In order to play mpeg3 sound recordings you must have software that recognizes the .mp3 format, decoding it so your sound card can play it. If you need this software it can be downloaded from the Fraunhofer web site:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 10/15/98 Update <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Some visitors have complained that the process of getting the decoder from Fraunhofer is too complicated, or that the Fraunhofer web site is busy all the time. For those of you with PC's running Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 you can now download three flavors of decoders from this fine web site. Note that shareware is not free. If you use it past the time limit noted in the software bundle (usually 30 days) you are expected to register. This applies to the Winamp MP3 decoders. The MP3 decoder MP32WAVX.EXE self extracting file, IS freeware and so you can use it until your mouse ball falls out.
Winamp 1.45 - This decoder is smaller and has fewer of the bells and whistles features of the 2.0 version. However, this is the only version of Winamp that I know of that will allow you to not only play MP3 files, but also to convert them back to .WAV files. This feature is tricky to figure out, and you probably don't need it, but nevertheless it is really handy to have it. I suggest you make a new directory on your hard drive called winamp14, copy the self extracting file (during or after downloading of course) to winamp14, and then double click on the file named winamp14.exe. It will self-extract into the same directory. Then you double click on winamp.exe to run the program. All this stuff also applies to winamp20.
There is a web site called mp3.com that has more of this stuff if you are interested.
Download mpeg3 decoder winamp 1.45
Download mpeg3 decoder winamp 2.0
Mp32wav - The self extracting file mp32wavx.exe contains an MP3 decoder that is not an MP3 player. Instead, it justs converts MP3 recordings into WAV files. This is useful if you wish to run some of your own filters, FFT analysis, or edit the recordings in some way. This program is freeware. I suggest you create a directory named mp32wav and stick the file mp32wavx.exe into it after downloading. When you double click on it, it will self-extract into the same directory. One of the whacky things about this program is that it only saves the WAV files in its own directory. It will let you browse to find the file to convert, but after conversion you will be left scratching your head as to where the doggone WAV file is. Thus my suggestion to name the directory mp32wav to make it easy to find the converted files. Beware that converted MP3 files can really expand, like 6x to 12x, depending on how the MP3 encoding was performed. In other words, don't be surprised if 10 megabyes of free space suddenly disappear and your nearly-full hard drive is now full.
Also, MP3 is not a lossless compression technique. The WAV file you get will not be exactly like the original WAV file before encoding. The difference may not matter much, unless you are looking at the FFT of the recording. You may need to contact us to get a copy of the original WAV files as the FFT will be slightly different.
Some of you have asked about ways to edit .wav files so I have added a way for you to download Cool Edit 96 (a shareware product you must register after 30 days) for this site.