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Easy Listening Online - LEGALLY - Brief Article

TECHNOLOGY | DIGITAL MUSIC is the .wav of the future. Here's how to ride the trend.

DOUBTLESS YOU'VE heard of Napster, the controversial software program that lets users locate and swap digital music files on the Web. Napster has allowed more than 20 million users to download songs free, even though most of those songs are copyrighted and downloading them is, well, illegal. This has spurred the music industry to brand Napster a privateer and try to have it keelhauled in the court system.

But don't be distracted by Napster's fate. Regardless of whether (or when) Napster expires, the dawn of a New Music Era is upon us. Music lovers with a little tech savvy will flourish in this new era, obtaining a wide variety of tunes quickly and cheaply--even without breaking copyright laws. Plus, the availability of rare, unusual and out-of-stock music online beats the retail record store hands down.

If you're not a computer geek or 14 years old, you may be behind the curve on digital music. So here's a primer to help you play catch-up.

The most popular format in which digital music files are kept is called MP3. Basically, MP3 is to music what VHS is to video. MP3 stands for "Moving Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3." Start by downloading a free MP3 music player, which is similar to a CD or tape player in terms of basic functions. There are dozens to choose from, but Nullsoft Winamp, Liquid Player from Liquid Audio (www.liquidaudio.com) and RealPlayer from RealNetworks (www.real.com) are among the most popular. For more choices, see the list at DailyMP3.com.

To download Winamp, for instance, go to www.winamp.com and begin downloading the player (which should take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on your connection). The standard version is a mere 2.1MB in size, and the "lite" version a tiny 550 kilobytes.

Most MP3 players have some basic features in common, including those you might expect from any audio gizmo, such as volume and equalizer controls. But some features are unique to digital music. For example, there are "skins," which are visual covers that fit over an MP3 player and let you change its look. Another category is "Internet radio visualizations," plug-ins that create animated effects that change with the beat of your music and perform in the player's window. (We suggest you check out Annabelle the Sheep in RealPlayer.)

Bring in da noise. MP3.com is probably the biggest and the best site for finding free and legal MP3 songs. However, you might also want to visit Epitonic.com, Launch.com, RollingStone.com and Shoutcast.com.

If you're willing to do the right thing and pay for songs, head to EMusic.com, which charges 99 cents per MP3 file and $9 for an entire album. EMusic also offers a subscription service that will give you unlimited access to more than 125,000 MP3 files for about $10 a month (based on a 12-month subscription).

Another way to find music on the Web is to use one of the search engines that index MP3 and multimedia files, such as Audiofind.com and Audiogalaxy.com. Or try the search engine on Winamp, which searches the Web for MP3 songs. Some of the results will include "objectionable materials" (i.e., illegal MP3s).

Note that when you are playing an MP3 song, doing anything else on your computer, such as sending e-mail or working in Word (or any other large application), may make the song skip or sound warbled.

Rip it good. Once you get the hang of downloading MP3s, you might want to try making an MP3 file from a CD. This is called "ripping." First, you'll need to download a CD ripper and an MP3 encoder. The rippertakes a song from the CD and turns it into a .way file (another music file format), and the encoder converts the .wav file into an MP3 file. First check out MusicMatch Jukebox (www.musicmatch .com). At this site, you can encode MP3 files from CDs and, vice versa, record your own MP3s, customize CDs and play MP3s as well as other musical formats.

A tip for creating high-quality MP3 files: Don't do anything with your computer while you're ripping and encoding. Anything else you do, such as scanning a picture or starting a program, will put a load on the computer that may overtax it just enough to put an unwanted blip in the finished sound file.

TUNE-TOTING HARDWARE

Because lugging a laptop to listen to tunes when you're on the move is a little cumbersome, consider a portable MP3 player. They're available at major electronics retailers and online e-tailers such as Amazon.com, Buy.com and etown.com.

Things to look for in a portable player: the ability to play different file formats, including MP3, RealAudio G2 and Windows Media Audio; lots of memory (most of the newer players have 64 megabytes, older models have 32MB); and an internal reprogrammable chip that lets you download updates to your player, which will keep it from becoming obsolete as standards change for audio systems.

The following are all 64MB, upgradeable players:

* Diamond Rio 500 ($280; $200 from Amazon.com). The Rio 500 plays only digital audio files, but it can be used with a PC or a Mac. It's considered by many to be the top portable MP3 player now available.

* Nomad II ($330; $250 from Amazon). The Nomad has a built-in FM tuner that stores up to 32 preset stations, and it can record voices.

* Sony Vaio Music Clip ($300; $270 direct from Sony's Web site, http://vaiodirect.sel.sony.com). The Music Clip can play Atrac3, MP3 and .wav files.

* RCA Lyra Player ($300; $230 from Amazon). The Lyra plays MP3 and Real Audio G2 formats. The 32MB version, which is $150 from Amazon, is a good value, but it's a little bigger and clunkier than the other brands.