It was WRT CPU power. I remember having to use some specially compiled for 486 player to just barely be able to play mp3s. Before that on my 386-40 I was below real time.
This was the days long before P2P, using binaries usenet groups. Or ripping songs yourself, which took quite a long time indeed (like 10 or 15 minutes per song?)
Haha ah yes, I remember being amazed by a friend who could convert WAVs to MP3s faster than ripping the CD to WAV. Good times.
I remember a base Pentium 90 laptop struggling to play MP3s in Winamp, not massively high bitrate either. I could just about play MP3s on a 486 DX2 66Mhz (and discovered MODs etc. at that time too - smaller to download, using floppy disk and a school's internet access).
I was amazed with Grip and its ability to rip and convert straight to MP3s, but it took forever. Good times using RH 6.2.
It was WRT CPU power. I remember having to use some specially compiled for 486 player to just barely be able to play mp3s. Before that on my 386-40 I was below real time.
I'm pretty sure this is what I was using:
http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/mpg123-oss-i486
This was the days long before P2P, using binaries usenet groups. Or ripping songs yourself, which took quite a long time indeed (like 10 or 15 minutes per song?)