What are the differences b/w MP3s and MP4s

[Reina]

How are MP3s and MP4s different in functions. I already have an MP3 so I'm trying to decide if I should get an MP4 if its functions are much better.

[chizzu]

MP3 = MPEG-1 Layer 3
A popular digital audio encoding and lossy compression format invented and standardized in 1991 by a team of engineers directed by the Fraunhofer Society in Erlangen, Germany. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent audio, yet still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners.

Taken from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3)

MP4 = MPEG Layer-4 Part 14

Formally, ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003, is a multimedia container format standard specified as a part of MPEG-4. It is most-commonly used to store digital audio and digital video streams, especially those defined by MPEG, but also can be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images. Like most modern container formats, MPEG-4 Part 14 allows streaming over the Internet. The official filename extension for MPEG-4 Part 14 files is .mp4, thus the container format is often referred to simply as MP4.

Taken from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp4)


mp3 is used for audio compression only while mp4 is a compression method for both audio and video (means it stores video), that is the difference between mp3 and mp4

Basically, mp3 player is just to play mp3 songs while mp4 player can play mp4 videos. thats all. but it is a hassle to convert videos to mp4 altough the size is small. not a widely used format tho. except on most sony digicams. they use mp4 format if i not mistaken. Not really worth upgrading :bleh: if you want, get an ipod video or a portable hard disk media player or dvd player.

[danieldren]

and also the compression on MP4 is alot higher than that in MP3... bascially a MP4 sounds alot better than a MP3 and its filesizes are smaller.... eg utada - exodus sounds perfect in 192kps, 78MB MP4 or AAC... but in 192kps, 91MB MP3 you can hear errors in the audio on really good speakers... ... and if you dont know what AAC is it is Advanced Audio Codec which is just a different version of MP4 which, i think, is more suited to audio that the iPod uses. Most people defeat the problem with MP3 lack in quality by encoding in 320kps MP3 but the filesizes are like 10+MB per song so it isn't very good for flash mp3 players with 256MB space....

[Reina]

MP3 uses more memory if i use MP3 downloading format. It uses a lot less many times if I use this WPM format. I'm not sure about the MP4 format though, still...??

[danieldren]

wma's are crap... dont use them Reina they are old technology and dont sound as good as mp3 or mp4's

[Arkiro]

So you're saying that the new (well not really that new) Apple iPod Video is considered as a mp4? Cause where I live not many people even know what mp4 is yet :oops:. I mean not even I knew what it was until now :dry: :tongue: :D.

[chineseguyjl]

ok i think i can help a bit.

MP3-the most commonly used audio format.
MP4-A new AV (audio and video) format. Mainly used with digital media players, such as the Apple Ipod.

so lets recap, mp3-audio, mp4-audio and video

[stitchphil]

Yep... What chineseguyjl said was right. Also, higher quality audio files, ie, those around the range of 160kps and above, tend to be in mp4 format. It is a much higher quality then it is compared to the mp3 file obviously.

Also, there are certain podcasts and audiobooks that come in mp4 format, which allows the podcast to have chapters inserted into them for easier scrolling.

But to average players like us, we can't really tell the difference between mp3 and mp4 audio files unless we listen very closely or on extremely good speakers. Of course, if you want to view videos on the move, you'll have to get yourself an mp4 player.

Hope that helps. :happy:

[Reina]

I have an MP3 ( that is what it is called) that also can play MTV on the small screen. I wonder if that is between a mp3 and mp4??

[vunsin]

I thought this thread - [Guide+FAQ] Media Filetypes, Players, Converting, Editing, etc (http://www.jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6456) - would have all the info we'd need. Well, almost. It has lots of info on different media file types and is also an FAQ thread. This is the very first sticky in this forum.