Microsoft is out to win over the hearts of music, picture, and video fans and with the advent of Windows XP, Windows Media 9, and the new version of Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition they may well be on their way. If you followed my earlier articles on Digital Music Distribution, you may remember that I have not been a big fan of Microsoft Media Player. My preferred format for digital music is still MP3 but I cant deny the inroads that Microsoft has made into the digital media market over the last few years. The new Windows Media 9 player and codecs do sound very good, and over the next year or so I think it is possible that the Microsoft juggernaut may very well put the MP3 format to pasture. Why? Because they have both integrated their format into the majority of digital video and music hardware as well as the fact that they have produced a very robust set of tools that allow the average music and video aficionados to produce excellent digital media productions with ease. What you will needAt a minimum you must be running one of the multiple variations of Windows XP. You will also need to download the new Microsoft Media Player 9. From a hardware perspective, any computer that can run Windows XP can utilize the Windows Media tool set. Todays computers all have adequate sound capabilities, so an add on soundcard like the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or Creative Labs Audigy is not a necessity, however to take advantage of Windows Media 9s ability to play back multi-channel surround sound or to fully enjoy DVD playback with Windows Media 9 does require a sound system capable of playing back 5.1 surround sound. A good set of speakers or a connection to your home stereo is also a plus for enhanced stereo music playback. Overview of Windows Media 9You cant really talk about
the new Plus add-on without mentioning some of the new features
available in Windows Media 9. Heres a link to download
the new Windows Media 9 player: Microsoft Plus Digital Media EditionYou can download this new add-on for $19.95 directly from the Microsoft site or save yourself $10.00 or more by purchasing it at any of the typical software stores or online venues. The Microsoft link is: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/dme/dmehome.asp Whats included:
Toys for the Kids & College DormsAlarm Clock If you fall asleep at your computer and / or if your computer is set up in your bedroom, the Alarm Clock program may be for you. For the rest of us, it is a cute little app that will never be used. Dancer I have to admit I was intrigued by how realistic these dancers were. If you want to learn some new dance steps, or if you just like eye candy, the range of dancers will provide some fun and ideas. Microsoft has dancers for everything from Hip-Hop to Ballroom. For most of us, a few minutes will suffice, but young teens may find these dancers great for parties. Watch out for drive space however. It will take over 670 mbs of storage space to download all of the available styles. Party Mode This tool will allow you to configure a full screen graphic and combine it with an auto playlist or playlist you have created. The useful stuff here is the ability to cross-fade tracks. This feature is what the pro DJs use, lowering the volume of the tune thats finishing while increasing the volume of the next tune up. Parents may find a useful place for this tool if they have a networked audio system that plays there music library through their home stereo. Toys for the rest of usAudio Converter If you dont mind using the WMA file format or if you have a portable device that will only accept WMA formatted files, this tool is a easy to use way to get all your files into the WMA format. Windows Media 9 has introduced a new format WMA Lossless. This format reduces a CD audio file to approximately ½ the original size without any loss of fidelity. Similar to other lossless formats on the market, such as SHN, this is a great format for preserving audio files. Unfortunately, I have found no way to utilize it with the Analog Recorder mentioned below. I see no reason to use this format on anything other than analog recordings, so you would first have to use another program such as Cool Edit or AudioSurgeon (see my earlier Digital Media series for info on these) to make a wave file, and then use the Audio Converter to cut down the size of the wave file to approximately 50% of the original. Analog Recorder This is a simple to use program to record LPs and tapes to the WMA format. It will automatically set recording levels, and even split LPs into individual tracks. If you dont like messing with settings and just want a simple way to record analog formats to digital ones it doesnt get any easier. The down side however is that you can only record to the WMA format. Unfortunately, wave and / or WMA Lossless formats are not available in the program. My advice, dont use it. Youll end up with compressed files that will never sound as good as the original format. CD Label Maker This program is as good as any Ive worked with. It only comes with one background image, but it has a huge collection of label templates to work with. It also allows you to utilize your own jpg, bmp, or gif image as a background file. Photo Story This program makes Plus worth looking over. If you have a large collection of digital picture files and are looking for a way to make slide shows with narrations and background music that can be played on a PC, look no further. It is simple to use, and has a great subset of features, the most exciting of which is a filter that automatically creates motion in a still image. What happens is each shot is zoomed in and out creating an illusion of motion that is quite pleasing. Big thumbs up for this module! Sync & Go If you own a Pocket PC this module
alone is worth the cost of Plus. It allows you to download news
and music from the internet while your Pocket PC is connected
to its cradle. You obviously also need to have your PC connected
to the Internet when doing this. I have used this to download
news from MSNBC, NPR, and USA today on a daily basis. You can
then watch the video at your leisure when not connected. When
your business meeting doesnt start on time, you can while
away the extra minutes catching up on the latest news of the
day, well this mornings news anyway. And if your music library
is in WMA format, you can use Synch & Go to download new
playlists and tunes to your storage media. You will need a media
card for storage (Smart Media, Compact Flash, etc) to save both
the news files and music files. A unintended extra is that you
can also archive the news files to your hard drive. Being a news
junkie, it has been great to save the NBC evening news files
of such events as the tumbling of Saddams statue in compressed
WMV format. The big issue I have with the tool set is they are all Windows Media centric. Alarm Clock, Dancer, Party Mode, and Photo Story will utilize MP3 files, but the Audio Converter and Analog Recorder will only render to the Windows Media format. If you use Windows Media already then the tool set is excellent. The Photo Story and Sync & Go modules are enough to justify the $19.95 full price if you have digital photos and or a Pocket PC. The rest of the tools are mainly for the novice audiophile and or the teen / college set. For that reason, the program may be a great choice for a graduation gift for someone getting ready to hit the college dorms, and /or a young teen that enjoys learning new dance steps. If you are after a robust set of audio tools however, stick with the recommendations I made in my earlier series. MusicMatch, AudioStation, and or Pyro are much better choices for true audio junkies!
|
Frank Powers has extensive
digital music experience working for companies like Voyetra Turtle
Beach, Inc and Sam Ash Music as well as composing his own material
and running an Internet radio station. Frank is available for
digital music consulting and can be reached by email at: frank@franksamericana.com.
You can find out more by visiting his website at He also can be heard on the Internet at Franks Americana Live365 Internet Radio station at www.live365.com/stations/fpowers. |
|