MP3: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 3. Getting and Playing MP3 Files

At bottom, playing MP3 files is no more difficult than opening any file in any application. In fact, it’s usually little more than a simple matter of drag and drop. There are, however, literally hundreds of different MP3 players out there, all of them with specific differences, features, and quirks. There are also a few considerations to keep in mind when building an MP3-optimized computer/sound system, and of course there’s the question of how to get MP3 files to begin with, not to mention how to organize them once you’ve got them. In this chapter, we’ll get an overview of the best/most popular MP3 players available for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and BeOS, and discuss some of their more important options and features. We’ll save the more advanced functions and features for Chapter 4.

Of course, before you hear the first note, you’ll have to get your hands on a starter MP3 file or two. You’ll find a basic introduction to MP3 download concepts in Chapter 1, and we’ll treat the subject in much more detail in Section 3.3, later in this chapter.

Choosing and Using an MP3 Player

At this writing, there are several hundred different MP3 players out there, with new ones appearing practically on a weekly basis. While the lion’s share of players exist only for the Microsoft Windows platform, there are great players for Mac OS, Unix/Linux, and BeOS as well (of course there are players for just about every audio-capable operating system in existence, but ...