Glossary

AIFF

is one of the two most-used audio file formats used for Macs. The other is SDII. Most CD writers can accept AIFF or SDII files when burning a CD.

Bit Rate

the average number of bits used by one second of audio. Standard bit rate for MP3 is 128kbps, but the higher the bit rate the better the quality. The Classical Shop uses 320Kbps.

CD Burning

the process of ‘recording’ onto a CD-R.

CD-R disc

A recordable CD that you can ‘write’ or save data to only once. A CD-RW disc, on the other hand, can be ‘overwritten’ many times."

CD-RW drive

A drive in your PC that is capable of writing to CD-R and CD-RW discs, as well as reading data from CD-ROMs, and playing audio

Decoder

Software that allows MP3s to be copied to CD format, the opposite of Encoder.

Encoder

software that converts uncompressed WAV. (PC) or AIFF. (Mac) files into compressed files such as MP3.

Firewall

software or hardware that prevents unauthorised access to a computer from the internet hackers, viruses and other nuisances.

Firmware

Software that has been written on read-only memory. Firmware is a combination of software and hardware. ROMs, PROMs and EPROMs that have data or programs recorded on them.

FLAC files

See the FORMATS tab for a complete explanation

MP3

An MP3 (the accepted abbreviation for MPEG 1 audio layer 3) is a music file that has been compressed by reducing accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the hearing ability of most people.

Playlist

A list of tracks assembled in your own order that can be quickly accessed on your media player.

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a specification to establish communication between devices and a host controller, usually personal computer and peripherals. USB 2.0 is twelve times faster than the original and now obsolete USB 1.

WAV File

an audio format created by Microsoft that has become the standard sound file format for PCs. They are much bigger than MP3 files.

Wildcard search

A character that may be used in a search term to represent one or more other characters. The two most commonly used wildcards are:

1) The question mark (‘?’) may be used to represent a single alphanumeric character in a search expression.

2) An asterisk (‘*’) may be used to specify zero or more alphanumeric characters

ZIP

A file utility that zips together files and compresses file size for quicker and more convenient download.