehicles of which the new model Mazda 2 is but one example. For those not looking to buy a new car any time soon you can buy the Melbourne SD27 for US$159.95.
http://www.gizmag.com/go/8076/
Windows XP Media Player Headaches: My CD player will not play CD music
Cause Most of the time, CD-ROM drives play CD music without any difficulties. However, there are a few settings that can prevent CD-ROMs from playing CD music. Before troubleshooting these problems, however, you need to make sure the CD-ROM drive is working. Try a different CD or an application CD to see if you can open and read the CD-ROM drive's contents. If the drive seems to be working as it should, except for CD music playback, then follow the steps in the Pain Killer.
The Pain Killer To get your CD-ROM drive to play CD music, follow these steps:
- Click Start | My Computer.
- In the My Computer window, right-click your CD-ROM drive, and then click Properties.
Click the AutoPlay tab. Under Actions, choose the Select an Action to Perform button. Choose the Play Using Windows Media Player action, as shown in the illustration, and then click OK.
- Next, make sure the device is configured to play CD music. To do this, click Start | Control Panel. In Control Panel's Classic view, click System.
- Click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button.
- Expand the DVD/CD-ROM Drives category, then right-click the CD-ROM and click Properties.
Click the Properties tab. Move the slider to the right to set the CD Player Volume to High. If the Enable Digital CD Audio for This CD-ROM Device is selected, leave it selected. If not, select the check box and click OK. Close Device Manager.
- Now open Windows Media Player. Click Tools | Options.
- Click the Devices tab. Make sure that your Audio CD drive appears in this window. If it does not, try clicking the Refresh button.
- If the CD-ROM drive still will not play CDs, go back to the Device Manager CD-ROM Properties window (see steps 4, 5, and 6) and click the Properties tab. Clear the Enable Digital CD Audio for This CD-ROM Device check box and click OK.
- If the CD-ROM drive still will not play music, make sure you have tried several CDs. When you are sure you have tried all of these steps, it's time to get some help from technical support. Consult your computer documentation for support contact information.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/windows-xp-media-player-headaches-my-cd-player
Copying MP3 Files onto CDs
If your computer has a CD-RW drive or DVD recorder, you can free up your hard drive by storing your MP3 files onto CDs.
The songs on a CD purchased at a record store are known simply as audio CDs. These songs are stored in a format different from MP3. They play in both your computer and your home stereo's CD player, but their bloated file format means only ten or so songs fit onto the CD. A CD with MP3 files plays on your computer, but it may not play on your home stereo's CD player, but on the plus side, MP3's compressed file format lets you store hundreds of songs on the CD.
Before you can create any type of CD, you need a CD-RW drive, DVD-RW or DVD+RW drive, and a pile of blank CDs. (A growing number of audio CD players now support CD-RW discs, which means you can erase the disc and burn a new set of songs - check your audio player's specs to see if it supports CD-RW media.)
To create either type of CD in Musicmatch, for example, follow these steps:
1. Create a playlist of the songs you want to store on the CD.
Simply fill your Playlist window with the songs you want to copy to CD.
If you're creating a CD for your home stereo, start with about ten MP3s. You probably won't be able to fit many more songs, although you'll be given that chance later.
2. Click the Burn button beneath the playlist.
The Create CD from Playlist window pops up, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Seven MP3 songs consume about 49 percent of this audio CD.
3. Choose the type of CD you want to create from the window.
To choose the type of CD you want, click one of the following buttons (shown in Figure 1):
• Audio: Click this button to create a CD for playing in your home and car CD player. This is the default selection.
• MP3: Click this button to create an MP3 disc, which stores a huge number of MP3s to play back on your computer, boombox, or on a portable MP3 player that can handle those CDs.
• Data: Click this button if you want to simply burn the MP3 files as data files on a standard CD-ROM.
Clicking one of the three buttons shows how much space you have left on the CD. In Figure 1, for instance, the seven MP3s listed in the Create CD from Playlist window have consumed 49 percent of the audio CD, leaving room for several more songs.
When you click the MP3 button, however, those same seven songs consume only 11 percent of the CD, leaving much more room. (That shows you how much MP3 compresses songs.)
4. Add or remove songs until the CD is filled.
Keep dragging or removing songs from the Playlist window until you're satisfied with the amount of songs stuffed onto the CD.
5. Place a blank CD or CD-RW disc into your CD or DVD recorder and click the Burn button.
Musicmatch converts the MP3 songs into audio format, if necessary, and copies them to the CD.
If you purchase the upgrade version of Musicmatch, you can print CD covers and jewel box inserts to go with your newly created CDs. It can print any artwork you'd like on the cover, or it can tile the covers from the works you've placed on the CD.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/copying-mp3-files-onto-cds/153076;_ylt=AtsXijao
The songs on a CD purchased at a record store are known simply as audio CDs. These songs are stored in a format different from MP3. They play in both your computer and your home stereo's CD player, but their bloated file format means only ten or so songs fit onto the CD. A CD with MP3 files plays on your computer, but it may not play on your home stereo's CD player, but on the plus side, MP3's compressed file format lets you store hundreds of songs on the CD.
Before you can create any type of CD, you need a CD-RW drive, DVD-RW or DVD+RW drive, and a pile of blank CDs. (A growing number of audio CD players now support CD-RW discs, which means you can erase the disc and burn a new set of songs - check your audio player's specs to see if it supports CD-RW media.)
To create either type of CD in Musicmatch, for example, follow these steps:
1. Create a playlist of the songs you want to store on the CD.
Simply fill your Playlist window with the songs you want to copy to CD.
If you're creating a CD for your home stereo, start with about ten MP3s. You probably won't be able to fit many more songs, although you'll be given that chance later.
2. Click the Burn button beneath the playlist.
The Create CD from Playlist window pops up, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Seven MP3 songs consume about 49 percent of this audio CD.
3. Choose the type of CD you want to create from the window.
To choose the type of CD you want, click one of the following buttons (shown in Figure 1):
• Audio: Click this button to create a CD for playing in your home and car CD player. This is the default selection.
• MP3: Click this button to create an MP3 disc, which stores a huge number of MP3s to play back on your computer, boombox, or on a portable MP3 player that can handle those CDs.
• Data: Click this button if you want to simply burn the MP3 files as data files on a standard CD-ROM.
Clicking one of the three buttons shows how much space you have left on the CD. In Figure 1, for instance, the seven MP3s listed in the Create CD from Playlist window have consumed 49 percent of the audio CD, leaving room for several more songs.
When you click the MP3 button, however, those same seven songs consume only 11 percent of the CD, leaving much more room. (That shows you how much MP3 compresses songs.)
4. Add or remove songs until the CD is filled.
Keep dragging or removing songs from the Playlist window until you're satisfied with the amount of songs stuffed onto the CD.
5. Place a blank CD or CD-RW disc into your CD or DVD recorder and click the Burn button.
Musicmatch converts the MP3 songs into audio format, if necessary, and copies them to the CD.
If you purchase the upgrade version of Musicmatch, you can print CD covers and jewel box inserts to go with your newly created CDs. It can print any artwork you'd like on the cover, or it can tile the covers from the works you've placed on the CD.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/copying-mp3-files-onto-cds/153076;_ylt=AtsXijao
Windows XP Media Player Headaches: I can't add CD music to Media Library.
Cause Windows Media Player contains something called Media Library that holds audio and video media. This feature enables you to add music and video clips that you want to keep and view in the library so that they are available anytime you want to hear or see them. You can copy CD music and video clips to your computer's hard drive and then place them in the Media Library. Then, you simply click on the item in Windows Media Player to play it, instead of having to have the actual CD handy.
In order to add music or video to the library, that music must be stored on your hard drive. In other words, you cannot play a CD and add it to your library without first copying the CD to your hard drive. Then, you can add it, as explained in the following Pain Killer.
The Pain Killer To add a CD to Media Library, follow these steps:
1. Use the Rip feature to copy the CD to your hard drive.
2. In Media Library, expand the All Music category and select Album. Then, click the Add to Library button, which looks like a plus sign (+), located at the bottom of the Media Player window. From the pop-up menu that appears, select Add File or Playlist. In the Shared Music folder that appears, select the desired album or browse to the location of the copied CD. When you find the file you are looking for, select it and click Open. The new album now appears in the Media Library.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/windows-xp-media-player-headaches-i-can-t-ad
In order to add music or video to the library, that music must be stored on your hard drive. In other words, you cannot play a CD and add it to your library without first copying the CD to your hard drive. Then, you can add it, as explained in the following Pain Killer.
The Pain Killer To add a CD to Media Library, follow these steps:
1. Use the Rip feature to copy the CD to your hard drive.
2. In Media Library, expand the All Music category and select Album. Then, click the Add to Library button, which looks like a plus sign (+), located at the bottom of the Media Player window. From the pop-up menu that appears, select Add File or Playlist. In the Shared Music folder that appears, select the desired album or browse to the location of the copied CD. When you find the file you are looking for, select it and click Open. The new album now appears in the Media Library.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/windows-xp-media-player-headaches-i-can-t-ad
Windows XP Media Player Headaches: I can't add CD music to Media Library.
Cause Windows Media Player contains something called Media Library that holds audio and video media. This feature enables you to add music and video clips that you want to keep and view in the library so that they are available anytime you want to hear or see them. You can copy CD music and video clips to your computer's hard drive and then place them in the Media Library. Then, you simply click on the item in Windows Media Player to play it, instead of having to have the actual CD handy.
In order to add music or video to the library, that music must be stored on your hard drive. In other words, you cannot play a CD and add it to your library without first copying the CD to your hard drive. Then, you can add it, as explained in the following Pain Killer.
The Pain Killer To add a CD to Media Library, follow these steps:
1. Use the Rip feature to copy the CD to your hard drive.
2. In Media Library, expand the All Music category and select Album. Then, click the Add to Library button, which looks like a plus sign (+), located at the bottom of the Media Player window. From the pop-up menu that appears, select Add File or Playlist. In the Shared Music folder that appears, select the desired album or browse to the location of the copied CD. When you find the file you are looking for, select it and click Open. The new album now appears in the Media Library.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/listening-to-mp3-files-in-your-car/153222;_ylt=AgKiAZs
In order to add music or video to the library, that music must be stored on your hard drive. In other words, you cannot play a CD and add it to your library without first copying the CD to your hard drive. Then, you can add it, as explained in the following Pain Killer.
The Pain Killer To add a CD to Media Library, follow these steps:
1. Use the Rip feature to copy the CD to your hard drive.
2. In Media Library, expand the All Music category and select Album. Then, click the Add to Library button, which looks like a plus sign (+), located at the bottom of the Media Player window. From the pop-up menu that appears, select Add File or Playlist. In the Shared Music folder that appears, select the desired album or browse to the location of the copied CD. When you find the file you are looking for, select it and click Open. The new album now appears in the Media Library.
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/listening-to-mp3-files-in-your-car/153222;_ylt=AgKiAZs
Listening to MP3 Files in Your Car
You can play MP3 files from your home stereo, from your computer, and from a portable player using headphones. But MP3 is still a relative newcomer in the world of car audio.
If your car's audio system doesn't recognize MP3 music discs, consider these less expensive workarounds:
* Use a cassette player adapter. If your car has a cassette player, check out a CD-to-Cassette Player adapter. It looks like a cassette tape with a stereo cable hanging from one end. Plug the cable into your portable MP3 player's headphone jack, insert the cassette, and start listening to your MP3s through your car stereo. It sounds amazingly good - well, at least compared to the road noise.
* Use a wireless FM adapter. Plug the cable from an FM transmitter into your portable MP3 player. Then tune your car's FM radio to the right frequency and listen to your MP3s. Unfortunately, sound quality varies because of local interference, and you're dependent on the batteries that power your wireless adapter.
* Buy a car stereo with a CD Input jack. Some car stereos lack a CD player. Instead, they have a CD Input jack. Plug a 1/8-inch stereo cable between this jack and your portable MP3 player to hear MP3s through your car's stereo system.
* Burn MP3 songs onto a CD in audio format. Does your car have a CD player? Then convert your MP3 songs back into standard CD audio format and copy them to a CD. You can't fit more than a dozen onto the CD, but at least you can hear them.
* Connect a portable MP3 player to amplified speakers. Take some amplified speakers - like the ones that come with your PC - and plug a portable MP3 player into them. Carry it all to your car and start listening. To change songs, just swap new cards in and out of the portable player.
Just like car stereos, dedicated MP3 players for cars can be ripped off. To avoid that, substitute your portable MP3 player. You can easily grab your portable MP3 player when you leave the car, keeping it
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/listening-to-mp3-files-in-your-car/153222;_ylt=AgKiAZsVA_1HJ4WNUKgxhpMSLpA5
If your car's audio system doesn't recognize MP3 music discs, consider these less expensive workarounds:
* Use a cassette player adapter. If your car has a cassette player, check out a CD-to-Cassette Player adapter. It looks like a cassette tape with a stereo cable hanging from one end. Plug the cable into your portable MP3 player's headphone jack, insert the cassette, and start listening to your MP3s through your car stereo. It sounds amazingly good - well, at least compared to the road noise.
* Use a wireless FM adapter. Plug the cable from an FM transmitter into your portable MP3 player. Then tune your car's FM radio to the right frequency and listen to your MP3s. Unfortunately, sound quality varies because of local interference, and you're dependent on the batteries that power your wireless adapter.
* Buy a car stereo with a CD Input jack. Some car stereos lack a CD player. Instead, they have a CD Input jack. Plug a 1/8-inch stereo cable between this jack and your portable MP3 player to hear MP3s through your car's stereo system.
* Burn MP3 songs onto a CD in audio format. Does your car have a CD player? Then convert your MP3 songs back into standard CD audio format and copy them to a CD. You can't fit more than a dozen onto the CD, but at least you can hear them.
* Connect a portable MP3 player to amplified speakers. Take some amplified speakers - like the ones that come with your PC - and plug a portable MP3 player into them. Carry it all to your car and start listening. To change songs, just swap new cards in and out of the portable player.
Just like car stereos, dedicated MP3 players for cars can be ripped off. To avoid that, substitute your portable MP3 player. You can easily grab your portable MP3 player when you leave the car, keeping it
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/listening-to-mp3-files-in-your-car/153222;_ylt=AgKiAZsVA_1HJ4WNUKgxhpMSLpA5
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