Volume Leveling in WMP 12: Solve Loudness Variations Between Songs
While playing the songs in your Windows Media Player (WMP) library, do some of them sound way louder than others? Almost all digital music libraries can suffer loudness variations between songs -- especially if you have sourced your music from different places like: multiple online download services, audio CDs, analog sources, etc.
These differences can be so large sometimes that you'll have no option but to play around with the volume controls on your computer or portable device; this obviously isn't the ideal way to relax and enjoy your digital music collection. To solve this problem, you can use WMP 12's audio enhancement feature called, Volume Leveling. It's similar to Sound Check in iTunes and is a non-destructive way of ensuring that all your songs play at the same volume.
Volume Leveling in WMP isn't as smart as how iTunes normalizes audio files, but if you've got big variations in your music library that you just can't ignore, then this facility is worth using in order to enhance your listening pleasure when playing custom playlists, etc.
For more information, our Windows Media Player tutorial on Volume Leveling goes into a lot more detail on this useful feature and how to fully use it.
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Cassette Adapters: Breathe New Life into Your Car's Old Tape Player
Most car stereos and home Hi-Fi systems have modern facilities for playing digital music in some way. You may find that you've got auxiliary inputs such as phono sockets, a stereo mini-jack (3.5mm) line-in, or more cutting edge features like:
- A USB port -- for storage devices that contain your MP3s like flash drives and hard drives.
- A card reader -- for memory cards such as SD and MicroSD.
- Bluetooth.
FM transmitters are a good option, but an alternative is to use a cassette adapter. This simple and inexpensive audio accessory fits into your cassette player's mechanism -- just like a real tape! It works by converting the audio signal from your portable (via the 3.5mm headphone jack) into a magnetic signal that the cassette player's heads can read -- the sound is then amplified and relayed to the stereo system's speakers.
If you're still happy with your rusty trusty cassette-based stereo (includes boomboxes of course), you can breathe new life into it by using a cassette adapter. This can be a lot more preferable than the cost of upgrading to a modern stereo if you just want to listen to digital music on a portable -- i.e. iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, PMPs, CD players, Mini Disc players, etc. Considering most cassette adapters can be purchased for less than $20, it also makes them a viable alternative to FM transmitters.
For more information, read our Cassette Adapter Toplist that showcases some of the best.
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iTunes Media Types: Fool iTunes into Bookmarking Songs Just Like Audiobooks
The great advantage of listening to audiobooks in iTunes (and on your iPod, iPhone, and iPad), is that the playback position is remembered if you stop listening before reaching the end of the recording. This is a very convenient feature which saves you the trouble of having to remember where you got to next time you listen. Unfortunately, this bookmarking feature isn't available for songs by default.
But, why on earth would you want iTunes to treat a song like it was an audiobook?
Most songs only last a few minutes, but what if you have very long songs like remixes, mash-ups, or audio recordings? Rather than using more destructive methods like splitting your audio files up into smaller parts, or converting to a different format, why not just fool iTunes instead?
You can do this by changing the Media Kind option in iTunes -- that's if you know where to look. This under-the-hood feature enables you to change the way iTunes handles songs by instructing it to treat them as though they are audiobooks. In fact, when you change a song to this media type, iTunes automatically puts it into the Books folder! This technique is also useful if you've ripped audiobooks from CD and they have ended up in the Music section of iTunes instead of the Books category.
To see how easy it is to fool iTunes and make any song bookmarkable, read our guide on How to Make iTunes Songs Act Like Audiobooks.
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Free Text to Speech Software: Make Your Own MP3 Audiobooks
ebooks are a great invention that has made it possible to carry around hundreds of books and other types of publications in electronic form. The problem is, you don't always have the luxury (or time) to read them in every situation. Driving a car is a prime example of this -- you can't (for obvious reasons) use your ebook reading device. However, rather than waiting for the opportune moment to use your eyes, why not use your ears instead? On a long commute, this could add up to a lot of study time, or even quite a few novels!
You can of course purchase and download audiobooks from the Internet, but they may not be exactly what you've got in text form. In this case, using a text to speech conversion program is the ideal tool. This type of application uses voice synthesis to convert text into speech. The quality of the generated voice will never to be as good as a real person's, but with a bit of tweaking and the right voice, good results can be obtained. Once you have turned your text-only files into digital audio versions, you'll be able to play them on your MP3 player, PMP, smartphone, or even burn to audio CD / MP3 CD.
To find out more on the advanatages of creating audiobooks from ebooks and a list of free programs you can use, why not read our Free Text to Speech Software guide that lists some of the best.
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iTunes LP: A Virtual Way to Enjoy a Vinyl Album?
The problem with just purchasing and downloading an album from the majority of online music services is that it's typically not a very interactive experience -- most digital music fans simply listen via computer speakers, or earbuds connected to their MP3 player / PMP. When the novelty of your new album purchase has subsided, there's nothing much else to keep you entertained. There's no bonus material you can thumb through such as liner notes, lyrics, photos, etc., as with physical products like vinyl records and audio CDs (to a lesser extent).
To try and recapture the experience of owning physical albums like vinyl, Apple invented their iTunes LP format to fill this gap in the market. The company also added more modern multimedia benefits (almost DVD-like) to their iTunes LP standard such as: interactive menus, music videos, animated lyrics, etc., that obviously can't be done with a physical product like vinyl or cassette tape.
Even though iTunes LP albums on the iTunes Store are still relatively thin on the ground, it still remains a great way to collect 'must have' digital albums that contain a lot of additional content on your favorite artist or band.
For more information on what the iTunes LP standard has to offer, and what you'll need to fully enjoy all its content, read our iTunes LP article that goes into a lot more detail.
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Sticky Shed Syndrome: Digitize Your Audio Cassettes Before it's Too Late!
Before the invention of digital audio formats such as MP3, compact audio cassettes were a very popular way of listening to music in the 80s and 90s -- you could either purchase per-recorded albums or make your own customized mixtapes (like playlists) by recording onto blanks. They were small, portable (just like MP3 players / PMPs), and could hold quite a lot of songs -- a C90 for instance can hold up to 90 minutes of music which is more than an average audio CD can store today! However, the sound quality of analog tape couldn't compete with the superior digital sound that the compact disc offered and soon went out of fashion.
If you remember these days, you may still have some stored away somewhere. The problem is, the older they get, the worse the recorded audio on them will become. Unfortunately, the magnetic tape inside them (just like in a VHS or Betamax cassette) will eventually deteriorate -- often referred to as Sticky Shed Syndrome (SSS). This describes the condition where the magnetic oxide layer (that holds the audio) gradually drops off. This is caused by the deterioration of the binder that holds these magnetic particles onto the backing material. If you have rare recordings, or hard-to-find original music tapes, then it is advisable to transfer them to a digital format such as MP3 before the effects of SSS damage goes too far.
If you're not sure what setup you'll need to convert audio cassettes to digital audio files on your computer, why not read our equipment checklist for digitizing cassette tapes via your computer's soundcard.
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Last Minute Music Gifts: Instantly Send Music Credit via Email
If you've forgotten a birthday, anniversary, or other type of celebratory event, and need an instant gift before your lapse of memory lands you in hot water, then have you thought about buying music credit? Physical music gift cards that you can pick up from many stores these days are great, but you don't always have the luxury of time.
Luckily, a growing number of digital music services now offer the facility to purchase music credit which can be quickly sent via email. Purcasing an iTunes Gift Certificate for example allows you to give someone credit via email or even print out a certificate that you can present in person. Redeeming an iTunes Gift Certificate then gives the recipient credit on their iTunes Store account that can be used for purchasing songs, apps, audiobooks, movies, and more.
Other major online stores that offer an instant way of sending credit include: Amazon MP3 (Purchase/Download), Pandora Radio (Pandora One subscription), Slacker Radio, Wal-Mart, and others.
Read our Top Digital Music Gift Cards guide for more information.
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Will the Next Major Release of iTunes be More Socially Interactive?
Rumors about what might be built into the next major release of iTunes (version 11) have been circulating for some time now, but will Apple improve on its lack of social interactivity? The iTunes Store is a stellar place to buy just about any type of digital media product (music, videos, apps, etc.), but from a social point of view, it isn't all that engaging. Facebook on the other hand has now quite a few major digital music services on-board such as Spotify, MOG, Slacker Radio, Pandora, and others, with a great social networking platform to back it up. Current social interactions for the iTunes Store consists mainly of product comments and social music networking via the iTunes Ping platform.
However, this shortfall in social interaction could soon change. Apple's acquisition of the Chomp application is well suited in addressing the discovery/sharing deficiency -- for apps at least. According to PC Advisor's round-up article, "the search software has a proprietary algorithm that learns the functions and topics of apps, as well as ties to Facebook and Twitter for sharing app reviews." There is also the chance that Facebook could be finally supported in iTunes Ping, the report goes on to say.
At the moment there's no definite date set for the release of iTunes 11, but social interaction is one area that Apple would be wise to keep in mind considering the threat that Facebook poses in the digital music space as well as future social trends.
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Managing Voice Recordings and Ringtones Stored in the AMR Format
If you've used a portable device such as an MP3 player or smartphone to record voice, then the digital audio data may be stored in the AMR format -- your phone might also have a selection of ringtones in this format too. This lossy audio data compression system is particularly good at handling the human voice compared to more popular formats like MP3, AAC, WMA, and others. AMR files are usually significantly smaller too adding to their usefulness in maximizing your portable's storage space.
However, compared to the MP3 format, AMR is fairly obscure in the digital audio world and not as well supported by consumer electronic devices and software as a result. If you try and play AMR files on your software media player, then you will probably see an 'unknown format' message (or similar complaint) pop up on-screen unless you've already got the right codec installed.
If you've got a selection of AMR files that you'd like to convert to a more manageable format like MP3, then our AMR transcoding guide will show you how using free software.
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Subscription Streaming Music Services That Offer a Freemium Option
It can sometimes feel like a gamble deciding whether or not to pay a subscription to a streaming music service. There are an increasing number of cloud music services offering various ways to enjoy digital music -- usually all having their own specific set of subscription levels too. Limited free trials can go some way towards helping you decide if you like a particular music service, but once you begin your trial you can often feel rushed knowing that you only have a certain amount have time (usually 30 days) to decide.
So, what if you need the luxury of a long-term test drive to fully explore all the major features of a music service?
Choosing one that offers a never-ending free account is an excellent way to really get to grips with all that it has to offer and to really decide if it's the best solution for you. Many that provide a free sign up option often stream advertisements (either audio, video, or both) along with songs you listen to -- but this can be a mild annoyance compared to paying for a subscription that you end up regretting.
Not all subscription-based music services offer a freemium account, so to help you save time searching the Internet, we've compiled a list of subscription streaming music services that offer a free account.
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