About Ringtones

There is a huge variety of ringtones on the market and it can be confusing to figure out which is which and which ones are right for your cell phone carrier or manufacturer. Let's take a look at what a ringtone really is and the differences between polyphonic ringtones, MIDI's, realtones, MP3 ringtones, Mosquito Ringers, cell phone carriers, mobile phone manufacturers, and more!

Ringtones/Ringback Tones Overview

A ringtone (or ringback tone) is the customizable sound made by a cell phone to indicate an incoming call. Originally, ringtones provided a means so that people would be able to determine when their mobile phone was ringing when in the company of other cell phone owners.

Today ringtones are a way cell phone users can personalize their cell phone. Songs from popular artists and bands, sound clips, and theme songs are just some of the growing options available for download to mobile phones. Users can even personalize their cell phone ring to the person calling so you know who it is without even looking at the phone. One might put a love song for their boyfriend/girlfriend's phone number and the Star Wars Imperial March for their parents or work!

One of the greatest features of ringtones is that you can download from thousands of available ringtones and change them at any time. This gives you the freedom to continually update your ringtones as new songs emerge without locking you in to the same ringtone for a long period of time.

Polyphonic Ringtones

A polyphonic ringtone is a ringtone that makes use of polyphony which was originally used to describe the ability of synthesizers to play multiple notes at a time. These types of ringtones use basic sounds or tones that simulate music songs.

Polytones cannot contain words or other instrument sounds because they are not true digital recordings. Polyphonic ringtones sound more like traditional cell phone ringers. Pressing the number keys on your mobile phone to make a "song" will create a similar tune as a polyphonic ringtone. There is usually more variety of polyphonic ringtones for download than real music ringtones because creating them is much easier and file sizes smaller. Polyphonics also come with less copyrights than realtones that restrict play of artist songs.

To download polyphonic ringtones, please see our Polyphonic Ringtones page.

MIDI Ringtones

One of the most popular types of polyphonic ringtones for download are MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) ringtones. MIDI does not transmit an audio signal or media — it simply transmits digital data such as the pitch and intensity of musical notes to play, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues and clock signals to set the tempo.

MIDI format ringtones are very popular because they can be played on almost any cell phone or electronic music instrument. To download MIDI ringtones, please see our MIDI Ringtones page.

Realtones/Truetones

In recent years, it has become possible to use digital audio recordings as ringtones giving a "true" or "real" sound. The recordings might be of music, speech, or other sounds. Mainstream music recordings from excerpts from pop, country, rap, Christian, jazz, hip hop, or rock songs, have become popular as ringtones.

Real Music Ringtones have been one of the main reasons for the boom in the ringtones industry online. Obviously cell phones themselves had to catch up and be able to play realtones but once that happened, mobile phone users looked for real song ringers to personalize their phones. In just a short period of time, realtones have become the desired format of ringtone because of the ability for mobile users to hear their favorite music artists, groups, and bands on their phones.

Realtone ringtones also consist of sound clips and voice tones. Cell phone users can now listen to clips of their favorite comedians or sound effects from a wide range of sources. With cell phone technology advancing fast, users can now download a variety of ringtones like Funny Ringtones, Sound Effect Ringtones, TV Show Theme Ringtones, and Movie Ringtones.

MP3 Ringtones

MP3 is a popular audio-specific encoding format. It uses a lossy compression algorithm that is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording, yet still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners. That means that songs still sound like the original music song.

Because of their high compression, MP3 ringtones can be smaller in file size and therefore quicker to download than CD quality music tones. MP3 ringtones are widely available for download due to the increase in use of digital devices like the Apple iPod. Most cell phones today can play MP3 format ringtones.

Mosquito Ringtones/Flytones

Mosquito ringtones are ringtones so quiet that only younger people can hear them. Because of this fact, they are gaining popularity amongst teenagers because of schools banning cell phone use inside their halls. By having a ringtone that is quiet, parents and teachers cannot hear the ring allowing teens to use their phone without bothering anyone else or getting caught. This is one of the most common sensory abnormalities in the world and enables mosquito ringtones to be highly effective.

Mosquito ringtones (flytones) were originally used by shopkeepers to help disperse young people from loitering in front of their stores! Adults could not hear the tones and were unaffected. Currently the authentic mosquito ringtone outputs in the 17kHz range.

Cell Phone Carriers

Mobile phone carriers are the companies that enable users to use their network and make and receive calls. Without a carrier, you cannot use your phone for incoming or outgoing calls. Usually a monthly plan offering a certain number of allowed minutes is provided. Other features for business, text messages, SMS, mobile games, call answer, etc. may be provided as part of the plan.

Cell Phone Manufacturers

A multitude of companies manufacture cell phones. There are literally thousands of different mobile phone models to choose from. Each manufacturer offers different styles and features on their phones like text messaging, digital cameras, video, and ringtones.

Choose your carrier above and get your BONUS Ringtones now!