A digital audio player - DAP- is a device that stores, organizes & plays digital music files. It is more commonly referred to as an MP3 player (cause of that format's ubiquity), but DAPs often play many additional file formats. Some formats are proprietary, such as Windows Media Audio (WMA), and, to a degree, MP3. Some of these formats also may incorporate restrictive digital rights management (DRM) technology, such as WMA DRM, which are often part of certain paid download sites. Other formats are completely patent-free or otherwise open, such as Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Speex (all part of the Ogg open multimedia project), and Module file formats.
There are 3 main types of digital audio players:
+ MP3 CD Players - Devices that play CDs. Often, they can be used to play both audio CDs and homemade data CDs containing MP3 or other digital audio files.
+ Flash-based Players - These are solid state devices that hold digital audio files on internal or external media, such as memory cards. Due to technological limitations, these are relatively low-storage devices, commercially ranging from 128MB to 6GB, which can often be extended with additional memory. As they are solid state and do not have moving parts, they are very resilient. In effect, they do not suffer limitations that owners of Hard Drive-based players face, such as fears of dropping their player or fragmentation. Such players are generally integrated into USB keydrives. Within years, Flash-based media is expected to surpass the capacity of
+ MP3 CD Players - Devices that play CDs. Often, they can be used to play both audio CDs and homemade data CDs containing MP3 or other digital audio files.
+ Flash-based Players - These are solid state devices that hold digital audio files on internal or external media, such as memory cards. Due to technological limitations, these are relatively low-storage devices, commercially ranging from 128MB to 6GB, which can often be extended with additional memory. As they are solid state and do not have moving parts, they are very resilient. In effect, they do not suffer limitations that owners of Hard Drive-based players face, such as fears of dropping their player or fragmentation. Such players are generally integrated into USB keydrives. Within years, Flash-based media is expected to surpass the capacity of
+ Hard Drive-based Players, and inevitably render them obsolete.
Hard Drive-based Players or Digital Jukeboxes - Devices that read digital audio files from a hard drive. These players have higher capacities, ranging from 1.5GB to 100GB, depending on the hard drive technology. At typical encoding rates, this means that thousands of songs — perhaps an entire music collection — can be stored in one MP3 player. Due to their capacity and physical size, image and video media support is becoming standard among Hard Drive-based players. The Apple iPod and Creative Zen are examples of popular digital jukeboxes.
Hard Drive-based Players or Digital Jukeboxes - Devices that read digital audio files from a hard drive. These players have higher capacities, ranging from 1.5GB to 100GB, depending on the hard drive technology. At typical encoding rates, this means that thousands of songs — perhaps an entire music collection — can be stored in one MP3 player. Due to their capacity and physical size, image and video media support is becoming standard among Hard Drive-based players. The Apple iPod and Creative Zen are examples of popular digital jukeboxes.
The MP3 player is the most recent in an evolution of music formats that have helped consumers enjoy their tunes. Records, eight-track tapes, cassette tapes and CDs-none of these earlier music formats provided the convenience and control that MP3 players give music lovers. With an MP3 in hand or pocket, a consumer can create personalized music lists and carry thousands of songs wherever they go.
