Isaac.Eiland-Hall.com

The AudioFile: Understanding MP3 compression: Page 1
But what is MP3? The usual explanations usually take one of two forms. The long version, available in technical papers, is written in jargon and filled with math. The short version, often used by newspapers and nontechnical periodicals, simply states that the process eliminates parts of sound not normally heard by the human ear. But this one-sentence description raises more questions than it answers for any reasonably tech-savvy reader: how does it find those unheard sounds, and how does it get rid of them? Whats the difference between the different bit rates and quality levels? If youre anything like me, youve often wanted to know the mechanics of MP3, but not to the point of writing your own encoder.

This is a very well-written article, intended to try and bring more understanding of exactly how the MP3 format works to non-engineer—types, and I think it succeeds pretty well. It’s still a little heavier than some might wish; but if you stick with it, I think you’ll have a better understanding of the general process of making an MP3. I think it helps to have a basic understanding of what an audio waveform basically means (in regards to how it relates to the makeup of frequencies), but I’d imagine even folks who don’t have that understanding can still glean some [hopefully] interesting information.