Tutorial 2: What is MP3?/ Audio File Compression

The history behind MP3 format and its technology is brief and has been around for over a decade. A group of inidviduals known as the Moving Pictures Expert Group developed different compression systems for video data such as DVD's, TV broadcasts, and statellite feeds. These compression systems were developed in order to store large quantities of data in smaller spaces. They also developed a compression system for audio files called MPEG audio Layer 3, otherwise known as MP3.

In today's day and age, audio files are compressed to reduce their file sizes. The bigger an audio file is the more room it takes up on a computer's hard drive and the longer it would take the file to be downloaded off of a website. This problem created a gap. To fill this gap, MP3 formatting of audio files was created. The MP3 format reduced an audio file ten to fourteen times that of its original size. Even with this reduction in size, MP3 files still maintain a large portion of the original quality of sound in the audio file.

According to Marshall Brain, and his article " How MP3's Work", "The MP3 format is a compression system for music." What this means is that MP3 format compresses a song/audio file that is normally thrity-two meagbytes all the way down to three megabytes. This is beneficial because it allows audio files to be downloaded more quickly and once dowloaded take up less space on a hard drive. Hard drives can store up to hundreds of different MP3 audio files.

However, a cost comes with the compression of audio files. Using the MP3 format diminishes some of the original sound quality. MP3 versions of auido files do not sound the same as the originals. This is because some of the file has been removed during the compression process. The vast use of MP3's in place of the orginal files has caused music studios to change the way they mix recordings. There is no longer a concentrated focus on creating dynamic sound. It seems that the world has become used to the sound provided by the MP3 format. In conclusion, Marshall Brain explained MP3 format well by stating that, "MP3 is nothing magical. It is simnply a format that compresses a file into a smaller size so that it's easier to move around and store on your home computer or your portable music player."

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3
              http://computer.howstuffworks.com/mp31.htm#
              http://www.nzhypnosis.com/hypnosis-mp3.html
              http://www.karbosguide.com/hardware/module7d4.htm