Rio Audio Digital Audio Receiver Glossary, Bit Rate, file compression, DRM, security, Codec, Page

Glossary

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Glossary

AAC

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is one of the audio compression formats defined by the MPEG-2 specification. AAC used to be called NBC (Non-Backward-Compatible), because it is not compatible with the MPEG-1 audio formats. AAC may eventually replace MP3 since it offers better sound quality and greater file compression.

Bit Rate, file compression

Bit rate denotes the average number of bits that one second of audio data will consume. The size of a digital audio file is determined by the bit rate used when encoding the file. The higher the bit rate used, the higher the sound quality and the larger the file size. For example, a bit rate of 128k is usually very close to CD quality, and takes up about 1MB per minute of music. At a 64k bit rate, the sound quality is similar to that of an FM radio

DRM, security

Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies protect copyright ownership of digital information. DRM became an issue with the rise of MP3 technology and Internet distribution of music. DRB platforms serve as a security “wrapper” around digital audio supporting Internet distribution while at the same time protecting and managing rights related to that digital information.

Codec

Depending on the context and kind of technology involved, codec may be defined in two ways.

In telecommunications, a codec is usually a "coding/decoding" chip used to translate between digital and analog transmissions. A modem uses one to interpret incoming analog signals and converts the digital data stream coming from the computer into analog.

A codec is also defined as a compression/decompression algorithm. Codecs are used to shrink large files or data streams, often for efficient transmission over a network, and then decode them when they are displayed. The Rio Digital Audio Receiver supports the following digital audio file codecs:

•MP3

•WMA

Encode, “Rip” (a CD)

Encoding, or “ripping”, refers to converting an audio file from a CD-ROM into a compressed digital audio format, such as MP3 or WMA, that may be played on the Rio Receiver, on the computer, or on a portable Rio Digital Audio Player.

Ethernet Network

A common method of networking computers in a LAN. Ethernet will handle approximately 10 million bits-per- second and can be used with almost any kind of computer. Requires the use of a hub and Ethernet cable. signal, but you may get around two minutes of music in that same 1MB of storage space.