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MP3 Player Reviews

December 3, 2011 By

To understand most MP3 Reviews you will need to understand just what you most want from it- and then you can choose the player for you. Choosing an MP3 player is difficult enough and going on price alone is unlikely to make you satisfied with your purchase.  MP3 Player information- the following factors should be taken into account when choosing your new MP3 Player.

1)      Is listening to music the most important to you ?

Then you need to look for reviews that give particular players MP3 best sound quality, and you’ll also probably need to consider some better headphones than supplied with the player.

2)      Do you want to play videos as well as listen to music ?

If you really want to enjoy watching videos on you MP3 player you’ll need to choose an MP3 Player with a large screen and good display. You’ll also need a larger memory size than some of the cheaper models have.

3)      Will this MP3 need to store your whole music collection ?

If the MP3 player is to be your only device to play your music and you will be storing all your collection on it you will need a large memory. – memory size can vary from 2GB to the massive 160GB of the iPod classic’s 160GB (enough for 35,000 songs give or take a few!).

4)      Size: Do you want to use your MP3 player while running or at the gym?

Most MP3 players are pretty small but really teeny ones either built into headphones or like a small biscuit to clip onto your clothes are good for use whilst exercising though their music quality will not be brilliant (though unlikely to be crucial given the grunts and internal wheezes some of us emit at the gym).

5)      MP3  battery life

MP3 battery life varies a great deal, and keep having to re-charge your player can be very annoying . One or two will last over 50 hours and some not more than a few hours

6)      MP3 Player FM Radio

Some MP3 players come with a FM radio and some don’t – even the smaller or cheaper MP3 players can have this facility and some more expensive ones may not.

7)      Cost of MP3 Players

After you have checked all the functions you need then you are able to work out what to pay. Varying from around £160 to £20 there are choices within this wide range. Don’t rush into a choice.

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Choosing audio speakers

October 25, 2011 By

Choosing speakers for your home whether for a stand-alone HI-FI stereo system, a home cinema system or a surround sound system is a really crucial decision affecting your listening pleasure. The speakers moderate the sound to your ears and so you need to listen to speakers and find the ones you like best. Speakers are a very personal choice and you need to listen to a number of different kinds listening to the same music. It should be a nice balanced sound that you can listen to for a long period and not have some characteristics that you think may jade you after a time. Then there are the kinds of speakers: to put on the floor, on a bookshelf, satellite speakers, on or in the wall etc.  You may want your speakers large enough to make a statement or you can have in-ceiling and in-wall speakers painted to blend in with your decor, and yet still wonderfully reproduce your favourite type of music. Specialist companies installing your speakers may offer to cover the speaker with fabric to match your interior design, and the subwoofers fitted under your furniture. An important consideration is matching speaker systems with the amplifier or receiver which should have the right amount of power to drive the speakers to give optimum performances.

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Home Audio Systems

September 22, 2011 By

Home audio has been at the front of some of the greatest developments in technology. First there were the first record players in the 1960’s then the more sophisticated hi-fi audio systems of the 1980s, and through the rise and fall of audio tape and CD players, there has been constant development. Home audio has been mainly focussed on music and sound production in a particular room in the house, though the household may well have a range of equipment capable of playing music to different standards. The Hi Fi home audio system has been developed for those who have an appreciation of the clarity and quality of sound reproduction who want to be able to hear their music – whatever genre, whether rock or classical, electronic or folk, jazz or country –as multi-layered sound, without hiss or distortion or other annoying overlays on the sound. Nowadays there are so many types of technical audio equipment available – now much smaller but still very pricy for high-end music quality- that individuals have many choices. Many now choose to have a small portable player which then docks into a fixed station in their living room, but even these devices vary widely in specification and price. Technically much more sophisticated we can enjoy rich stereo sound from the smallest of speakers attached to the smallest of devices!

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Audio visual equipment – Hi Fi Surround sound

September 13, 2011 By

At one time it was amazing just to hear scratchy wheezy sounds played from a wax disk, then even more amazing to hear much clearer sounds from a vinyl record played on your record deck. Then came the marvel of stereo speakers and a whole new range of audio sources and equipment to play them on. Speakers and equipment became much more sophisticated and listener’s ears with them. These stereo speakers meant, for the purist, being sat in a particular chair in the “sweet spot” to appreciate the stereo effect. Other folks sat around in other places missed out on the finer points of the music production which may not have been noticed with some types of music but with some -say jazz and classical, this could really diminish pleasure. Now there is surround sound, which involves improving the sound reproduction of an AV source by providing further multi audio channels by adding additional discrete speakers. So multi channel surround sound is perceived by the human ear as coming from all round the room – e.g. 3Dsound!

To achieve this surround sound in your home you need an A/V receiver – a special amplifier, and a number of speakers which are positioned around your room – usually 5 speakers (left, right, centre, left surround, right surround) and then ,for the bass frequencies, a sub woofer. It’s probably better to buy all these different elements as one package. Many systems include iPod docks and will also play audio CDs. A wireless surround sound system will look good and be easier to set up. Surround sound systems still rely on sitting in the “sweet spot” for maximum appreciation.

Filed Under: Audio Technology, Hi Fi Surround sound, Hi Fi Surround sound, Visual Technology Tagged With: , , ,