About MP3 format

We would like to tell you about our Data Files in MP3 Format.

Unless otherwise specified, all CDs in the store are MP3 “data CDs” with the shows in MP3 format. These CDs will not play on normal CD players unless that player also has MP3 capability.

There are many ways to play a data CD that contains files in MP3 format.

You may play them on your computer, as long as you have a CD-ROM drive, a sound card and speakers, and a program to play them. The program can be Windows Media Player, Real Player, or Win Amp to name a few. These players can be downloaded off the internet if you don’t have one.
Most DVD players, portable, or the kind that connect to your television will also play the MP3 files on our CDs. You put the MP3 CD in the DVD player and hear it through your television or entertainment system speakers.
Some of the newer CD players are combination players that will handle both audio (music) CDs and MP3 (data) CDs. The player’s packaging will specifically say MP3 capable, if that is the case. One such combination player that is great for Old Time Radio listening is the iRiver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player with Ultraslim Design available at Amazon. There are also some new boom box models that play MP3’s.
There exist electronic MP3 players that do not play from a CD, such as the Apple iPod, but they have internal solid-state memory or internal hard drives that store the MP3 data file. With these, you download (transfer) the MP3 data files from your computer to the player with a USB cable. A great MP3 player that will also play recorded books is the Otis player from Audible.com.

Please be advised that a source of incompatibility in some older computers is that it cannot read the newer 80 minute (700MB) CDs. Another source of incompatibility is an MP3 player that can only read MP3 files encoded at a certain bit rate. Standard encoding bit rates are from 24K though 128K bits per second. In these cases, the product is not defective and will not be returnable for refund, but could be replaced with Audio CDs if we have such Audio CDs in stock. Otherwise you will be asked to choose from the list of Audio CDs within our store product list as a replacement.