Posted by cwdjrxyz on 08/18/06 04:39

Cerebral Believer wrote:
> "cwdjrxyz" <spamtrap2@cwdjr.info> wrote in message
> news:1155832348.731256.158600@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > Cerebral Believer wrote:
> >
> >> I should have explained, the .mp3's and .ram's will be available to
> >> download
> >> and purchase also. I thought it would be sensible to supply them in a
> >> format compatible with most media players, including hardware players.
> >
> > I think that you need to use either a .rm Real file with associated
> > .ram playlist file or a .wma file with associated .wax playlist file
> > for playing free samples on the web. You will have to decide if you
> > want to use a low enough bit rate to be played on dialup with some loss
> > of quality or a higher bit rate for quality on broadband. Both formats
> > will stream, provided you code correctly and install the correct mime
> > types for the 4 extension types mentioned on the server, if they are
> > not yet installed on it. For music to sell, I think you need to use a
> > high bit rate mp3 for quality, since nearly everyone interested in
> > music can play mp3s and they can be easily copied to various portable
> > consumer mp3 players that many people have. The music to be streamed is
> > easily embedded on the main page so that you do not jump to a player
> > page everytime a song is selected to play, and this is the way most
> > large commercial sites that stream samples and sell music do it. It is
> > possible to write valid objects for both .rm and .wma for embedding the
> > music on the page, and I can supply the code, if you need it.
>
> I agree that .mp3 is probably the best format for portable devices and
> players. .ra files tend to be smaller, and may be more suitable for people
> with slower connections. I have visited some sites that stream audio, and
> they manage to either figure out a persons connection speed, or they ask a
> person to input it. I would be interested in the code for an embedded
> player, but more interested in finding out how I could design one myself, so
> that I can update the look of my site to a design that pleases me.


If one has a special streaming server($$$), as big media sites do, you
can encode special multi-speed formats for wma and rm and even have
automatic selection of 3 download speeds. However, on an ordinary html
server, you can provide more than one download speed with buttons to
select, if you wish. You will have to have multiple audio files encoded
at different rates. Designing your own player is quite a chore.
Consider that both the Real and WMP players are about 3 to 4 times the
size of a lean browser such as Firefox or Opera. That is a lot of code
to write.

Some examples of what you can do on a usual html server are at
http://www.cwdjr.net/streamdemo/streamdemopage.php . Do not click on
the first player unless you have very high speed broadband. It is to
show that it is now practical to stream PCM uncompressed files on the
web which are at the CD standard. It is the gold standard(well,not
quite, because SACD and DVD-A are recorded at higher bit rates than
normal CDs) for audio. All of the compressed formats such as wma, rm,
mp3, etc are a step down. There are a few lossless formats (including
some wma and rm ones) that can be restored to the original, but they
only reduce file size a moderate amount - perhaps 1/2 the size in some
cases.

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