About MP3 and Audio Messages

With this web page, we attempt to explain MP3 and its applications in listening to audio messages.  Because of its significant advantages over conventional audio tapes, we are recommending MP3 to everyone who listens to audio messages.

There is no need to read everything on this page in order to be able to listen to MP3 messages.  Please choose from the following progressive sections that may be relevant to your needs:

1.  I heard about "MP3", but tell me more about its use and advantages

2.  I just wanted to listen to MP3 messages on my computer

3.  I want to listen to MP3 messages on a portable player

4.  I am particularly interested in listening to MP3 messages in a car

5.  So, which portable MP3 player should I get then?

6.  I just need a CD player that can play MP3

7.  I am getting an iPod

8.  I  am okay with equipment, but would like to know how to manage multiple messages

9.  I am okay with equipment, but would like to know more about making MP3 recordings

1010.  I am all set with my equipment, but want to know where to get good MP3 audio messages

 

 

 

1.  MP3 files and MP3 Players for Audio Messages

 

If you are not familiar with MP3, the first thing you need to know is that your regular CD player cannot play MP3 files even if you burn the files on a CD. These are two entirely different data formats. You need an MP3 player to play MP3 files. 

Do not try to convert MP3 files to regular audio CD data and burn them on a CD to be played on your regular CD player. Doing that conversion is not a good idea and hardly worth trying. If anything, you should be doing the opposite. For more information about MP3 players, please read the next section "Which MP3 player to get?" 

The popularity of MP3 with young music fans has made MP3 almost a synonym of "music of the new generation." But MP3 isn't just for music. Due to its great data capacity and convenience, MP3 has become a wonderful way to listen to audio messages. MP3 saves the trouble of having to manage numerous cassette tapes. For example, a compact disc (CD) is capable of holding 40-100 hours of messages in MP3, making it possible to have an entire audio Bible on a single CD (or two CDs with higher sound quality). In contrast, the same CD would be capable of holding no more than 80 minutes of audio in conventional audio format, which is not compressible. 

In other words, properly compressed MP3 has a data capacity more than 50 times that of a regular CD or a tape. Flash memory-based and hard drive-based MP3 players have even greater data storage capacities. The MP3 advantage is evident.

In fact, as far as listening to audio messages is concerned, the capacity of the current MP3 players has probably already surpassed what is ever needed by even a very demanding user. Unless you will be using the player for other purposes such as large library for high-quality music, photos and videos, it is very hard to see much benefit for a player having a storage beyond 2GB. A 2GB player would hold almost 200 hours of messages at one time, which is probably worth a year of non-repeating listening for a regular listener, and many years for an infrequent listener. And unlike tapes, the content of an MP3 player can be changed and updated anytime with a very high level of flexibility. So if you don't mind doing frequent updates, you may do just fine with an MP3 player with 256MB.

There are several different ways to listen to MP3 messages:

(1) Playing downloaded or pre-recorded MP3 messages on a computer. 

(2) Playing on a portable MP3 player. 

(3) Playing MP3 in a properly equipped car.

(4) Playing on a home stereo having MP3 playing capability. 

(5) Playing directly on the Internet. 

Among the above, the first four methods are preferred because they allow for much better flexibility, reliability and organization. For example, a group of messages can be downloaded together, stored and organized in an appropriate way for subsequent listening.  This will be explained in more detail below.

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2. Playing MP3 on a Computer

Playing MP3 on a computer usually requires no additional equipment. If you have a relatively newer computer, the chances are that it already has everything to play MP3. 

The most common problem people run into isn't in getting the computer to play MP3, but how to create and manage playlists of multiple messages. This is discussed in further detail in a section on how to manage multiple messages.

To play MP3, your computer must have a media player software installed. Most Windows-based PCs have Microsoft Media Player preinstalled.  But other free programs such as iTunes and Real Player can be used.

We highly recommend Apple's iTunes over other options for its clean interface, clever file and playlist management, and built-in file conversion.  Some may be under an impression that iTunes is for iPod users only. This is not true. While iTunes does work perfectly with iPod, it is also a standalone media player. iTunes now has versions compatible with both Windows-based PCs and Macs and can be downloaded free from Apple. 

Important tip: Media players installed on computers are software players rather than hardware players (such as a CD player). Therefore, even though the MP3 messages may come on a CD, you don't need to play them using a CD player on your computer. In fact, it is better to copy the entire CD to a directory on your hard drive and play the messages from there directly. Doing so not only saves the trouble of looking for the CD every time, but is also much quieter, being free of the noise of a spinning CD. With iTunes, in particular, all your MP3 files are organized in a virtual "library" on your hard drive. You generate ad hoc playlists from the library for your changing needs. This is a far better way than organizing a bunch of CDs or tapes.

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3.  Playing MP3 on a Portable MP3 Player

In many people's mind the term "MP3" is automatically associated with a computer. But this isn't, at least no longer, the case. In the recent years, portable MP3 players have become mainstream in consumer electronics, and are now the primary venue for playing MP3. Portable MP3 players offer more flexibility and mobility, including the ability to listen when walking, jogging or driving. 

There are a variety of portable MP3 players available, but as discussed in further detail below, not all of them are suitable for playing audio messages.  When choosing a portable MP3 player for playing audio messages, the single most important consideration is to check if the MP3 player has a "resume" function that allows the player to resume from exactly where you stopped last time. At the present time (2006), this consideration seriously limits the selection of MP3 players for audio messages. Because MP3 players in the market are primarily made for leisure music listeners, the manufacturers have not paid much attention to the resume function. But this situation seems to be changing with the new models that are coming out. For more information, please read the section on choosing MP3 players for audio messages.

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4.  Playing MP3 in a Car

You can listen to MP3 messages in a properly equipped car using the sound system of the car. This has many advantages over playing conventional audiotapes. First, MP3 players have a much greater capacity than audiotapes.  A single MP3 CD can be an equivalent of 40-80 audiotapes, and MP3 players based on flash memory or a hard disk have even greater capacities, saving the trouble of carrying and managing a lot of tapes in the car. Second, playing an MP3 player in a car is safer than playing tapes because it virtually eliminates the hassle of changing recording medium while driving.  

Presently (as of year 2006), few cars are equipped with MP3 capability. Many people intuitively think because their car has a CD player, it ought to be able to play any audio data recorded on a CD. As discussed above, this isn't true. Most CD players preinstalled in cars don't have MP3 capability. 

Even for those cars that are MP3 capable, the equipped MP3 player may lack a proper "resume function" critical for listening to audio messages. 

To solve these problems, you need to adapt a separate portable MP3 player to your car's audio system. Note that this is not to adapt your built-in regular CD player to MP3, which simply cannot be done.  You need to get a separate portable MP3 player (any type of a MP3 player, not necessarily a CD-based MP3 player).

The general mechanism of adaptation is quite simple as illustrated in the following signal path and device connection: 

As illustrated above, a portable MP3 player is used as a source to feed audio signal to a car adapter (see below); the car adapter adapts the signal and then inputs the adapted signal to the audio system of the car. 

Although not required, you may also use a power adapter to power the portable MP3 player by the car (typically through a cigarette lighter) instead of by batteries.  Conceptually, signal adaptation and power adaptation are two separate components, but they are often sold in the same package. If not, just remember that signal adaptation is necessary while the power adaptation is optional.

As discussed below, the trick lies in the selection of a suitable adapter.  There are two basic schemes to adapt a portable MP3 player to your car:

(i) cassette adapter: if your car has a cassette player, the easiest way to go about this is to use a cassette adapter to adapt a portable MP3 player to your car stereo.  Cassette adapters specifically designed for this purpose may be purchased either separately or as a package component with the MP3 player.  Sony's car-ready MP3 CD players, for example, come with a cassette adapter for this purpose. 

A cassette adapter of this kind looks very much like an ordinary cassette tape (the tape itself, not the player) but has a wire lead for signal. The wire lead typically ends with a mini plug that is standard for plugging into a signal jack of a consumer electronic device (the MP3 player in this case). To play, the cassette adapter itself is inserted into the cassette player just like you normally would with a regular tape. You make all the connections as illustrated above and start to play both the cassette player and the MP3 player simultaneously.  In this manner, the MP3 player feeds the signal to the cassette adapter, which in turn feeds the adapted signal to the car cassette player, which then produces the sound as if the cassette player were playing a regular tape (except that the audio signal isn't from an actual magnetic strip in a regular cassette tape, but from the MP3 player). 

Apparently, this setup requires that your car has a cassette tape player in the first place. Of course, you also need an MP3 player (such as an MP3-capable CD player or any other suitable portable MP3 player) because traditional CD players do not work with MP3 files. 

(ii) FM radio adapter:  An alternative way is to use an FM radio adapter if your car doesn't have a cassette player. This is similar to using a cassette adapter except that the sound from the portable MP3 player is input to the FM radio adapter which then broadcasts an FM radio signal to be picked up by the car FM radio. FM radio adapters are less common than cassette adapters but can be found in stores, particularly if you search online. FM radio adapters tend to be slightly more expensive than cassette adapters, but still quite affordable, usually costing around $30 each (not including the portable MP3 player). 

Generally, if your car has a tape player, a cassette adapter is preferred to an FM radio adapter. This is especially true if you live in a large city where there is plenty of FM interference to make FM radio adapters a challenge to use.

In principle, any portable MP3 player can be adapted to a car. But MP3 CD players are generally the least expensive (further information). The total cost for a portable MP3 CD player and a required adapter together is generally under $100 and thus a fairly affordable solution. Combo packages including both required units are common and usually even cheaper. 

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Other methods for playing MP3:

Playing MP3 on a home stereo - More and more home stereos, especially mini systems, have a CD player that is also able to play MP3 CDs. If you happen to be shopping for a mini home stereo, it may be a good idea to look for this feature.

Playing directly on Internet -This is not recommended even if you have broadband access.  It can be unpredictable and also hard to manage. If you listen to a message more than once using this method, it also unnecessarily increases the burden on the host server and its bandwidth because you would be downloading the same message repetitively. In addition, not all MP3 messages on all web sites can be played directly on the Internet. To do that, the web site must have proper audio-streaming capability.

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5.  Which MP3 Player to Get?

If you don't have time to read the details below, just take this from this article:  one of the best portable MP3 players for audio messages is iAudio U3, which is arguably even better than Apple iPod Nano, although both do a fine job and are better than most other players.

If you are buying an MP3 player to play audio messages, don't assume that the purchase is as simple as just going out to get the coolest MP3 player. Not every MP3 player works well for playing audio messages. We suggest that you carefully read the information below before you choose an MP3 player.

 

(i)  Resume function is a necessity

 When choosing a portable MP3 player for playing audio messages (instead of music), the single most important feature to check is whether the MP3 player can resume from exactly where you left off last time. For listening to audio messages, you need an MP3 player that behaves like a traditional tape player which always picks up where you stopped last time.

At the time of this writing (2006), surprisingly many MP3 players in the market do not satisfy this simple requirement. Some players may be excellent players for music, but impractical for listening to long audio messages. It is as if much of the industry for making MP3 players has not grown out of a "teenager mentality" and remains oblivious to a whole segment of mature use of the technology. The good news is that the situation seems to be changing for the better with the new players that are coming out. It is very likely that by 2007 this will become much less a concern.

Here is the specific problem. Many MP3 players start from the beginning of a record (corresponding to a separate MP3 file), or even the beginning of the entire volume, each time you start it. This may be fine for leisure music listeners, but poses a serious problem for listening to long messages which you don't always finish at once. When you stop in the middle of a message, you would need to pick up at the same place the next time. This is a particularly common situation when you listen to messages in a mobile situation such as in a car. An MP3 player that does not have a proper resume function would be frustrating at the minimum, or simply unusable in practice.

Most portable MP3 players have a "pause/play" function, but this may not be the same as a real "resume" function. With "pause/play", the player pauses when you press the "pause/play" button, and resumes from where you paused when you press the "pause/play" button again. Sounds simple and useful, but on many players the pause is fragile and not reliable.

First, such "pause" status may be lost whenever you leave the audio track (the audio message you listen to what example) and navigate to another item on the player's menu. That is, you essentially have to lock yourself into doing a single thing on the player and never leave the audio track you're listening to, otherwise the player will not remember where you have paused.

Second, on many if not most MP3 players, the pause/play function works only when you pause the player but not when you actually stop or turn off the player. Once you completely stop or turn off the player, the player forgets its previous location. This can be problematic because you often do need to turn off the player, particularly if you plan not to use the player for quite some time. In addition, the fact that portable MP3 players are most likely to be used as a pocket player carried around makes this problem even more pronounced, because a "paused" player can be accidentally restarted without your knowledge when a key is touched by accident. Some players such as iPod Nano allow you to lock the keys using a holding mode. This helps, but because holding mode drains the battery, it cannot be used as a substitute of turning off the player.

There are MP3 players that may claim to have a "resume" function but are misleading. On some of these players, pressing that “resume” button resumes at the beginning of the message (an equivalence of a sound track in music), not the exact point which you have left at. In other words, the resume button automatically brings you to the right track (message), but not to the right point within the track. This still makes listening to long messages impractical. 

There are also MP3 players that have a quite sophisticated "bookmarking" function to allow you to set bookmark points within a track for easy location.  This could also be misleading because many of these players, despite having a sophisticated bookmarking function, would not perform a simple "just-start-where-I-stopped-last-time" resume function. Bookmarking could be used as a workaround for the resume function and therefore is better than nothing, but it is cumbersome to use because it requires you to go through a procedure of multiple steps each time when you stop listening in order to resume next time.

Documentations of the MP3 players usually do not have enough detail to tell you what the player actually does. Salespeople generally also lack such specific knowledge because stores mostly cater for music listeners.

So far, we have identified the following portable MP3 players that have a proper resume function for listening to MP3 audio messages:

(a) Apple iPod Nano - This is a good but not perfect choice for playing audio messages. As popular as iPod is, these players unfortunately don't have a true "hard" resume function. The iPod Shuffle is probably the worst among the iPods because it always forgets its position whenever it you turn off the player. The iPod Nano behaves differently and is better than the Shuffle. The Nano does have a resume function which allows the player to resume at exactly where it was left off, even when you turn off the player and turn it back on again. However, the resume function on iPod Nano isn't as reliable as it should be. It requires you to stay on the playing mode of the same track you are playing and never leave it. Whenever you navigate to a different item on the iPod menu, the player immediately forgets its position. We do not know how the hard drive-based iPod behave in this respect, but they are probably not any better than the Nano.

 However, with all iPods, there is an option to convert MP3 audio files into Apple's audio book format (.m4a file extension).  With .m4a files, all iPods have a highly reliable resume function. This benefit unfortunately comes with a good deal of inconvenience involving file conversion. For more detail, see the section "How to use an iPod to listen to audio messages".

As a player itself, iPod Nano faces serious challenges from some other players such as Cowon iAudio and SanDisk Sansa (see below). But one of the strengths of iPod is its seamless integration with iTunes for superior user interface, playlist management, and file conversions. Another advantage of iPod is that it tends to be much faster in startup and other operations than most other players, including the iAudio and Sansa described below. iPod is nearly instantaneous in doing almost everything.

(b) Cowon iAudio - Although a newcomer, Cowon's iAudio digital media players are quickly recognized by many as one of the best on the market. We found these players to be particularly good for playing long audio messages. These players are more feature-rich than a comparable iPod, but that is not the primary reason for our recommendation. Our recommendation is mainly based on their excellent resume function suited for playing long audio messages. At least iAudio U2, U3 and F2 (flash memory-based models), X5 and M5 (hard drive-based models) all have a highly reliable resume function, better than that of iPod.

Notably, the resume function on iAudio needs to be selected by the user in the advanced menu settings. The menu setting may not be obvious to a new user, but it is a good design because it allows customization by the individual user. Once set, it sticks to that setting and works reliably.

In addition, some Cowon iAudio models (such as U3, X5V and M5) also have advanced features such as voice recording with a built-in microphone, line-in instrument recording, timed sleep function (for those who have a habit of falling into sleep during night while listening), and user-selectable auto-play (to automatically start playing from where you left off last time when you turn on the player again, without requiring to press any other buttons).

Another desirable feature of iAudio players is that they are recognized by your PC or Mac as a regular storage drive without installing any software or changing any special settings in the player.

For playing audio messages, the flash memory-based iAudio U2 and U3 are probably better choices than the hard drive-based iAudio X5 and M5.  For types of different MP3 players, see details here.

(c) Sandisk Sansa e200 series (e250, e260, e270 and e280), with version 1.00.12a or newer firmware. The e200 series have a resume function which allows the player to resume at exactly where it was left off, even when you turn off the player and turn it back on again. It is likely that SanDisk m200 series would do the same, but we have no direct knowledge to confirm. SanDisk e200 series are very competent for playing audio messages.

As far as the player itself is concerned, Sansa probably has better feature/price ratio than iPod Nano. One disadvantage of Sansa is that it works with Windows Media Player rather than iTunes for iPod. The user interface, playlist management and file conversion of Windows Media Player is quite different from that of iTunes and, unfortunately, not nearly as clean and clear as iTunes.  If you don't find using Windows Media Player to be a disadvantage compared to iTunes, SanDisk Sansa e200 series may be a better choice than iPod Nano for you.

Another disadvantage of Sansa is that it is noticeably slower and rougher than iPod Nano in startup and normal operation.

 Oddly enough, in order to use Sansa's resume function, you must put the MP3 audio messages under the category of music or songs instead of voice recordings. The e200 series MP3 player would not resume properly when you play a voice recording. This is probably a bug in the design because it seems clear that it is voice recordings rather than songs that truly need a resume function. But this probably shouldn't be counted as a disadvantage compared to iPod because iPod does not even have voice recorder capability.  But because the player has no way of knowing if a certain MP3 file is music or voice, it is up to the user to place the file under music/song category or voice recoding category.

(d) Sony MP3 CD players (all MP3 capable CD player models by Sony) - Among the several major brands we tried, Sony's MP3 CD players are the only MP3 CD players that have a proper resume function for listening to audio messages.  This surely is one important feature that is conspicuously missing on other MP3 CD players we have looked at.  For more details on using Sony MP3 players, see the section "How to use a Sony MP3 player to listen to audio messages".  Sony also makes MP3 music players based on flash memory, but we don't have knowledge of whether they have a proper resume function. 

We also heard that iRiver CD-based MP3 players all have a similar resume function, but do not have direct experience with these players to confirm.

Note that the Sony is a CD-based player.  For true portable use, CD-based players may not be the best choice, certainly not as good as the flash memory-based players. For details see below.

(e) Palm PDAs - If you already have a Palm PDA, the most economic (probably also the most effective) way to play MP3 audio messages is to buy and install an add-on software MP3 player for Palm.  There aren't many choices for this type of Palm software at the present time.  We recommend Pocket Tunes ($15 from palmgear.com).  On a Palm PDA, Pocket Tunes has a near perfect resume function. To do this, remember not to hit the "stop" button when you quit listening, but instead hit the "pause" button, and then turn off the Palm PDA. When you turn the Palm PDA back on the next time, hit the "play" button in Pocket Tunes, the player will resume from exactly where you stopped last time. This really is a virtue of the Palm operating system, instead of the software itself. Regardless, this is a great combination to play MP3 audio messages. But you need a complete set for this to work. In addition to the PDA itself and the add-on software, the following items are probably also necessary:

- an add-on flash memory card of at least 128MB storage capacity; and

- headphone adapter for your Palm PDA if you don't already have special headphone made for Palm.  Without an adapter, your regular earphones for stereo are unlikely to be compatible with the Palm PDA because of the different sizes of the plugs.

(f)  Other players -The following is a list of MP3 players that, according to other users, have a proper resume function, but we have no direct knowledge to confirm:

1.  iRiver CD-based MP3 players (don't know about other types of iRiver MP3 players)

2.  Rio MP3 players (both hard disk models and flash memory models). These players are discontinued and, according to many users, may have reliability issues.

3.  Creative Zen V, Zen V Plus, and Zen Nano Plus

4.  Samsung YP-MT6Z

5.  Software-based Viking Mp3Player installed on Nokia cell phones

Let us know if you have new findings.

  

(ii)  Which type of MP3 players are preferred for audio messages?

If you don't have time to read the details below, just take this from this article: we believe flash memory-based MP3 players are the best for audio messages.

There are three basic types of common portable MP3 players: (1) MP3 CD players; (2) MP3 players based on flash memory; and (3) MP3 players based on a hard disk. In addition, most PDAs are also capable of playing MP3 with special add-on software. More recently, MP3 capable cell phones also start to appear.  PDAs and cell phones technically belong to the above second type because they use a flash memory card to hold audio data, but they really are a different category of consumer products.  They are used for other purposes but just happen to be also MP3 capable. 

For portable use, we recommend flash memory MP3 players.

MP3 CD players: these have the advantage of being the most affordable.  Prices of portable MP3 CD players are now generally under $80 with a car cassette adapter. 

CD based MP3 players are quite versatile, but less portable than players based on flash memory.  To our knowledge, Sony MP3 CD players are the only MP3 CD players that have a proper resume function for listening to audio messages. 

In addition to portable MP3 CD players, some preinstalled car stereos may also have an MP3 CD player. These automobile MP3 CD players may or may not have the proper resume function. But even if they do, they may still not be the best solution for everyone.  Few people have an MP3 CD player installed in their car.  In addition, due to the existence of a large number of audio messages on tapes, a tape player in a car is still a necessity for many people regardless of whether the car has a CD player or not.  A Tape-CD-MP3 combo may be ideal but the cost might be too high.

MP3 players based on flash memory: these have the advantage of being the most portable and most reliable. Most of these players are tiny and weigh less than 1.5 oz, barely even noticeable when placed in a pocket. Furthermore, MP3 players based on flash memory are also the most reliable and the most suitable for use during exercises because they have no moving mechanical parts to break down or malfunction. 

MP3 players based on a hard disk:  these have the greatest storage capacity, typically ranging from 2 GB to 60 GB at the present time (versus 256 MB to 6 GB of players based on flash memory). 

Storage capacities of MP3 players based on flash memory or a hard disk are increasing quite rapidly with newer products. There is indication that flash memory is catching up with hard disks and may eventually dominate among the MP3 players.

Although hard disk-based players are much preferred by music fans due to their great storage capacity, these players are an overkill, or even less preferable, for listening to audio messages. Listening to audio messages and listening to music have a quite different demand for storage capacity. Audio messages remain usable even at very high compression rate (meaning small file size), while music recordings tend to demand very high specs (meaning large file size) to retain hi-fi sound quality. To have a rough idea of what storage capacity you might need, consider this reference point: an MP3 player of 1 GB flash memory will hold the entire Bible if properly compressed and still leave plenty of room for messages of several special conferences. 

In fact, for audio messages only, the capacity of current hard disk-based MP3 players is an overkill by any measure. Even for a very demanding user, 2 GB is what would be ever necessary. Unless you would use the player for other purposes such as large library for high-quality music, photos and videos, it is very hard to see any benefit for a player having a storage beyond 2 GB.

Quite importantly, if you plan to listen to messages while walking or jogging, MP3 players based on flash memory will prove to be much more reliable because they have no moving mechanical parts to break down. 

Other players:  For those who already own or are considering to purchase a PDA, buying and installing MP3 capable software on the PDA is an excellent option.  For those who are getting a new cell phone, MP3 capability may be something to shop for.

Regardless of which type you choose, your player should have a resume function for listening to audio messages. 

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6.  Use an MP3 CD Player to Listen to Audio Messages

Compared to players based on either flash memory or a hard disk, MP3 CD players are "low-tech" and very simple to operate. Generally, if you know how to operate a regular CD player, you know how to operate MP3 CD player. However, using an MP3 CD player may also have disadvantages. For example, it may be more challenging and time-consuming to burn a CD than to transfer files to an MP3 player based on either flash memory or a hard disk. CD players are also much bulkier than other type of players.

If you are buying a CD-based MP3 player, buy a Sony. Based on our experience, Sony MP3 CD players are the only MP3 CD players that have a proper resume function for you to pick up from exactly where you stopped last time. As discussed above, this is extremely important for listening to audio messages. (According to some users, iRiver MP3 CD players have the same function, but we do not have direct knowledge to confirm.)

If you plan to use the MP3 CD player in a car, get a "car-ready" combo model that comes with a proper car adapter in addition to the MP3 CD player itself.  For more information, read this previous section.

As long as it is powered and its cover closed, a Sony MP3 CD player remembers where it stopped last time and always picks up at exactly where you left, just like a tape player.  But you need to be aware of the following:

(i) To retain the resume memory function, the player must be always powered, requiring either batteries or DC power that stays on even when not in use. 

(ii) If you plan to use an MP3 CD players in a car, check first whether the DC power of the car always stays on or turns off with the engine. If you don't want to test or can't test, just assume that it does turn off with the engine because most cars are like that.  If the car's DC power turns off with the engine, it is then necessary to install a set of fresh batteries in the MP3 CD player, in addition to plugging in the DC power, otherwise the player will be un-powered when the car engine is turned off and lose the memory.  With Sony MP3 CD players, there is little need to be concerned about the battery consumption in this situation. These players have an automatic power switch to allow them to draw power from the DC power as long as the DC power is present. The battery power kicks in only when the DC power is disconnected or turned off. The batteries therefore function to maintain the memory only and are not consumed for running the CD player. As a result, the batteries tend to last a long time, easily over half a year. We don't know for sure whether all Sony MP3 CD players behave the same way, but it appears to be the case based on past experience.

(iii) To use an MP3 CD player in the car, you need a proper adapter to adapt the player to the sound system of your car. For further information on using an MP3 CD player in a car, please read the section playing MP3 in a car.

For playing sequence of multiple messages,

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7.  How to use an iPod to Listen to Audio Messages

If you don't care about the resume function, you don't need to read the information below in order to use an iPod, which is among the easiest electronic devices to operate. Also, if you have an iPod Nano, you have less need to read this section but still would be benefited if you do. The Nano's resume function for playing MP3 message, although not very reliable, is usable and definitely better than Shuffle's.  However, if you want a true and "hard" resume function, which is extremely important for listening to long audio messages (as opposed to short music tracks), it may be very helpful to read the following information.

Apple iPods all have a "pause/resume" function that would pause and resume from exactly the same point. Although pretty useful, this is not a real "resume" function because it is unreliable. In general, the memory for the paused position on an iPod is immediately lost whenever you navigate away from the audio track you are playing to do other things on the iPod. It is even worse with iPod Shuffle, on which the resume works only when you "pause" the player and not when you actually stop the player or turn off the player. Once you completely stop or turn off the Shuffle, the player forgets its previous location. This can be problematic because you often do need to turn off the player, particularly if you plan not to use the player for quite some time. The fact that iPods are most likely to be used as a pocket player carried around makes this problem even more pronounced because a "paused" iPod can be accidentally restarted if any key is touched unintentionally. 

Fortunately, there is a way to get around this problem as described below:

We found that the ideal way to use an iPod to listen to audio messages is actually using Apple's audio book format (.m4a file extension) instead of MP3 format (.mp3 file extension). iPods do have a perfect resume function for playing audiobook format files with a .m4a file extension.  With .m4a files, the player always picks up where you have left even if you had turned off the iPod before you restart it. 

But because most likely you will receive audio messages in MP3, you need to convert MP3 files to .m4a files. This may sound complicated, but in reality it works pretty well. MP3 files can be easily converted to audio book files (.m4a files) using Apple's excellent free music management program iTunes.

In order to to convert MP3 files to .m4a files, the following procedure is recommended to properly set the "import" parameters under "preferences" in iTunes:

(1) Open iTunes.

(2) Click "edit" on menu, and go to "preferences".

(3) Click submenu "Importing", under which choose Apple's AAC encoder, and choose setting "custom", within which select "mono" mode.  We recommend "40 kbps" for bit rate and "auto" for sampling rate, but any setting above that should work (only would result in larger file sizes).

(4) Click "OK" to finish setting "preferences".

The above steps are a onetime exercise.  Once set, there is no reason to repeat next time unless you want to have the setting changed.

To make a conversion, create a playlist and synchronize with the iPod, follow the following steps:

(1) Select the MP3 files in iTunes "library" you wish to convert (either single file or multiple files may be selected by highlighting the files).

(2) Right-click the mouse and select "convert selection to AAC".  The selected files will be converted to .m4a files.  Depending on the file size and the speed of your computer, this may take a while.

(3) In iTunes, make a playlist of the .m4a files you just created.

(4) Connect your iPod with your computer, and update the iPod using the playlist you just created.  Your iPod can now play the files in the .m4a playlist with a perfect resume function.

The iPod thus updated will have a perfect resume function for listening to audio messages in the playlist you created. But please note that doing the above only affects the particular playlist you have just created.  It does not permanently change the behavior of the iPod itself. That is, if you update the iPod later with an ordinary MP3 file playlist, the iPod will not have the resume function when playing the MP3 files in the new playlist.

With multiple messages, iPod determines the playing order of multiple tracks (messages in our case here) based on a concept of "playlists", which are generated on a computer using iPod companion iTunes, which is superbly designed for this purpose. 

For Apple iPod Shuffle users, it is important to note that there is a switch on the Shuffle to change between "random playing sequence" and "in order sequence". It is probably more sensible to switch to "in order sequence" and let the player play according to the playlist sequence you have determined in iTunes, instead of playing at a random sequence. 

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8.  Managing Multiple Messages

Many people have encountered difficulties to get MP3 players to play a group of files in a particular order.  It can be puzzling when an MP3 player would not follow the "commonsensical" order (the alphabetical order of the file names), but would seem to do things rather stubbornly or even randomly. 

It is important to understand that MP3 players generally determine the playing order of multiple tracks (messages in our case here) based on a concept of "playlists", which are generated on a computer using proper software.  Depending on the brand, playlist function can range from confusing, limited, to wonderful.

One way to create manageable playlists is to use a tagging system. Many, if not all, MP3 players (including the software players such as Windows Media Player) queue primarily according to internal "tags" built in the MP3 files instead of file names. A CD containing properly "tagged" MP3 files will play in a particular order even if you later change the file names. If you would like to change the playing sequence of a certain collection of MP3 files, you will need to edit the MP3 "tags" of the files using an appropriate program before you burn the files into the CD. 

The play sequence problem exists not only with potable MP3 players, but also when you use a software MP3 player on a computer. With a good software player, however, you may be able to create ad hoc playlists of any playing sequence that you desire without changing either the file names or "tags". Both iTunes and Windows Media Player 9.0 (or above) are capable of editing MP3 tags. 

Playlist management is probably one of the biggest strengths of iPods because their companion software iTunes is superbly designed for this purpose.  Although iTunes would also work as a stand-alone software media player on the computer, it is designed to interface and synchronize only with iPods. Users of other brands of MP3 players that require synchronization with a PC would not be able to take the full advantage of iTunes.

Importantly, however, iTunes may be used to generate and export playlists for other MP3 players. The playlist may be first exported to a folder on your computer and then transferred manually onto the MP3 player. This may not be as automatic and convenient as direct synchronization between iPod and iTunes, but it still works quite nicely as long as your MP3 player can be recognized and used as a separate storage by your computer. This adds another layer of complication which we do not wish to get into here.

But it may be worth noting that a playlist exported from iTunes (or any other software media player on your computer for that matter) can always be transferred to a writable CD (CD-R or CD-RW). The resultant CD can be used on all MP3 CD players of any brand and make. There are no compatibility issues here. Unlike MP3 players based on flash memory or a hard disk, MP3 CD players don't need synchronization. All they need is a list of files burned to a CD. 

In addition, at least Cowon's iAudio MP3 players can be recognized and used as a separate storage by the computer and thus can manually receive playlists exported from iTunes. If your MP3 player can only receive files through automatic synchronization with exclusive software, you may not be able to take advantage of the playlists created and exported by iTunes.

For Apple iPod users, see the section "How to use an iPod to listen to audio messages" for more information.

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9.  Some Technical Tips for Those Who Are Interested in Making MP3 Recordings

(i)  It is possible to create useable MP3 audio files that can hold more than 10 hour long audio messages for every 100 megabytes.  At such compression rate, a single CD would be capable of holding more than 80 hours of messages.  Doing so however is a bit tricky.  Several conditions have to be met:

(a) You first need an MP3 conversion program having a high quality MP3 codec. The quality of MP3 conversion programs can vary significantly. We have had good experiences with Apple's free iTunes and were able to make very satisfactory conversions.  iTunes is also an excellent MP3 player in addition to being an MP3 converter. In addition, unlike Windows Media Player which is primarily a video player, iTunes is a dedicated audio player, making it much more suitable for handling audio messages. A Windows version of iTunes is available from Apple for free. 

(b) For audio messages, it is best to record using single-channel (mono) mode, or if the message already comes in stereo, convert it into mono.  Not only is stereo unnecessary for audio messages, it may in fact sound less natural than mono mode. Particularly, if the original recording wasn't balanced well, audio messages in stereo mode may even sound distractingly uncomfortable.  Another benefit of using mono mode is that the resultant file size is reduced to half of its original size without suffering loss of quality.

   (c) The size of a MP3 file is determined by both byte size and sampling rate. A larger byte size and higher sampling rate will give higher sound quality but also a larger file size.  A setting of 32 bits (effectively 16 bits at mono mode) at 22k sampling rate will roughly result in a data density of 8 MB/hour. According to our experience, this is about the lowest specs one can use to create MP3 audio messages without suffering noticeable sound quality degradation. Anything lower than that would have noticeable (and even distracting) distortion, and could affect the quality of the listening experience. 20-24 bits mono may be a good choice for a general listening. In contrast, many music fans find anything lower than 128 bit unlistenable for hi-fi music.

(ii)  If you are to make a CD containing MP3 messages, you will face another challenge, which is to create a proper order in which the messages are to be played. Many, if not all, MP3 players (including the software players such as Windows Media Player) queue primarily according to internal "tags" built in the MP3 files instead of file names. A CD containing properly "tagged" MP3 files will play in a particular order even if you later change the file names. If you would like to change the playing sequence of a certain collection of MP3 files, you will need to edit the MP3 "tags" of the files using an appropriate program before you burn the files into the CD.  Both iTunes and Windows Media Player 9.0 (or above) are capable of editing MP3 tags. 

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10.  Another Resource for MP3 Audio Messages

A great number of resources are now available in MP3. One notable example is Christian Tape Ministry (www.ChristianTapeMinistry.com) maintained by brothers and sisters in Richmond, Virginia. They made available a large collection of precious messages, including that of West Coast Christian Conference (WCCC), in both MP3 and Real Audio. Praise the Lord for their excellent ministry.  

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