Rare 1999 MacPower MP-ROM player 💿 "Mozart's Music Box"

Before the iPod, there was the MP-ROM, introduced in 1999 as an inexpensive way to play MP3 files from a recordable CD or DVD. Obscure when new and nearly forgotten today, but it works surprisingly well, at least once you have a properly functioning drive installed.

Update: Further testing reveals that only files with .mp3 extensions are recognized. It will try to play MP3 files above 224 kbps, but the audio gets choppy because it can't keep up. VBR is fine as long as the maximum bitrate does not exceed 224 kbps any more than occasionally and briefly. Renaming an MP2 (MPEG-1 Layer II) file to .mp3 works as long as the bitrate is at or below 224 kbps. MP1 (MPEG-1 Layer I) is not supported, nor is MPEG2.5 (MP3 files with very low bitrate and/or sampling rate).

Time flow:
0:00 What is an MP-ROM?
2:49 Using it in a car
3:36 First test
5:42 Ring around the collar
6:39 Drive replacement
9:02 Fully working now
10:31 MP3 audio samples
11:38 CD-RW & CD audio
12:21 MP3 DVD test
14:02 Ideal use for it

#mprom #player #mp3