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MP3: The Definitive Guide
The Scoop Judging by the way even my non-technical friends are talking about MP3s, digital music is on a lot of minds. As usual, O'Reilly has published the definitive guide to all things MP3. Computer and music guru Scott Hacker takes you through the codec, the software, the controversies, the competition, and building your own equipment. Though it's aimed at end-users, the book is still accessible to the do-it-yourself weekend hardware wizard.
What's to Like? Hacker's writing is simple and not-too-technical. In places, it's even informal. Sure, there are plenty of gory details, but you won't miss anything essential if you skip over the sidebars now and then. An average computer user could probably create his own MP3s while reading chapter five, for example. Power users aren't left out, though: Audiophiles, hackers and tweakers will benefit from the extensive comparisons of players, encoders, hardware, and competing codecs.
No stranger to alternative operating systems (he also wrote the BeOS Bible), Hacker takes pains to be cross-platform, covering Windows, Mac, Linux, and BeOS. This isn't limited to playback options, though that's the most extensive discussion, but includes serving files over the Internet. Of special consideration are quality issues. The author's perspective as a sound connoisseur comes in handy while discussing optimal (and affordable) recording and playback equipment.
As per the title, the Guide completely covers the subject. If you're interested in collecting MP3s, creating them, playing them back with software, with portable hardware, car hardware, building your own hardware, making music available to others, discovering alternate means of delivery and other codecs, or just want a broad overview of all things MP3, you'll find something of immediate interest. If Hacker whets your appetite for more information, follow one of his references to the source itself. (That's especially nice in his treatment of the more exotic hardware players.)
What's to Consider? Though the chapter on legal information and MP3 is excellent, and among the most extensive treatments of the issue lay readers are likely to encounter, it's U.S. Centric. Also, it should be noted that the digital music debate is undeniably fuzzy, so any interpretations are open to correction. Though he debunks the common disclaimers found on shady MP3 sites, the author wisely sidesteps copyright arguments by explaining the relevant laws, and allowing his readers to come to their own conclusions in the gray areas.People who've been tracking the scene for a while know how fast things change. Information on specific programs or hardware players could become obsolete quickly. (That's noted in the text.) For the most part, Hacker prefers to explain concepts and trends rather than the fine details of any particular implementation. For items still unresolved, such as the eventually supported ID3v2 specification, he provides caveats regarding compatibility issues.
The Summary Catch up to the digital music revolution with MP3: The Definitive Guide. It's packed with information, yet easy to read, and stuffed with links to satisfy your appetite for up-to-the-second information.Purchase this book at ThinkGeek.
Table of Contents
- The Nuts and Bolts of MP3
- How MP3 Works: Inside the Codec
- Getting and Playing MP3 Files
- Playlists, Tags, and Skins: MP3 Options
- Ripping and Encoding: Creating MP3 Files
- Hardware, Portables, Home Stereos, and Kits
- The Not-So-Fine-Print: Legal Bits and Pieces
- Webcasting and Servers: Internet Distribution
- Competing Codecs and Other File Formats
- ID3v1 Genres
Well, looking at my bookshelf, there's a gnu on the cover of Learning GNU Emacs (the connection being obvious) and an appaloosa on the cover of Apache: The Definitive Guide (being either the native American connection or just the similarity of the name). No exact matches, but pretty close. Now, if they really wanted to do some appropriate book titles, they'd get these bugs off the Oracle book covers and put 'em on their Red Hat Linux books. :)
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
I prefer Terry Pratchetts concept of 'Hermit Elephants' (from the Discworld Companion).
"These poor creatures lack the thick skins of normal Elephants, and use abandoned mud huts to provide camoflage and protection instead. They have not problem obtaining abandoned mud huts since the previous occupants move out very rapidly when a hermit Elephant moves in."
This is accompanied by a hysterical picture of a mud hut with two mad eye's and a trunk peering out the window.
EZ
-'Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to log on..'
"Oops, I always forget the purpose of competition is to divide people into winners and losers." - Hobbes
What a load of garbage.
If Sony had its way no matter what, we'd all be listening to MiniDisc players and popping Memory Sticks into our systems.
MiniDiscs, despite billions of dollars of promotions, remain firmly entrenched in the theatrical design ghetto.
Do you really believe that the Memory Stick has a future?
wug
"It's OK, my sheet's got a hole in it!"
... has got to be "porn".
You should never take life too seriously - You'll never get out of it alive.
I'd just like to point out that you are the lamest, whiniest little bitch in history.
You may have a point about VQF, but you don't actually give any information on VQF. You appear to be name-dropping to look cool. Most of us probably either A) are hearing about VQF for the first time; or B) have sort of heard of VQF once in passing. Instead of acting ridiculously elitist, why don't you make yourself useful and DESCRIBE the VQF format and its comparative advantages?
Also, MP3 does *NOT* sound like an old, scratchy 78. It's obviously not quite CD format (because it's compressed), but in a blind "Pepsi challenge" type test through headphones, I could probably not distinguish the two.
I did notice you posted something pretty awesome earlier, although I forget what it was, so I'll give you props for that, but in terms of this last post, you suck.
"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
- VQF.com
- MPEG home site
- MPEG source
- Additional audio s/w
- Sharp VN-EZ1 camera
- MPEG-4 (audio) development tools
There may be more websites with useful information out there. I'm collecting all the MP4 code I can, to see what the specs, in reality, mean. Oh, and to see if there's anything worth filching.Video, I'm not sure. Again, MPEG-4's video layer is said to be very good, but I'd have to see some videos in that format to be convinced. QT4 is OK, but there are no (en|de)coders for it for Linux, which limits it a bit.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
I've posted a list of websites which document the various standards. I mean, mpeg-4.com for mpeg-4 - how obscure can you get? Really.
As for me being whiny... I can see that someone who fussed and moaned, but did nothing, might deserve the label. Difference is, I'm ripping apart over a dozen MPEG-4 audio and video packages to see how they work, to write an encoder/decoder for the Free Film Project. A high-quality encoder is essential for such a project, for distribution.
Talking of people complaining and whining, what are YOU doing for the Free Software community, today? Besides making use of it?
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Most annoying thing I've seen - only once or twice out of $BIGNUM MP3s - was an MP3 that wouldn't report its time correctly in WinAMP.
I'm not talking about "normal" VBRs, which are pretty close to accurate on the track length, and which show the bitrate changing from 128/160/224/226/whatever as the song plays.
I'm talking about a VBR MP3 where the track length is totally misreported. As in, it varies by 20-30% depending on where in the song you happen to be playing at the moment, and the bitrate indicator shows an oddball number like 147kbps.
I believe that this problem is due to someone encoding in LAME with the -t (disable VBR tag) flag set. But I'm damned if I can figure out how to re-create said tag given only the final MP3.
Any suggestions? It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
You can read chapter 6 of this book here: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mp3/chapter/ch06.ht ml
MP3 is old, too lossy, sounds bad, and has way too many legal messes surrounding it. I'm sure that eventually all of these can be worked around (MP4?), but why bother? Vorbis is here, and is free (speech) and free (beer). Oh, and It's Just Better (tm), too.
</rant>
Remember the SAT? Windows is to Linux as MP3 is to Vorbis.
They're working on it though, don't worry.. you'll be back to flaming the original me in no time. (And sorry about forcing the +2 bonus, as I can't login, I can't control the default score)..
Oh yeah, big shot? Let's see a link to this supposed encoder-decoder.
Oh, what? It's not done? You're barely in the conceptual phase? Well, as it turns out, I'm working on a new OS, which I'm going to be calling GNAGA (GNAGA's Not A Good Acronym). It is currently better than your lame-ass encoder, because it has a name.
Incidentally, how is typing "vi" equivalent to "ripping apart"? Or are you literally looking at the binaries and trying to translate them into source code?
Bitch!
"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
Doesn't look to bad, but it would be better (in my opinion) if it covered the algorithms used in mp3. They are the most interesting part!
Eh...
You know, people have expressed distaste about the seemingly arbitrary posting policies -without- being immature about it. The ones I saw weren't moderated down.
So, how's puberty going?
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script-fu: hash bang slash bin bash
[ approaching AI ]
At least he's a *cough*"good hacker"*cough* -- I wonder if that's what we have to do to get the mass media to realize that hacking is a good thing -- accept defeat on the Hacker v. Cracker issue, and make a point about "good" vs. "bad" "hacking"...
--
We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
10. Annoying the RIAA for fun and profit.
First of all, I'd like to point out that Scot Hacker is the ultamite BeOS evangelist, who also wrote the BeOS Bible and runs the BeTips site.
On a more relevant note, the mp3asm tool availble from the MPG123 web site is a really neat tool to look at the source to - it'll show you the specs of the MP3 format right there. If you're at all interested in the down-and-dirty of dealing with MP3 format files, that source is a great starting point.
I browsed this book last month and found it informative and quite well-written.
The author explains the thorny issues of patents pertaining to MP3. Two corporations have patents on MP3 technologies:
However, as it has been pointed out, the law section is US-centric. It would be interesting to know where in the world the said patents apply. Theoretically, Europe does not allow patents on algorithms and mathematical formulas, but this provision can be circumvented by patenting an overall technique using an algorithm.
Sincerely,
The Red Menace (aka Ralph Nader)
LostBrain
Here's my wife, where's yours?
Try www.mp3-tech.org or www.mpeg.org for more technical information.
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Jon E. Erikson
Jon Erikson, IT guru
While were "on" the subject, what is the best video decoder?
It's ignorance itself to think you know all the answers. -Miles Comer
Shame on O'Reilly? What is their purpose for being in business if not to sell books? I don't see the big deal. I have read books about Math which did not get into every gory detail about equations. Stephen Hawking's most popular books have almost no equations. That's not the point. Someone else can put out the technical manual.
Logic ... merely enables one to be wrong with authority. -- Doctor Who
For the past few years, Scot has been a big BeOS advocate, and he even wrote the BeOS Bible.
This MP3 book is a new and different product from him. I know that he has been working on it for the past several months, so it should be very good if it took all that time.
Overall, Scot is a cool guy.
"...we are moving toward a Web-centric stage and our dear PC will be one of
EverCode
While I respect the lowly hermit crab for its plight in having to find a new home every time it gets to big for its old one, what does hermit crabs and mp3s have to do with each other?
Mp3 usage seems to have grown explosively, but it hasn't moved out of its old home, so that can't be it...
--
Eric is chisled like a Greek Godess
marotti.com
Just say no to: lssy cmprssin
Sheldon
Does this book actually cover algorithms and techniques for encoding MP3s? I know there are algorithms and information on the net, but its one of those areas where how the algorithm is implemented makes all the difference - you really can hear the difference between say BladeEnc and the Fraunhoffer codec.
From the sounds of it, it doesn't which is a pity really as the rest of it is the sort of thing which will become out of date very quickly - the legal situtation is coming to a head and the technology is rapidly advancing. As such, I doubt this will be a huge success with those already familiar with MP3s.
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Jon E. Erikson
Jon Erikson, IT guru
The animal on the cover of MP3: The Definitive Guide is a hermit crab (Coenobita perlatus). The hermit crab is commonly found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and inhabits the areas surrounding the Islands of Aldabra, Mauritius, and Samoa.
The MP3 is sometimes found on overseas sites where it can evade prosecution.
Despite the name of the hermit crab, which alludes to a solitary lifestyle, Coenobita perlatus are very social creatures. They characteristically travel in groups of 25 or more, and have been found living in colonies of over 100 in the wild.
MP3s are commonly found in groups of thousands on servers worldwide and typically downloaded in multiple batches.
Hermit crabs make their homes by occupying the discarded shells of gastropds in order to protect their soft, coiled abdomens and inner organs.
MP3s hide by taking the name of Metallica songs to piss of companies who are trying to search for them in order to prosecute downloaders.
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.