mp3

There was a time not so long ago when MP3 players were a hot and essential technology, and Apple's best-selling product was the iPod. Now with smartphones and tablets, though, there are many other devices that make great music players. But even if the MP3 player's best days are waning, there are still a number of great products available. Here are our top picks.

Apple's iPod Touch has been CNET's top-rated MP3 player for five years running. With a base model that starts at $229, it is not an inexpensive product, but the breadth … Read more

VLC Media Player for Mac is the all-around reliable, works-out-of-the-box media player that you might never have heard of, though that's no reflection on the app, itself.

We installed the latest update for VLC Media Player for Mac on our test machine without problems. We quickly downloaded the DMG, and then copied VLC to Applications, overwriting our previous installed version. As longtime users of this software, we were happy to see that not much has changed. The interface remained the same, with standard buttons for playback, forward, and back. Advanced controls are available for more options, as well. The … Read more

ZXT2007's My MP3 Splitter is the tool to reach for when you just want to shorten a song file, extract a clip, or split a single recording of an LP side into separate tracks. It's not some complex contraption that can saw up a whole lumberyard's worth of rough cuts, nor does it resemble a pro mixing panel: it's a very basic, very user-friendly MP3 splitter.

My MP3 Splitter has a few large controls in a basic but attractive layout. The main window has two tabs: Standard, for file size, channels, sample rate, and so on; … Read more

Atomix Productions' Virtual DJ Free not only mixes and mashes beats from a classic two-deck console, but also it serves as audio central for your system since it also records audio and video, burns discs, and even broadcasts online using a radio server or your own PC as a client-limited server. A survivor, Virtual DJ has been making music for millions of users for more than a decade. The latest version adds new controllers and full compatibility with Windows 8 multitouch surfaces. And it's still free.

Like similar tools, Virtual DJ takes its functional and style cues from the … Read more

Free Video to MP3 Converter converts any video file to an MP3 audio within seconds. The application is quite small, installs fast, and offers enough quality to be considered a really good download.

The download will try to install an additional piece of research software that will track your Internet activity. You can opt-out of it and still get all of the program's features. The program's menu isn't much to look at and doesn't offer advanced features. The only thing you can do with it other than convert is like the developer's page on Facebook. … Read more

NowSmart Studio's Audio Record Wizard makes it easy to record sounds on your PC from a microphone, a file, or anything you can plug into your sound card, like a tape deck or TV. It's great for recording chat sessions because it can record sounds from two sources, such as a microphone and Internet feed, and save it all as one file in a range of formats (MP3, OGG, WAV, and FLAC). It can convert and merge audio files, manage MP3 tags, and perform other audio editing duties. Many of its tools are particularly suited to voice recording, … Read more

Maybe I'm a creature of habit, but in spite of all the great new streaming-music services out there, I still find myself settling back into my love of Pandora. It's just a solid service that demands none of my attention and best of all, none of my money.

And while Pandora may be an old dog compared with the whelps of Spotify, Rdio, and Twitter Music, it actually has includes a number of ways to share your favorite music on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

To see how it's done, watch the video tutorial above. … Read more

If your kid's been begging for an iPod Touch, I've got some bad news. Apple has quietly discontinued the most affordable entry point into the world of iOS, the $199 16GB 4th-generation iPod Touch, an update of the 2011 model with a 3.5-inch screen. It's just as well since little Junior would have suffered some peer humiliation for not sporting one of the latest, greatest 5th-gen iPod models -- clearly distinguished by their bigger screens and candy-colored aluminum casing. Those models start at $299 for 32GB, or $399 for double the storage.

Until now, anyway. Apple … Read more

MP3 Cutter Joiner Free cuts your audio files into clips and joins them together with equal ease. You can use it to remove blank spaces, extract clips to use as ringtones and notifications, and even create quick homemade mash-ups. If a clip's too big, MP3 Cutter Joiner can cut it down to size. If you need to string a bunch of files together to play as one, it can do that, too. MP3 Cutter Joiner also converts audio files, individually or in batches, and applies various effects. It can join multiple files of different formats and bit rates, and … Read more