MP3: The Definitive Guide [Paperback]

Scot Hacker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2000

MP3, standing for MPEG-1, Layer 3, is a codec for compressing the size of audio files for digital distribution. Much more than a definition, MP3 is nothing less than a cultural and economic revolution on the Internet. Every day, hundreds of thousands of MP3 music files are searched for, shared, recorded and listened to by computer and Internet users of all kinds. Either alone or collected into massive download sites, the MP3 revolution is seriously threatening the traditional ways people find, listen to and create music. MP3 players and encoders are available for all major computer platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, Linux and BeOS. MP3 hardware players include portable players you can take with you jogging or exercising from manufactures like Sony, Diamond and Philips to home stereo and car stereo players.

MP3: The Definitive Guide introduces the power-user to just about all aspects of MP3 technology. It delves into detail on obtaining, recording, and optimizing MP3 files using both commercial, and Open Source methods. Coverage is complete for four platforms: Windows, Macintosh, Linux and BeOS. In depth chapters describe all aspects of the MP3 experience from distributing, streaming, broadcasting, converting and playing to archiving your collection. Readers will learn how to test their equipment, optimize their encoding times, evaluate their playback options, control and organize a collection, even burn their own CD's or distribute their own music to a massive worldwide audience over the Internet. In addition, the author fills readers in on the complex legal issues surrounding MP3 files. Everything you need to know to enjoy MP3 today and tomorrow is contained in this single volume.

MP3 is here to stay, and the applications for this versatile compression format are expanding exponentially along with its user base. MP3: The Definitive Guide should appeal to a broad audience of users, from the those just getting into this exciting new technology, to those who want to fully immerse themselves in the complexities and possibilities that MP3 presents.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Although O'Reilly books are not the best place to learn how to use a technology, they are excellent for polishing its finer points. Ethernet and Internet protocols are difficult by nature, but cascading style sheets and MP3s are much more accessible to beginners. All of these books are recommended for university and large public libraries; Cascading Style Sheets and MP3 will also serve well smaller public libraries.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

After earning a B.A. in Philosophy at UC Santa Cruz, Scot Hacker began writing reviews of jazz and improvised music for The Utne Reader and The Cadence Journal of Jazz and Blues before becoming a content manager and production editor at ZDNet. Hacker's interest in digital audio and fine computer systems evolved into a series of regular articles for PC Magazine, Byte.com, Windows Sources, ZDNet, Japan's ASCII magazine, and the CompuServe network, as well as television appearances and trade show gigs. Hacker is the author of O'Reilly's MP3: The Definitive Guide, Peachpit's "The BeOS Bible," and countless articles for print- and web-based technology publications. He is currently employed as Webmaster of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Contact Scot Hacker

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (May 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565926617
• ISBN-13: 978-1565926615
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,463,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Music > MP3

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the 2 best books on MP3, March 28, 2000

By 

RedOrDed (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MP3: The Definitive Guide (Paperback)

O'Reilly's habit of using the word "definitive" in their titles is very irritating - this book is excellent, but it isn't totally definitive. There are chapters on how MP3 works, how to get and play MP3 files and creating your own MP3s (including dealing with playlists and tags), various kinds of software and hardware players, webcasting and servers, and legal stuff. I will focus here on what I see as omissions, but there is much that is good about this book.

The part of this book that is bettered elsewhere is the legal stuff - the approach of Bruce Fries in "The MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook" (using case studies) is a more practical approach to what you may and may not do. However, the explanation of SDMI beginning on p.278 is lucid, and well worth a read by the denizens of the mp3.com board, where there is a debate currently raging about exactly how SDMI works.

The book is cross-platform, so the author treats Win95/98/NT (but not 2K), Linux, and the Mac and BeOS's in all chapters. In the players chapter you get pictures and descriptions of the most popular models (Sonique has an "incredibly trippy" UI) and a following chapter deals with more advanced topics like equalization, digital conversion, ID3 tags and playlists with descriptions of editors, playing MP3 streams, and skins and plug-ins.

Chapter 5 begins with encoding issues including sample rates. Once again Fries' "The MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook" does it better, with a table instead of a verbose explanation. Bit-rates are handled in several places in this book, and only mentioned in passing in this chapter, where the explanation really belongs. Fries' book has several tables on bit-rate, sound quality, and file size. The (very) brief discussion on recording streaming audio doesn't mention either TotalRecorder or Voquette - however, there is an excellent discussion of encoders in this chapter.

Chapter 6 has a cursory description of four portable players: the Rio, Nomad, Lyra and I-Jam, but a decent discussion of the different technologies used in these players. Home and car stereo players are also described, and once again the coverage is patchy - coverage of AudioRequest and the Lyndstrom Songbank, but where's the Lansonic? And where is the Raite - arguably the most talked about home player on the internet? Not a mention.

Chapter 8, on webcasting and servers, is outstanding. The author treats both the commercial sites and DIY, with the emphasis on DIY. A great resource for anyone thinking of running their own ftp, web server, or internet "radio", and working with SHOUTcast or icecast. Awesome!

So to repeat - an excellent but not definitive book - it has its faults but on the whole is a very worthwhile purchase. If you read this and then get the very latest from a message board at a site like mp3.com, you won't go far wrong.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for programmers, August 23, 2000

By 

"taskmaster" (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MP3: The Definitive Guide (Paperback)

This book will not teach you how to write applications to create mp3 files. If you want to write an encoder or decoder you should get the specification from the ISO standards site.

It does give information on how to use other peoples software and it also gives you information about the law. If you want to start sharing mp3 files or broadcast music using third party software then this book is not too bad.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The author is informed, and writes clearly., March 27, 2000

By 

John McCabe (Fair Lawn, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MP3: The Definitive Guide (Paperback)

This is the only mp3 book I've read. The reason I decided to buy it was that it was from O'Reilly & I've read Scot Hacker's other book (The Be Bible) and he describes subjects clearly.

The book covers Windows, Linux and Be (I run all three). It even has MacOS mp3 coverage.

The topic of legal issues surrounding mp3 is also brought up. Hacker was very smart to put this in because everyone, who uses mp3's, should know about what's going on with our law system.

This book is worth your time reading, not just for how to play mp3's on your OS of choice but also to be informed about a serious legal question.