| Acknowledgments | xvii |
| Introduction | xix |
Part I | The ABCs of MP3 | |
Chapter 1 | Welcome to MP3 and Digital Audio | 3 |
| A Brief History of Recorded Time | 4 |
| What Is MP3? | 5 |
| What's the Big Deal about Compression? | 6 |
| Where Do MP3 Files Come From? | 7 |
| What Can You Do with MP3? | 8 |
| What about All the Legal Stuff? | 8 |
| How to Listen to MP3 Files | 9 |
| Your Computer | 9 |
| Portable Players | 9 |
| A Car Player | 11 |
| A Home Stereo | 12 |
| Our Favorite TV Show Theme Songs | 13 |
| The Difference Between MP3 and Digital Audio | 14 |
Chapter 2 | Getting Your Computer Ready | 15 |
| Must-Have Hardware | 16 |
| Processor and RAM | 17 |
| Notes for Macintosh Users | 17 |
| The Hard Drive | 18 |
| The Sound Card | 19 |
| Speakers | 20 |
| Universal Serial Bus Ports | 20 |
| The CD-RW Drive | 22 |
| Operating System Issues | 26 |
| Our Five Favorite Funky Songs | 27 |
| MP3 in Windows 95 | 28 |
| MP3 in Windows 3.1 | 28 |
| MP3 in Macintoshes | 28 |
| Your Internet Connection | 29 |
Chapter 3 | MP3 and the Law | 31 |
| A Brief History of MP3 Controversy | 32 |
| Blame It on Rio | 33 |
| The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of MP3.com | 34 |
| The Napster Effect | 35 |
| How to Not Break the Law | 37 |
| Rick vs. Dave: MP3 Ethics | 37 |
| Definitely Legal Activities | 38 |
| Illegal Activities | 38 |
| "Legal" Alternatives to Napster | 39 |
| The Dawning Age of Copy Protection | 39 |
| Our Favorite Songs from the '80s | 40 |
Part II | Playing Digital Music | |
Chapter 4 | Finding Digital Music Online | 45 |
| Music Sites | 47 |
| Amazon.com | 47 |
| What Is Liquid Audio? | 48 |
| MP3.com | 50 |
| Our Favorite Portable MP3 Players | 54 |
| The Best $13.98 You Can Spend on Your Kids | 55 |
| File-Sharing Services | 58 |
| File-Sharing Fundamentals | 59 |
| How to Use LimeWire | 60 |
| If I Share My MP3 Files, Can Someone Hack into All My Files? | 60 |
Chapter 5 | Listening on the PC | 69 |
| How to | 70 |
| Choosing an MP3 Player | 70 |
| Finding an MP3 Player | 71 |
| Music Players for Windows | 72 |
| Get Hip to the Lingo, Digi-Cat | 73 |
| Winamp | 75 |
| Windows Media Player | 76 |
| RealJukebox Plus | 80 |
| MusicMatch Jukebox 6 | 82 |
| Music Players for the Mac | 85 |
| iTunes | 85 |
| MPLAY | 87 |
| MusicMatch Jukebox | 88 |
| Setting Your Volume | 90 |
| Changing Skins | 90 |
| See Your Music | 92 |
Chapter 6 | Dialing into Internet Radio | 95 |
| Understanding Internet Radio | 96 |
| Where Internet Radio Comes From | 97 |
| How You Listen to Internet Radio | 97 |
| The Importance of High-Speed Internet Access | 99 |
| Internet-Radio Sound Quality | 99 |
| Why a Slow Connection Equals Dead Air | 99 |
| How to Find Internet Radio Stations | 100 |
| Tune In with Windows Media Player | 103 |
| Creating Your Own Preset Lists | 103 |
| Searching for Stations | 104 |
| Build Custom Radio Shows with RadioMOI.com | 105 |
| Tune In with RealJukebox | 108 |
| Should You Pay for MusicMatch Radio MX? | 109 |
| Sharing with SHOUTcast | 110 |
| Other Software and Sites | 111 |
Chapter 7 | Taking It on the Road | 113 |
| Choosing a Portable Music Player | 114 |
| How Much Memory Does the MP3 Player Have? | 115 |
| How Does the MP3 Player Connect to the PC? | 116 |
| What about the Batteries? | 117 |
| What Other Goodies Does the MP3 Player Have? | 118 |
| The MP3 Tree | 119 |
| The Right MP3 Player for You | 120 |
| MP3s on a Budget | 120 |
| If You Need a Voice Recorder | 121 |
| Longer Playing Time | 122 |
| Listening in Your Car | 122 |
| If You're a CD Fanatic | 123 |
| Getting Massive Amounts of Music | 124 |
| MP3 for Your Car | 124 |
| In-Dash Receivers with MP3 | 125 |
| Hard Disk MP3 Players | 126 |
| Cassette Adapters | 127 |
| Go Wireless | 129 |
| Understanding Memory Card Formats | 130 |
| CompactFlash | 130 |
| SmartMedia | 131 |
| Secure Digital and MultiMediaCard | 131 |
| Memory Stick | 132 |
| Dave's MP3 Auto Experience | 132 |
| What Do Memory Cards Cost? | 133 |
| Playing MP3s on a Personal Digital Assistant | 133 |
| MP3s on a Pocket PC | 134 |
| Pocket PC Choices | 135 |
| MP3s on a Palm OS Device | 136 |
Chapter 8 | MP3 Around the House | 139 |
| From PC to Stereo (Same Room) | 140 |
| From PC to Stereo (Different Rooms) | 142 |
| Kinda Like Mr. Microphone--for MP3 | 143 |
| X10 Marks the Spot | 145 |
| Make Your Stereo Part of Your Computer Network | 145 |
| Internet Radio to Go | 147 |
| From PC to Any Other Room | 148 |
| From MP3 Player to Stereo | 149 |
| Other Cool MP3 Options for the Home | 150 |
| Where to Find It | 151 |
Chapter 9 | Getting the Best Sound | 153 |
| Converting Your Audio Files | 154 |
| Normalizing Your Audio Files | 156 |
| All about Equalizers | 158 |
| Using Winamp's Equalizer | 159 |
| Using the Windows Media Player Equalizer | 161 |
| Choose a Killer Set of Speakers | 162 |
| Choose a Killer Set of Headphones | 165 |
| Headphones That Roam Free | 165 |
Part III | Creating Your Own Music Files | |
Chapter 10 | Ripping Music from a CD | 169 |
| Inside Digital Audio | 170 |
| Sound Waves 101 | 171 |
| The Age-Old Debate: Digital or Analog? | 173 |
| Digital File Formats | 177 |
| WAV vs. MP3 | 179 |
| When to Use WAV and MP3 | 179 |
| Choosing a CD Ripper | 180 |
| Ripping Music | 181 |
| Using a Jukebox | 182 |
| Dealing with Glitches | 188 |
Chapter 11 | Transferring Analog Sources to MP3 | 193 |
| Making the Connection | 194 |
| Sound Card Inputs | 196 |
| Analog Source Outputs | 198 |
| Cabling It All Together | 200 |
| Audio Recording Software | 204 |
| Making the Recording | 208 |
| Setting the Recording Device | 208 |
| Setting Sound Levels | 210 |
| Recording Audio | 212 |
| Recording Strategies | 214 |
| Do It All with Easy CD Creator | 216 |
Chapter 12 | Editing, Correcting, and Tweaking Your Audio | 221 |
| Starting Clean | 222 |
| Touring an Audio Editor | 223 |
| Cutting Up Your Music | 224 |
| Deleting Silent Leader | 225 |
| Inserting Silent Leader | 226 |
| Splitting a File into Tracks | 228 |
| Gluing Tracks Together | 230 |
| Fading Your Songs | 231 |
| Taking Jazz Head On | 232 |
| Cleaning Up Noisy Audio | 233 |
| Optimizing the Dynamic Range | 237 |
Chapter 13 | Organizing Your Music Files | 239 |
| Planning for MP3 Storage | 241 |
| Organizing Your Songs | 242 |
| Controlling Playback with Filenames | 243 |
| Selecting a Folder Strategy | 243 |
| Selecting Filenames | 246 |
| Editing Music File ID Tags | 249 |
| Changing Several Tracks at Once | 252 |
| Fixing the File Type Association | 254 |
| The Desert Island Test | 257 |
Part IV | Sharing Your Digital Music | |
Chapter 14 | Converting Music to CD and Streaming Audio | 261 |
| Getting Started with CD Recording | 262 |
| Prepping Your Computer | 263 |
| Choosing Your Discs | 265 |
| CD-R Speed | 266 |
| Choosing a Data Format | 267 |
| Recording with Easy CD Creator | 269 |
| Choosing Recording Options | 269 |
| Burning a CD | 272 |
| Making an MP3 CD | 276 |
| The Monkees Weren't so Bad | 277 |
| Streaming Your Music from the Web | 278 |
| Stream Without Extra Software | 278 |
| Using Streaming Production Software | 281 |
Chapter 15 | Sharing Your Music Online | 285 |
| What MP3.com Can Do for You | 286 |
| The Premium Artist Service | 287 |
| Payback for Playback | 287 |
| The Copyright Wizard | 287 |
| The Music Licensing Program | 287 |
| The CD Program | 288 |
| Promo Auctions | 288 |
| Promoting Your Music on Ampcast.com | 288 |
| Royalties | 289 |
| The CD Program | 289 |
| Five Best Band Names We Just Made Up | 289 |
| Ad-Free Pages | 290 |
| Ratings and Sales Data | 290 |
| Fast Song Approval | 290 |
| Concert and Event Calendars | 290 |
| Getting Your Songs on Internet Radio | 291 |
| Create Your Own Internet Radio Station on SHOUTcast | 291 |
Chapter 16 | Promoting Your Sound | 295 |
| Selling Your CD | 296 |
| Online Stores That'll Sell Your CD | 296 |
| Accepting Payment | 298 |
| Essential Resources for Musicians | 298 |
| Finishing Touches for Your CD | 300 |
| Promoting Yourself | 302 |
| Write a Press Release | 302 |
| Cool Things to Do with Your Site | 303 |
| Write to Your Fans | 304 |
| From the Experts | 305 |
| Music That Burns Your Fingers | 305 |
| Kristin Hersh | 306 |
| Peter Himmelman | 308 |
| Diana Darby | 310 |
| Cherish Alexander, The Painkillers | 312 |
| Dana Mase | 314 |
Appendix A | Internet Radio Stations | 317 |
| General/Networks | 318 |
| News/Sports/Talk | 319 |
| Classical | 324 |
| Country | 326 |
| Hip-Hop/Electronic/Dance | 327 |
| JAZZ | 332 |
| R&B/Soul | 334 |
| Rock/Pop | 335 |
Appendix B | Top Web Sites for MP3 Dowloads | 343 |
| Napster | 345 |
| Morpheus | 346 |
| Aimster | 347 |
| iMesh | 348 |
| KaZaA | 349 |
| Audiogalaxy | 350 |
| BearShare | 351 |
| WinMX | 352 |
Appendix C | In Search of Storage Space | 353 |
| Optical Storage | 354 |
| External Hard Disks | 355 |
| Online Storage | 356 |
| Storage Schemes at a Glance | 357 |
Appendix D | Portable Player Memory Cards | 359 |
| Memory Cards 101 | 360 |
| CompactFlash | 360 |
| SmartMedia | 361 |
| Memory Stick | 361 |
| Secure Digital/MultiMediaCards | 361 |
| Security and Memory Cards | 362 |
| Memory Cards at a Glance | 362 |
| Index | 363 |