Further information - MP3 Sound quality
Bit rate - Compression ratio- Sound Quality;
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8 kbps - 96:1 - Telephone quality (mono)
56-64 kbps - 26-24:1 - Similar to FM radio quality
96 kbps - 16:1 - Near-CD quality
112-128 kbps- 14-12:1 - CD quality
Encoding- Converting a CD or other sound source to the compressed smaller mp3 files. The amout of compression effects the quality of the sound and the space used on the hard drive, floppy or CD-R disk where the file is stored. When encoding you have a choice of bit rates. The Musicmatch free software download is fully functional and will encode up to 96kbs (kilo-bytes-per-second). Users who pay $29 to register are upgraded to be able to encode at 128 kbs. A single CD-R disk has 650 Mbytes of storage and will hold 10 hours of mp3 music encoded at a CD quality bit rate of 128 kbs. Twice as much music would fit if a FM radio quality bit rate of 64kbs was chosen.I cannot hear a difference between 64kbs and 128kbs encoding but choose to encode at 128kbs simply because with Musicmatch I can convert the mp3's back to CD audio disks for any CD player and want the highest quality. The MusicMatch Jukebox software will also allow Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding which some players here support. See the Musicmatch help files for details.
My fleshly nature can find many excuses to justify me going to the internet and downloading songs. I can reason that I have a right to download music which I have already purchased in vinyl or cassette. So the hundreds of albums I own I have the right to obtain in a digital format. I can reason that certain music is unavailable to me so that it is OK to download it if I find it online because I could not get it anywhere else. I can also reason that CD's cost too much, the business of the recording industry is corupt and the Christian Artists of the music I want to download would not mind If I found their songs online and downloaded them.... The list of excuses goes on. But the fact is - THE UNSAVED WORLD KNOWS THAT COPYING MUSIC IS STEALING ! let's liken this to a cigarrette smoker who knows that smoking is bad for his or her health .... but is addicted and cannot stop. Or the drug addict ... Or the sinner who knows sin is wrong but is trapped and continues to sin because that is his or her nature. Telling a drug addict or a sinner the evils of sin has no redeeming power to change. BUT WE CHRISTIANS DO ! because Christ has took the penalty of sin upon Himself we are made free from the law of sin and death. God can treat us as if we were righteous and not according to our sins, forgiven, BUT WE ALSO HAVE HIS POWER TO LIVE IN HOLINESS ! ... THAT IS WE HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST AND HIS NATURE DWELLING WITHIN US THAT WE DO NOT HAVE TO OBEY THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH ! What I am saying is that we have the power to choose, to resist temptation.
OK, so I am free from the law of sin and death, forgiven. Does that make me free to sin ? The apostle Paul summarizes, All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expediant, or profitable... all things are lawful for me, but I WILL NOT BE BROUGHT UNDER THE POWER OF ANY ! " ( 1st Corinthians 6:12). So then I pharaphrase that as a Christian, for me sins price has been paid and my eternal security is assured in heaven .... I'm forgiven. Sin does not determine my final destiny, but it can have it's consequences and a power over me if I allow it. So I can choose to take sides with God and stand against it's influence in me. To crucify the flesh, that is to consider myself dead to sin , I CAN SAY NO TO IT !
Now back to music, consider the weaker brother ... the Christian with little faith, and the Unsaved world that do not know Christ as savior. They know right from wrong. They know that to copy music is stealing. When they look at our behaivor, the Christian church, and they see we practice that which they know to be wrong... WHY SHOULD THE UNSAVED TRUST CHRIST, JOIN A CHURCH WHEN WE ARE NO BETTER THAN THEY ? Our behavior, the sins we allow, might be preventing an unsaved person from coming to know the Lord. The world is looking for an answer to sin and sadly cannot see it in a comprimised and worldly church.
FINALLY A PRACTIAL WARNING !!! THE SOFTWARE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO SHARE MUSIC FILES OVER THE INTERNET ALSO GIVES THOSE WITH MALICIOUS INTENT UNRESTRICTED ACCES TO ALL OF YOUR COMPUTER !!! Those who frequently download music files have come to experience others taking control of their computers files while they are online ... The Lord has convicted me that downloading music is wrong, But before this in one of my experiences I heard my 3 1/2" floppy drive spin up as someone was trying to access the drives on my computer I immediately clicked to disconnect my internet connection and windows informed me that there were three others using my computer and did I want to shut down. Kazaa software did not indicate that there were music files were being shared at all. HACKERS HAVE FOUND KAZZA AND OTHER FILE SHARING SOFTWARE TO BE AN UNLOCKED DOOR INTO OTHERS COMPUTERS !!! Those who frequently download music have learned to have a computer for only that purpose and have a separate computer for email, business and other activity.