Supported with a new Linux based operating system, the Motorola ROKR Z6 spends less time browsing and more time rocking. You can store over 1,500 MP3 music files and iTunes from and Operating System. Also, with its built in Bluetooth capability you can enjoy wireless headsets with you favourite tunes.
Now available at the OurDigitalMusic Store for about $300.00
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By 
jdupuis -- 0 comments
The new Motorola MotoROKR 8 ad-campaigns have been sweeping commercial breaks all over the world. I’ll get into what the MP3 Player/Phone is but first what this crazy commercial.
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By jdupuis -- 1 comment
It may only be a 1GB but the SanDisk Sansa Shaker 1GB is packs a punch. Playing MP3 files this player is completely expandable housing a SD slot for extra storage. The strangest feature about this MP3 Player is that you can skip through songs by holding down a button and shake the player. It also houses an internal speaker and two ear jacks for sharing music. This feature makes it interesting and fun for children. Perhaps not for teenagers but at its modest price it’s a great little toy for preteens.
Available at the OurDigitalMusic Store for $24.95
Image courtesy of Amazon.
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By jdupuis -- 0 comments
For the Bose QuietComfort TM Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headset Headphones QC1. The BOSE sound technology is unchallenged. You may have to pay a bit for a pair but they will be well worth it. The QuietComfort technology means that they have the ability to tune out background noise. What this means is that you can wear them and listen to your favourite song without background distractions like screaming children or a noisy airplane.
Image courtesy of Amazon.
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By jdupuis -- 2 comments
I think that the classic Apple iPod 80GB in Silver is my personal favourite. With 80GB you can do anything! This one is the 6th generation in iPod technology so you’ll get some added perks like a lightweight metal body and thinner than ever design. You can also get this one in 160GB for the serious music fanatics.
The 80GB version is available at the OurDigitalMusic Store for $249.00
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By jdupuis -- 0 comments
The new Zune 8GB Digital Media Player is sleek, stylish and practical! With 8GB of storage you can have over 2,000 songs, 25,000 pictures or 25 hours of video. This one comes with a 1.8 inch colour screen and features a smart Zune-to-Zune sharing capability.
Available at the OurDigitalMusic Store for $148.00
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By jdupuis -- 1 comment
64k, 96k, 128, 256k. What do they all mean? It’s simple really: the bigger the number, the higher the quality. But there is a catch: the higher the number, the larger the file size.
Just like an internet connection is rated, a music file is rated at kilobits per second, not kilobytes per second. The more kilobits you have available, the more data you can fit in the audio file. The more data you can fit in an audio file, the better sounding the song will be. Told you it’s simple.
Now then, how do you know which data rating you should go for? Well, it really depends on what you will be doing with the audio file and where you are going to be listening to it with.
A 64k audio file is usually a standard in the podcasting field. Podcasts tend to go on for over an hour, so you want people to be able to understand you but not have to download a huge file. A 90 minute podcast encoded at 128k would be 84.3MB while the same podcast encoded at 64k would only be 42MB. It would then only take half as long to download the file: something that is necessary to get your content out quickly in addition to being able to help out lower bandwidth customers.
For music, if you are limited on space, you need to compromise on quality sometimes. If all you are doing is just listening to a song on a crappy pair of earbuds (for instance, iPod earbuds), then 128k will do you just fine. If you have a pair of higher-end Bose or Shure headphones or are a complete audiophile, then go as high as you possibly can. If you are an audiophile, you might even want to go to lossless format, but that will come at a later date.
Just like marriage, music quality is all about compromises. I’d suggest ripping the song from your CDs at multiple bitrates to see which one you prefer the most. But a word of warning: do NOT re-encode a lower bitrate file to a higher bitrate one or even vice versa. If you can, always encode from the source CD.
Tags: Bitrate| 2.5 |
By Zach Flauaus -- 0 comments
For many years, MP3 has been the standard for audio storage on computers, some CD players, and MP3 players galore. When iTunes hit the mass market (basically when it hit iTunes 4 and branched to Windows), the Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) made its presence known by having it be the default codec in iTunes. And there’s good reason that Apple has set it as the default codec.
AAC files are notorious for being the same quality as a higher encoded MP3 file, not to mention a smaller file size. While an average 3 minute song in 256k MP3 format is about 5.6MB, a 128k AAC file of the same song has nearly the same quality and only weighs in at about 2.8MB. File sizes generally vary depending on how much “action” is in the song.
While AAC formats are beneficial to iPod users, you may run into problems with other and older non-Apple MP3 players. The AAC codec is has started to break through most of the players, but for those who have yet to upgrade to an iPod-compatible head unit in their car (I’m guilty) and use MP3 files on their CDs, you may not be able to play AAC songs, thus making you convert the songs to MP3 format. While it’s not hard to do (for most songs), it is a tedious process.
Just a word of warning before you do go encoding your entire MP3 library to AAC, note that re-encoding a song does take some of the quality away, so you might be best just sticking with whatever format that you may currently have.
Tags: AAC| 2.5 |
By Zach Flauaus -- 0 comments
A new series we’re going to be starting here on Our Digital Music is “The ABCs of Digital Music” where, if you didn’t guess, we’ll go through digital music terms that starts with every letter of the alphabet. Think of it as a crash course, or Cliff’s Notes, or a cheat sheet if you dare…
There is a plan lined out, but if you would like to see something additional covered here, please feel free to comment below and tell us what you think!
Tags: AAC, Digital Music, iTunes, MP3| 2.5 |
By Zach Flauaus -- 0 comments
Apple has once again released the iTunes New Music Tuesday list, and the line up is as complex as usual. Featured proudly at the top of the list is the Counting Crows with their Live from SoHo. Their description of the album:
In an ever-changing music industry where most bands are as capricious as their fickle fans, it’s rare to find a band whose absolute consistency is what makes them so great.
Also featured is Tori Amos, U2, Sugarland, and Miley Cyrus.
As always, there’s lots of new music to check out, so looks around the iTunes Store to see if any of it strikes your eye. I personally, am I looking at the U2 tracks. What about you?
Image via iTunes
Tags: iTunes Store, New Music Tuesday| 2.5 |
By Zach Flauaus -- 0 comments
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