In today’s world MP3 players are the fastest and easiest way to listen to music, they are very light and are easy to carry around especially those who are on the go. However, MP3 players are substantially cheaper than CD players with advanced error-correction and anti-shock features. With so many options, it can be tough to know what MP3 players are worth shelling out the cash for – especially if you’re working on a budget. The cameras and MP3 players are fun, but the next wave of add-ons for cell phones and laptops may help users keep track of their health. Technology has progressed to so much that the hard drive MP3 players are now reaching the 100GB mark. The players with flash that are released have more memory and are on the rise. Most of the headphones that ship with MP3 players are mediocre at best. MP3 players are increasingly replacing traditional CD players there.
You can create standard Audio CD that can be played in regular CD players as well as MP3 data CD that can be played in portable MP3 players and DVD players. You are able to keep many songs on the these small players, some even as much as 100 tracks of quality audio. Most players can support the following formats mp3, wmv and mp4.
Controls and displays are comparable to portable MP3 players, and you can group songs on each disc according to artist, genre, and other categories. Many portable MP3 Players can double as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). A portable digital audio player sets your music free so you can easily mix and match songs in any order and take the tunes with you. The small portable players can store a many cd’s and have many fantastic features, here are some of the cool features voice recording and FM tuners. With the introduction of MP3 digital audio files, music went portable as a new market sprouted up for MP3 players. Luckily, the new portable audio players are much more affordable that the home audio thearter systems. The totally new iPods have been redesigned are able to play music and play video on the same unit . Even if the iPod doesn’t do it for you, the wealth of MP3 players on the market suggests that there is something out there to suit your needs. To sum it up, only 7% of iPod users and 25% of those using other mp3 players download music illegally.
Touted as the “next big thing” in personal audio, MP3 players are the newest digital audio devices to hit the market. MP3 Players are very small and lightweight. MP3 players are very hot and many people are trading in their old walkman. MP3 Players are the best way to carry your digital music with you. MP3 players are quickly replacing Portable CD players. That shouldn’t be too surprising, because MP3 players are continuing to increase in popularity. Nowadays MP3 players are as common as walkman once were and gadgets like the Zizzle iZ and iDog are making MP3 players even more enjoyable. Portable MP3 players are no longer limited to storing and playing a few of your favorite songs. MP3 players are now tough enough to exercise; you are able to take them on jogs to the gym and even weight lifting. The three main types of MP3 players are as follows; flash players and hard drive players. Choose the right one for you.
By: David Fishman
Posts Tagged ‘Portable Mp3 Players’
Cranking the Volume on Your iPod Or MP3 Player Can Damage Hearing
November 26th, 2009
Kids have always loved listening to their favorite music, and the louder the better – much to their parents’ dismay. In the 1980s, the portable tape recorder with headphones – which came to be known as the “Walkman” – enabled teenagers to listen to their music as loud as they wanted, anywhere they wanted, without disturbing anyone around them.
But the more modern rendition of the Walkman – portable MP3 Players and iPods – pose a major threat to our children’s hearing health, and to ours.
The problem is a combination of the technology of portable digital devices that creates a non-buffered crystal clear sound, and the type of headphones typically used with them, which do not have a buffer either. In December 2005, Dean Garstecki, an audiologist and professor at Northwestern University reported that more and more young people were being diagnosed with the types of hearing loss typically found in older adults. He attributed this trend to the “earbud” type headphones that usually accompany iPod and MP3 Players. With the earbud headphones, the sound frequencies are not buffered as they are with the more traditional, ear cup-style headsets.
Newsweek Magazine recently reported that researchers at the House Ear Institute found that listeners can unfortunately increase the volume of today’s portable digital devices without the “signal distortion that occurs with traditional analog audio.” The older-model headphones that were popular just 15 to 20 years ago – that have ear cups outside of the ears – had that distortion when the volume was turned up, which functioned as a much-needed buffer to protect our hearing. Today’s technology does not provide that buffer – the earpiece is placed in the ear, not outside of it, and the digital devices do not create that distortion, no matter how high the volume.
In addition, people often listen to these devices while they are on the go, and have a tendency to crank the volume in an attempt to drown outside noise, further posing a risk to our hearing. Using the earbud style headphones during activities such as exercise, for example, puts the user at a greater risk. During exercise, blood, which can act as a buffer, is diverted from the ears to other parts of the body – so our already vulnerable hearing is in even more jeopardy.
Headwize reports that a study conducted on music listeners using headphones revealed that while indoors with no background noise, the participants were comfortable with their music at 69 decibels. Outdoors, where the background noise was recorded at 65 decibels, participants using their headphones turned the volume up to 82 decibels and as high as 95 decibels to drown out the surrounding noise. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines limit exposure to noise at this level to no more than four hours each day. The study concluded that the participants were at risk for hearing damage and recommended “avoiding continuous use of [portable stereos] in noisy conditions.”
Northwestern University’s Dean Garstecki offers more specific guidelines: His 60 percent/60 minute rule – listen to MP3 Players and iPods for “about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume.” The problem is, most of the population using headphones – young music fans – listen to their music for much longer than one hour per day. But, you can help minimize hearing loss, damage and problems while listening to your favorite music as long as you want to – the secret is in the headphones.
Headphones such as the EX29 Extreme Isolation Noise Reduction Headphones help block out external noise allowing you to hear the fine details of your music without blowing out your ear drums. The ear cup fits over the ear, and not in it, and the headphones are lightweight, don’t require batteries and can be used with your MP3 Player or iPod. With 29 decibels of isolation from outside sound, the quiet headphones block outside noise and there is no need to crank the volume of your music.
Aging rock stars like the Who’s Pete Townsend, who has some permanent hearing loss from years of exposure to loud music, and Mick Fleetwood, who has teamed up with Energizer batteries to promote hearing loss prevention, have brought public attention to the fact that many of us take our hearing for granted. But there’s no need to turn off your music – just be smarter about how you listen to it. If you are using your MP3 Player or iPod when you’re exercising, in a noisy environment or you just want to hear the fine details of your music, ditch the earbud headphones and reach for a set of noise reduction ones instead. And you’ll be enjoying your favorite music for a long time to come.
By: Lee Blue
