An MP3 player is simply another evolutionary advancement in portable music players. But compared to its predecessors, it outshines them exponentially in their storage ability and portability.
All MP3 players are based upon electronic technology that allows them to play digital audio files that are encoded using MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. That is the origin or the term MP3. These audio files are compressed in such a way that, while needing less data, retain the same purity and quality of the compressed version. An MP3 player with the same storage capacity as that of a conventional audio CD can store many times the number of songs, with minimal degradation of sound quality.
MP3 players come in different sizes, but those designed for portability can easily be smaller than one-fourth the size of their digital predecessors, the CD player. These smallest MP3 players usually rely on compact flash memory for digital memory storage. MP3 players designed for large storage capacity rely on a higher-capacity hard drive.
Most MP3 players are no longer confined to just playing MP3 files. Now these players can support other compressed digital audio formats, like WMA and AAC. WMA, which stands for Windows Media Audio, is a proprietary audio format developed by MicroSoft and is used in Zune players. AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding, and is the standardized audio format supported by Apple's iPod players.
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