MP3 and MP4 are both compression technologies for converting standard analog audio tracks to smaller digital computer files. MP3 is a format used for compressing audio files so they can be stored or transferred on the internet. MP4 is a format usually used for compressing multimedia files.
The big advantage of MP3-files is the smaller file size, making them easily transferable. Compare this: a regular audio CD holds around 20 tracks. When filling a CD with compressed MP3-files, it can hold up to 200 tracks. Normally when sound is compressed, the quality is dramatically diminished, but MP3 format has the ability to deliver high compression rates with a minimum loss of sound quality.
To make it more complicated: the well-known Apple format .m4a (or AAC), though being just an audio-file, can also be considered an MP4-file because of the improved compression technology which offers better music quality (in comparison to MP3) while maintaining a small file-size.
But basically, the basic difference between MP3 and MP4 is that MP3 is only used for audio files, while MP4 is used for several types of media including audio and video.
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MP3 players
- The MP3 player is a portable device for playing back music files, and some more advanced portable media players also play video. MP3 players are often used for audio entertainment while sporting, or traveling.More about this
Media Players
- Often very comprehensive devices, media players basically store and play back media (video, audio, photos). More advanced models have network connectivity and can stream media to your television.More about this