These days, more and more users are integrating their MP3 and media players into their home stereo or home theater systems, for convenient, high-quality audio playback. Hooking up an MP3 player to high quality audio components can be a great option. The first component to look at is a pre-amplifier. A pre-amplifier is basically a control amplifier and a machine providing tone controls. Pre-amplifiers can also counteract some of the harshness of digital sound—for example, a classic tube pre-amplifier may soften the sometimes-harsh sound of digital music files.
Your pre-amplifier will work with almost any digital music player. As digital music players evolve from simple audio players to complex multimedia devices, users are finding more and more applications for them. What was once just a way of taking music with you is now invading the home as well. In addition to portable music and media players, home music and media players increasingly play formats like MP3 that were created for those desiring portable music players.
These days, music players have evolved quite a bit. Many now offer video outs, and portable music players play video on high-resolution color video displays. You can show photos transferred from your computer, and even accompany them with music. Many are full-fledged media players, offering movies, music videos, TV shows downloaded from the web and even movies taken with your camcorder. Some can even record from TV or download and share content wirelessly over a Wifi network connection.
It’s hard to look at music players to team with your pre-amplifier without looking at the Apple iPod, which has been at the epicenter of the MP3 and media player revolution. Love them or hate them, when considering digital media players, one has to acknowledge that. The apple iPod accounts for three out of every four MP3 players sold. Hardware alone doesn’t account for their dominance. While iPods test well, so do the music players from other manufacturers. Many even offer features the iPod lacks. However, Apple has created a self-contained system, which includes hardware and a combination of music player software with a music-purchasing environment. Apple has by far the largest library of online video content, which supplements iTunes’ dominance over online music sales. iTunes also offer many free downloads, including pod casts from sources like NPR. Everything works in concert with IPod.
There are, however, many other interesting sources of digital music and video, such as BuyMusic, Yahoo! Music, Napster, Rhapsody, and conventional retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. EMI and other record companies are starting to allow users to download music without copy protection from iTunes, Amazon and other online stores. Since 2007, EMI and other record companies have allowed portions of their music catalogs to be downloaded without copy protection from iTunes, Amazon and other online stores. Those unprotected songs enable consumers to share with anyone they like, whether they have iPods or players from other brands. Another plus is that those songs are recorded at a higher bit rate than the protected versions for potentially better sound and far less hassle. Users may also choose to rent content rather than own it from sites like Napster and Rhapsody, for a flat fee. If you plan on downloading a lot of music and movies, you should consider a high-speed Internet connection.
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