This page initially started out as a page devoted to link for mp3, but I have expanded it to include virtually every audio format that can be found on the net, and then some. Not familiar with mp3? well, if you are familiar with audio wav files, you know how much space a CD quality song even about 3 mins take up....A LOT! in the area of about 30 to 40 megs...a MP3, with the same quality and length, can take up to 3-4 megs, without a major sacrifice in quality! it's amazing! it's neat! it's MP3!..and what's neater, you can ship the audio all over the web, and get free music too!! record companies love that!!!......to start off though...how about getting some more info on MP3? try going to
Mp3.com is a all in one site for info on Mp3's, making them, playing them, news about them and everything else you need to know about them.
HOW ABOUT WINPLAY 3?
Just click on the player and it will download WINPLAY 3 32 bit version for WINDOWS 95!(about 144k!)THE FREEWARE VERSION!!!!
FOR THOSE OF YOU RUNNING WINDOWS 3.1..download the 16 bit version of WINPLAY 3 which I might add is hard to find, but it's here!!! we wouldn't want to leave you out of all this mp3 fun now would we??? nope!!!! I might add, IT SHOULD WORK on win 3.1 so i'm told, but there's NO guarantee!!! i've also been told that the 16 bit version might work where other mp3 players have failed!! so you might wanna try it if you don't think your comp can run mp3's! both winplay files are zip files needing winzip!!!gees..did I flog that into your brain enough on this site...here's a link to WINZIP so you can get it! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD WINPLAY 3 16 BIT VERSION ZIP FILE(about 787k) it's FREEWARE!!!!!
for those who like or have heard of WINAMP you can download the latest version by clicking below
a link to the WINAMP home page! WINAMP changes sooo much, there's no sense keepin it here now!!! I could never keep up...let them guys do it..i'm too lazy!!
CLICK HERE! for those using MAC's...well it's NOT a bad word around here...I
know I know...you guys get bad raps from IBM owners and clones..but here's
a link to the main mp3 player for Mac's my apologies I didn't put it up
sooner! Mp3's should be enjoyed by all!!! with the exception of the record
companies...hahahahaha!!!!
XING TECHNOLOGY, is one of the aggressive players within the MP3 format,
with their XING Encoder, and Streamworks Player, they even have a limited
usage internet server/transmitter...I have yet to try it, so I cannot say,
but here's a link to their site to download what they have to offer
From Mp3 to Real Audio, probably the most popular format on the net, at least for streaming! mine works pretty good...i've got the Real Player.....have you? well, if you haven't, here's your chance to do somethin about it:
here's seems to be the latest thing for streaming MPEG audio on the net, and might give real audio a run for their money..MICROSOFT NETSHOW I find the audio quality, especially as low bit rates, far BETTER than real audio..and far easier to listen to. SO..GO AHEAD..MAKE YOUR DAY, and get NETSHOW FREE!(NO..I am NOT being paid for this endorsement by Bill Gates himself...Heck, I wish!!!)
After you download the player, here's a site
to check out netshow audio streaming..which, from my ears, sounds far better
and more stable than real audio...it's a little different, you have to
download a file, then go in and click on it to start the linkup, but again,
the quality, to me is worth it..SO..Go to AUDIOACTIVE
NETSHOW STREAMING SITE
and speaking of Mr G while you are at it,
why not grab the latest little toy from Mr. Gates himself...called the
WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER like all the players here..it's FREE
Here's
Mp3's competitor..VQF, which brags quality as just as good as mp3, but
at lower bit rate, thus smaller sized files...can't say for sure, as the
encoder on their web site CRASHES on boot up..well, i'm stuck with a cyrix
ok? the encoder is said to me more for a pentium MMX..which personally,
doesn't help matters considering mp3 software is far more plentiful for
pc's, mac's, DOS, etc. regardless...if your curious, check out this site.
This
player isn't that well known..it's useful as a wav player, but you can
link up off their web site, and play some "mood music"..hence the name
"beatnik", sorta like the "mood ring". it's interactive too, as you can
mix sound effects with the music to listen to while on the net..but don't
take my word for it, download the player and give it a try.
this is a player that is getting recognition from Record Companies...which
may be a reason to avoid it..hahaha! but numerous record company sites
seem to be using this on their web sites for "try and buy" from their artists...may
rival real audio, who knows...but if you wanna go directly and GET
THE LIQUID AUDIO PLAYER the other link here is for the main page...I've
got it in my machine, how about you?..it's FREE!!!
This
audio format is from the "Eudora" people..who make a popular mailer. the
whole idea is to be able to e-mail a "audio voice letter" to anyone you
want. the good news...it works quite well...recording on my machine delivers
a audible quality recording..the bad news..well, it's not mp3 cd like quality...but
we are going for file size here as opposed to high fidelity, and it averages
about 1k per second. You will need a player encoder at both ends of the
message you send, but the whole recorder/player is FREE..and if space is
a issue, as opposed to quality (no worse than a 16kbps real audio stream!)
this seems to be a good format.
This
seems to be the record companies answer to pirated music on the internet.
with the a2b player, like liquid audio, it has a digital "signature" which
can supposedly "trace" the downloaded file...I say supposed, because I
don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me. the good news is that there is
free music along with this player on the site which by the way was developed
by 
and the quality is comparable to mp3...you could probably call it the "legal"
mp3...but will it have a future? if more sites adopt it, I believe it will,
because, besides mp3, this is the only format i have found that comes close
to the same quality
.
Audio Highway, is a great audio resource for numerous different tastes...the
majority free, and they have created their own player called AUDIO WIZ
for accessing the audio. This is a link to their player AUDIO WIZ 1.0
so you can give it a try, and here's a link to their HOME
PAGE Finally, they also have a portablle
player you can purchase, that, connected to your computer via a dockable
port, will download the digital audio into the player, so you can take
it with you...sorta about the size of a small transistor radio. Check it
out yourself the LISTEN
UP PLAYER
Just found these players for the MAC...primarily WAV players..though I don't have a MAC so I can't try them
out obviously...so you got me if they work..courtesy of SOUND AMERICA One of the BEST places
for audio wavs on the internet!!!
Sound App 2.5
for Mac 68XXX processors (514k)
Sound App 2.5
for Power PC Processors (507k)
In an attempt not to leave out any format, here's one of the lesser known audio formats..it was more well known in the early days of real audio, but now that real audio seems to be
taking over for streaming, true speech is not on as many sites....still comparable to real audio in quality..possible a little "dirtier" with the sample clips I have heard, but still worth mentioning here. This link will allow you to download a player and encoder for win 3.1, win 95, and MAC..though appraently, if you have a Netscape or I-Explorer, clicking on the files should play them..if not grab the player here...also with links to sample sounds where you can actually try the player out!
INTERNET WAVE
Here's yet another format..from the folks of the internet telephone program "Internet Phone"...called "Internet Wave".
don't know about the quality..I have only found one site for using this program..and the audio files didn't download
but, hey, i'm here it try and give you every format I can...also...you get a freeware version of "Internet Phone" if
you download it...so if anything, that's the reason to grab it, if nothing else!!!
Audioactive Production StudioWanna good mp3 encoder??? this is so far, the best I've come across, and the cheapest. While a lot of the decent ones are in the hundreds of dollars, their production studio "lite" version which uses the professional fraunhofer codec is $59 US..which is quite cheap, and works quite well...they ALSO HAVE FREE PLAYERS FOR WIN 95, WIN 3.1 and MAC that look virtually identical to winplay 3, so download MY versions of winplay 3, or go here...you have a choice.
MP3
Producer Pro FREEWARE EDITION on this server! Next To Audioactive, This is
one of the best encoders out there..and IT'S FREE..according to the sites
webmaster, it's NOT WAREZ, so all i can say is that if it's FREE it's for
ME...... and you of course!!!! GO TO THE ACTUAL PAGE if you so choose!! It's a great quality encoder!!! I also
like to mention that I download it myself. and that I have no problem installing
it, and it works quite well. Please feel free to drop me a line if
you need help regarding encoding rates, or the "MP3's for Dummies" at
the above link to Mp3.com (no offense!!!), will do wonders in that capacity
too.
MPECKER MP3 ENCODER FOR MACSWell, wouldn't want those with MACS to not make their own mp3's, this, so far is the best site I have found for Mpecker..which seems to be the best mp3 encoder for Macs..if you have any other sites, drop me a line..I'll have to work on mp3 encoders for other operating systems...or, again, if you know of any, I would appreciate it if you could give me a hand and drop me a e-mail to assist! thks!
VQF ENCODER Well...I mentioned VQF as
the competitor of Mp3 in the players section...WHAT? you didn't READ that
part?? shame on you...you lazy person...hahahahahaha!! but heck, I thought
it was appropiate to put a link here too, as they have the encoder on the
same web site...will VQF got the way of the 8 track, Digital Compact Cassette,
or the consumer Beta Video format? hard to tell..but give it a try!
REAL AUDIO ENCODER 5.0 If you are looking for a Real Audio Encoder...here it is! I have looked for one off the real audio site, but it seems they are desperate to flog their new G2 player in your face, that a free encoder is sort of hiding on their site but why go there??......here's the freeware encoder that works rather well, that I got off the real site a few months back. it converts from wavs to real audio...FOR WIN 95 ONLY...sorry!!!!! I'll be looking for other formats soon.
If you prefer to play with various Mp3 Encoders (you don't wanna take my
advice?? BOO HOO!!!! sniff sniff.....hahahaha!!) here's a direct link to
the encoders page on mp3.com. with various freeware and shareware encoders.
there's also numerous encoders on the pages within the links of my other
audio links section.
WINPLAY SHELL 1.4 Here's a neat little program that adds numerous features to winplay 3, like a play list, mp3 tag reader, and other features..called "Winplay-Shell"(170k). No more will Winamp have this advantage over Winplay, and the nice thing is it's FREE...well..ok, the author would like a postcard if you use it and like it....call it "postcardware" or I call it "so cheap even I can afford it" ware..hahaha!!! whatever, go get it!!!! it's on my site, or take the link to the winplay shell home page, and grab it from there! WINPLAY SHELL HOME PAGE
Here's a useful tool, a program called "WAV4MP3" which basically rewrites the mp3 file to a "mp3wav" which is a sort of a hybrid of both in the fact that it has all the compression values of a mp3, but can be used within a WAV editor, like SOUND FORGE, GOLDWAVE, or COOL EDIT. the only drawback, is that you NEED the fraunhofer codec installed within your computer for mp3wavs to work so go to this web site to get it!!! L3CODEC If you DO have the codec installed, please go get WAV4MP3 NOW!!!
REAL AUDIO TO WAV FILE CONVERTER here's a little FREEWARE program called "Ra2Wav" which easily converts RealAudio files to wav files for use within a audio editor. lots of people are asking on newsgroups how to convert real audio to wav, so I think it makes since to put this program up...as I got it off a shareware site. this is a beta version, but works great...ENJOY!!!!
TRIPLE DECK CART MACHINE FOR WINDOWS 95With a Broadcasting Background, I found a neat WAV player that looks and acts like a Broadcast Cartridge Deck...or in England, they call them "Jingle Machines" The Broadcast Cartridge is the Forerunner of the "8 Track" though far more dependable..and if you have seen recent TV shows or movie with Radio Studios and racks of "tapes" on the wall, or else where, chances are, it was "carts" as they are called in the biz....While I cannot give you a "cart" tape deck (HECK..I'm looking for a recorder myself!!) I CAN give you a "virtual" cart player that will play wavs...just found this..I have it installed myself...works great..and it's FREEWARE!!!!!! which is about 720k and works well!!!!!
FREE DJ
Wanna play with MIDI's???? FREE DJ is
a offering from the folks of VIRTUAL DJ that is initially set up to play
midi's, but you can configure it seems, to play just about anything. looks
a lot like the windows media player, but with a playlist program attached.
I think it's meant to wet your appetite for virtual dj, which...you have
to pay money for to license...regardless, go ahead and see for yourself!!!
Are you one of those people who is TRYING to rip CD's, but having a hell of a time trying to get software working with your CD-ROM drive? lots of ripper software is quite a pain with that situation. I have a 2X CD-ROM..YEAH OK..I'm too cheap to upgrade..next upgrade I get though is a CD BURNER, but anyways, if you are ready to thrown the ole comp off the top of a building trying to get a ripper program to work, try SPEEDY it is a glorified wav recorder, that rips the CD cut in real time, but the great thing is, it is virtually noiseless, compared to just recording a wav through a wav editor like Cool Edit or Sound Forge (been there...done that..PUHLEASE...NOT AGAIN!!!) and if it works with my two spin, it will work with any CD-ROM drive. Drawbacks? well...the price..$99 for this is a bit expensive, regardless of targetting the broadcast market, but the time limit demo is FREE..which will fully function for 8 minutes...more than enough time to at least rip one average song..and I don't know about you, but when NOTHING else will work, this little demo, regardless of one song on not, can be a life saver....it was for me! just click the speedy logo, to hit the site!
Well, lots of people are rippin CD's, but what about other formats??? like cassette??? lotsa people have them still..they are cheap, and the players recorders can be had anywhere, so obviously some people are taking this mp3 thing to the next step. This subject also has been asked numerous times on the Newsgroups, SO, to save the hassle of retyping and such, i've written a little tutorial on how to convert your cassettes to mp3's and vice versa to some degree, in an effort to educate the people who want to...not to mention get more hits for my site..hahahaha..well, can ya blame me? why not? anyways, to make it compatible, it is a txt file, stored in a zip file, for downloadable purposes...pretty small..about 2 k..and hopefully you will put it to good use!!!!I've also included a tutorial on how to get more out of your cassette deck as far as quality is concerned, and a straight vinyl to mp3 tutorial!!! enjoy!
CASSETTE/VINYL TO MP3 TUTORIALS
here's some useful links for audio players off of winsite, a shareware/freeware site devoted to windows(my apologies to those with MACS...if there is a similar all in one site, please drop me a line on this, as I have yet to find one!!) Anyways...these three links off of Winsite are devoted to Mpeg Audio Players and encoders, in addition to Wav Editors, and a pile of other stuff dealing with audio on your computer...so...
WINDOWS 95 MPEG AUDIO PLAYERS AND EDITORS
WINDOWS 95 MULTI PURPOSE PLAYERS..etc
WINDOWS 95 WAV RECORDERS & EDITORS
just a note too, that for WINDOWS 3.1, I have yet to find much, but give me time..if you want to look for yourself, here's a link to the winfiles homesite, which has numerous things on windows 3.1, though I cannot say yet what audio editors are available WINSITE.COM
well...after a rather interesting comment from a Brian Keith Gray in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, who also put a link on his page to this one (Hey..Thanks!!! I'll let my head get large...NOT..TOO many of those people in life!!) I will do my best to try to keep this a "One Stop Shop" for links and software to internet audio formats...(gees, I wish I could put a open reel to download....though that would be rather large, not to mention HEAVY!!!...OH WELL...grab the virtual cart machine if ya want!!) If you know of some that I have missed, drop me a line, and I'll put it up here. I am NOT perfect...so like anyone, I miss stuff, so let me know if there is something out there. I always have loved Audio Technology, and probably always will...hell, I'd rather TAPE and concert (preferably off the soundboard!!) and take it home and listen to it then actually enjoy one live...sick eh??????
