Computer Info – November 7, 2001

This Week’s Meeting

        We will look at four programs that deal with music. MusicMatch (which allows you to create MP3s – create audio CDs – play your music files – convert your music files from one format to another – print the labels) – Windows Media Player (which allows you to create WMAs – create audio CDs – play your music files) – EasyCD creator (which allows you to create MP3s – create audio CDs – print the labels) – Sonique (which allows you to play your music files).
MusicMatch
        MusicMatch is being packaged with a lot of computers today. It can also be download for free at
                              http://www.musicmatch.com
I have been taking a look at this program to discover some of the features that I should mention to you. It seems to be a very veritable program allowing you to --------------
        Make your own CDs from your MP3 files
        Turn your music collection into MP3s
        Play MP3s, CDs and Windows Media
        Print custom CD labels and song lists (very nice printout of the song list)
        Convert your WAVs to MP3’s – or -- convert MP3’s to WAV
The free version does have it limitations (it can not print the labels and it will only record at 2X) – to upgrade to the MusicMatch Plus is $14.99 for a limited time.

Windows Media Player 7.1

        Windows Media Player 7.1 is the latest version of Media Player. Windows Media Player has always been packaged as a part of the Windows operating system; but the latest versions can always be downloaded for free at
                              http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp?
                                                                or
                              http://www.cnet.com/software/0-3227895-8-6386888-1.html
It comprises seven features in a single application: CD player, audio and video player, media jukebox, media guide, Internet radio, portable device music file transfer, and an audio CD burner. One problem is that you cannot create MP3s from your audio CDs – you have to create WMA (a Windows audio format).

Sonique

        This is a compact audio player which handles all of the normal audio file formats. The latest version is 1.95. It can be downloaded at
                              http://sonique.lycos.com/download/

Terms

CODEC (a coder/decoder or compression/decompression algorithm)
        As the name implies, codecs are used to encode and decode (or compress and decompress) various types of data -- particularly those that would otherwise use up inordinate amounts of disk space, such as sound and video files. Common codecs include those for converting analog video signals into compressed video files (such as MPEG) or analog sound signals into digitized sound (such as RealAudio).
        To open a compressed file, the same codecs must be used to decompress the file. If your computer does not have the correct codec to decompress a file, Windows Media Player will attempt to download the codec for you.