Getting Started with the LilyPad MP3 Player
Supported Audio Formats
The VS1053B audio decoding chip built into the LilyPad MP3 Player understands a wide variety of audio file formats. Occasionally you'll run into something it can't play; in that case you can often load it into the audio-editing software of your choice and "save as" a different format.
Below is a summary of the audio formats that the VS1053B understands, along with the common filename extensions for those formats. Note that the "player" sketch checks each file to ensure that it has one of these extensions: MP3, WAV, // MID (MIDI), MP4, WMA, AAC, FLA, OGG, but this is solely to avoid sending non-audio data to the VS1053B from other files that may be on your micro-SD card. The chip itself doesn't care about the extension. If you're using the player sketch, you can always rename your audio files to any of the above extensions.
This is only a summary. For much more detail see the VS1053B datasheet.
MPEG layer III (.MP3)
Two channels max Sample rates: 8 through 48 kHz Bitrates: 32 through 320 kbit/s Variable bit rate (VBR) supported Layer I and II also supported with additional setup, see the VS1053B datasheet for more information.
Ogg Vorbis (.OGG)
Two channels max Window size: 64 - 4096 samples Sample rate: 48 kHz max Bitrate: 500 kbit/s max
AAC (.AAC .MP4 .M4A)
Two channels max Sample rates from 8 kHz to 96 kHz (rates > 48 kHz are downsampled to 48 kHz) Bitrates to 576 kbit/s ATDS (streaming) format recommended
WMA (.WMA)
Two channels max Sample rates from 8 kHz to 48 kHz Bitrates from 5 kbits/s to 192 kbits/s Variable bit rate (VBR) supported
WAV (.WAV)
Two channels max PCM format 8 or 16 bits, sample rates < 48 kHz IMA_ADPCM format Sample rates < 48 kHz MPEG LAYER 3 format Same as MP3 modes
MIDI (.MID)
General MIDI and SP-MIDI format 0 Format 1 and 2 files must be converted to format 0 Maximum polyphony: 64 Actual polyphony: 19-31 notes at 3.5X clock Two instrument banks: GM1 (instruments) GM2 (percussion)