MPEG-1 audio layer 3
MPEG-1 audio layer 3
(music, file format)MP3 is very different from Layer 2, using an additional MDCTlayer to increase frequency resolution. Its scale factorgroups are more optimised for the human ear, and it usesnonlinear sample quantisation and Huffman coding.
MP3 files (filename extension ".mp3") can be downloaded frommany World-Wide Web sites and can be played using softwareavailable for most operating systems (also downloadable),e.g. Winamp for PC, MacAmp for Macintosh, and mpeg123 forUnix.
MP3 files are usually downloaded completely before playing butstreaming MP3 is also possible. A program called a "ripper"can be used to copy a selection from a music CD onto yourhard disk and another program called an encoder can convertit to an MP3 file.