What Type of Audio Files can I Play in my ECO?
The ECO"MP3 player" can handle 3 types of file formats
The ECO MP3 player can support MP3, WAV, and WMA files. This means you don’t have to convert from one format to another in order to use them. If you find a sound file that is not MP3, WAV, or WMA, you will have to use a software program to convert to the necessary format.
A WAV file is a format developed by Microsoft® to work on Windows® machines. It is short for WAVE file and is usually pronounced the same way.
A WMA file, short for “Windows Media Audio®,” is another Microsoft invention.
What is the difference between all these sound files?
Essentially, they vary in terms of quality and size. The largest files are WAV files, and a typical near-CD-quality four-minute song can take up to 40Mb of space on a computer. If you want to go for a higher quality sound, this makes the file larger and so takes up even more space. When you buy a CD, the songs are typically in WAV format.
To make files smaller so that they take up less space on a computer – or any other device that stores sounds – you have to compress them. You can take a 40Mb WAV file and compress it into an MP3 file that is about one-tenth the size. This is why MP3 files became so popular in the first place – it’s easier to download a 4Mb file than a 40Mb. Of course, when you compress a WAV, you lose some of the quality. However, most do not hear a big difference because their hearing is not sensitive enough, so the MP3 format gives you good sound reproduction with small files.
The WMA squashes WAVs even smaller than an MP3, so these are great if you really want to make best use of space. The downside of WMA is that the format is proprietary, i.e. it is Microsoft’s own format and not all music players are able to use WMA files. These files are designed primarily to work on Microsoft’s own music player, the Windows Media® Player, so they may not be optimized for others.