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The author explains all that are needed to know about digital audio. Among the topics explained include capturing podcasts to MP3 players, using online music store iTunes to rip and copy a CD, using windows media player to rip and copy a CD, using CDex to rip an audio CD and turning long playing music into a CD.

Features several terms related to sound cards. Frequency response; Intermodulation distortion; Signal-to-noise ratio.

Presents guidelines to digitizing analog music, converting and compressing audio files and mastering audio compact discs (CD). Tools for transferring music from vinyl turntable to CD; Process of conducting a test run; Procedure of recording music from cassettes.

Reviews several software tools for producing and mixing digital music. Cakewalk SONAR XL 2; Steinberg Cubase SX; Orion Pro/Platinum 3; Quartz AudioMaster Freeware 4.6; Ableton Live 2; Cakewalk Plasma.

Reviews several compact disc (CD) burning software and specialised audio tools for creating audio CD. Nero Burning ROM 5.5; Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6; Blaze Media Pro 4.10c; BurnQuick Data/Audio CD Burner 2.2.

Provides information top digital audio sites on the Web that give tools and resources to find free and legal MP3 files. KaZaA Media Desktop; Singingfish; MP3-Wolf 2.0; Radio-Locator; Internet Underground Music Archive.

Answers computer users' questions about video and sound. Tools needed for editing video on computer; Information on how to convert video on older analog tapes into a digital format; Description on digital video disc recordable formats; Advice on how to make music CD compilation.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including a letter which argues that it is cheaper to fix a broken computer than buying a new one, a letter from a reader who solved his computer problem by replacing a CMOS battery and a letter about sound cards.

The article presents information on virtual instruments and their use in music production. A virtual instrument is a complete musical instrument in the form of computer software. It provides a mix of Musical Instrument Digital Interface and audio technologies. It can be used alone or with host application such as virtual studio technology and DirectX Instrument. INSET: Don't play piano?.

The article looks at advanced techniques for mastering digital audio. Not to be confused with file compression, audio compression is the process where the sound's dynamics are pressed together, effectively making it louder. Compressing audio requires normalization, a process applied to a sound file that increases its volume as loud as possible before distortion.

Presents tips on improving the sound of video projects. Strategy that can be used to make the dialogues clearer in spite of background and wind noise; Ways to improve the voice of the actors in the video project; Benefits of getting an atmosphere track while on location.

Presents tips on installing the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) drivers. Advantages of knowing the type of sound card installed in a computer before installing ALSA drivers; Importance of installing a Musical Instrument Digital Interface synthesizer after installing the ALSA driver; Ways to invoke the FluidSynth software synthesizer from the command line.

Evaluates the Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra hard disk-based MP3 player from Creative Labs. Price; Features; Advantages.

Evaluates the Creative Digital flash memory MP3 player from Creative Labs. Price; Features; Advantages.

Evaluates the Toplux M-250 flash memory MP3 player. Price; Features; Advantages.

Evaluates the Creative NOMAD MuVo2 1.5G flash memory MP3 player from Creative Labs. Price; Features; Advantages.

Outlines the process of connecting music keyboard to personal computer using the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). Tools needed to connect the keyboard to the computer; Information on installing the cables; Future direction of the MIDI technology.

The article discusses how to achieve the best sound from equipment. It states that there are two fundamental principles about sound quality including reproduction and capture sounds as exact as possible and giving the demands of professionals. Furthermore, it notes that compression is still necessary but a user can choose the most gentle compression.

The article offers advice by the author for improving the sound quality in microcomputers while using audio and video files. The author says that in audio files, the line in the middle of a waveform display represents absolute silence which depends on the bit depth of the sound file. According to the author, normalising should be applied to any audio that has been recorded at low sound volume and envelop should be used to control the volume levels on clips.

The article offers suggestions for editing an audio file. It says that a song will be further compressed if it is played on radio or on a portable MP3 player. It further says that a separate mix with mastering and compression levels that set a bit more gently is required for a music video. As stated, every real-time effect a computer user adds eats up system resources and memory, and can increase delay in playing back his/her project.

The article explains the basics of audio compression. Audio is usually uncompressed, and includes WAV audio and compact-disc (CD) audio tracks. In this native state, digital audio recorded at CD quality takes up about 10.5 megabytes per second, and the only time audio file compression should be applied is in the final stage when preparing the audio for playback or distribution. There are several such compressors, but the best known is MP3. The two ways to reduce audio file size are also explained.

This article presents a guide to creating music and sound using a personal computer. Compiling a performance refers to the practice of compiling several recordings of a performance into a single track. Multitracking involves recording the same thing two or more times and playing them back together. Equalization (EQ) is a valuable effect in the audio arsenal. It will reduce or boost the level of specific frequencies.

The article shows how to get 5.1-channel audio on DivX movies. Aud-X is a new free surround sound codec using Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 Audio (MP3), which claims to deliver 5.1 surround sound in as little as 128 kilobytes (Kbps), the rate most users adopt when encoding the sound track just into stereo. A step by step guide to converting a home movie with Aud-X is provided.

The author offers information on Palette-Melody Composing Tool 4.4.3, a computer program designed to create a piece of music by building it up sequentially from motives, phrases and sentences, and explains how to use it. The author asserts that the program interface is easy to understand and there are some lessons accessible from the program toolbar that are worth viewing. Once a music is created, this can be saved in the program's own PTT format.

The author explains how to use Dexster, an audio editing tool that edits and adds effects to audio files and records audio before working with it. Dexster is a program to work with songs and other music files and can also be used to edit spoken word audio. The program has tools for trimming and cropping portions of the audio track, for adding various effects to it and for adding or removing silence. It has a range of filters to edit audio.

The article explains the basics of sound design. In a well-designed film, dialogue, music, and sound blend together into a seamless audioscape. Well-recorded location sound is almost always vital. Video programs Like Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas can handle this, as well as music/audio programs like Cakewalk SONAR or Steinberg Cubase, which can display video as you record to a new audio track. It cites the three kinds of sound effects.

The article offers tips on considering battery life when buying MP3 players. Consumers should be wary of vendors' battery life claims and they must check the settings required to get the optimum battery life. To get the best battery life from any player, use a lowish bit rate, set the screen backlight timer to as low as possible, use a reasonable volume level and stick with generic formats such as MP3.

The article evaluates the Creative Zen MicroPhoto MP3 player and offers information on its microdrive storage capacity, audio quality and cost.

The article evaluates the flash-based MP3 player MuVo TX FM from Creative Labs.

The article evaluates the hard drive-based MP3 player Zen MicroPhoto from Creative Labs.

The article evaluates the Sony Sound Forge 8 audio editing software and offers information on its noise-reduction tool, audio effects, plug-ins and cost.

This article evaluated the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro from Creative Labs and offers information on the features, sound quality and cost.

Evaluates the iRiver H10 MP3 player. Technical specifications; Advantages and disadvantages; Price.

Evaluates the Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro sound card from Creative. Features; Capabilities; Cost.

Reviews the ACID Pro 5 music production software developed by Sony.

Evaluates the i-rocks MP3 CAR DJ IR-1100 radio transmitters. Key features; Advantages and disadvantages; Cost.

Reviews the Cubas SX 3 music recording and production software developed by Steinberg.

Reviews the SONAR 4 Producer Edition software developed by Cakewalk for music recording and production.

Features several computer software designed for music recording and production. Garage Band from Apple Mac; Sonar from Cakewalk; ACID from Sony.

Evaluates the AStone Versa 200 digital media player from AStone. Key features; Advantages; Price.

Evaluates the MobiBLU DHH-100 MP3 player from mStation. Key features; Advantages; Price.

Evaluates the M-Bird XT-21 MP3 player from mStation. Key features; Advantages; Price.

Reviews the PowerDVD 6 Deluxe multimedia management software from CyberLink.

Presents information on several sound cards and servers. Business Winston 2002 from VeriTest; Combat Evolved timedemo from Halo; WinBench 99 from VeriTest.

Presents information on the Ashampoo Audio Rip & Burn computer program. Instruction for its installation; Details of getting started with the program; Creation of an MP3 compact disc using the program.

Evaluates the Creative NOMAD MuVo Slim flash-based MP3 player from Creative Labs. Price; Technical capabilities.

Evaluates the XCLEF HD-800 hard-drive based MP3 player. Price; Technical capabilities; Recording functions.

Evaluates the movie player MPlayer 1.0pre5. Video and audio codecs that can be played through MPlayer; Features of the MPlayer.

Evaluates the Audigy 2 NX sound card from Creative Labs. Key features; Pros and cons; Cost.

Evaluates the JNC iAudio SSF-M3 hard disk-based MP3 player. Price; Features; Advantages.