How do I stream audio???

[riviera]

Hello people,
I want to be able to stream MP3 from my site. Right now if I link directly to the MP3 file, it seems like it downloads the whole file before playing.

I really want to STREAM only so no files can be taken. Is this possible??

[Monty]

This URL was a site saver in our quest to stream audio...

http://www.real.com/

I have never tried converting mp3's to .rm format, but I would venture a guess, it can be done.

At any rate, feel free to check http://outdoorsshow.com for a working example.

Mont

[Arthur]

To stream MP3 you need a server program, like Shoutcast. However that's not available on Futurequest. With RealAudio you can use HTTP streaming for which you don't need any special programs, this is not possible with MP3s AFAIK, or you can use a server program (which is available on Futurequest).

Arthur

[bturner]

If you want to stream your own mp3s, I'd look at something like Live365 ( http://live365.com/ ). It's free and easy to set up. In fact, I use it for my own online radio station: http://thebigripoff.com/ and haven't had many complaints. I think there are other free mp3 streaming servers out there, but I went with Live365.

As Monty suggested, you could convert your mp3s to RealAudio (or just re-encode them if you have the original source), and stream those via FutureQuest. I think you're restricted to HTTP streaming, but I could be wrong. I know there's some help information about that somewhere.

Hope that helps!
Bill

[Matt]

Hmmm. No one mentioned Flash. Flash 4 & 5 have native support for MP3 and you can stream it as well. No need for any special software on the server side and just about everyone has Flash. The primary disadvantage is that you must either purchase Flash or use software (generally commercial, although cheaper) that will do the conversions for you. I've tried Flix, but it kept crashing and you must do an Internet install... you cannot create a local backup copy.

If you want to see what a Flash implementation might look like, visit http://www.messageonholdsource.com/demopage.html and click on any of the Flash links.

It took some time to figure out the Flash interface and get streaming MP3s working properly, but an artist I work with said that the interface is pretty standard for animation software.

-Matt

[riviera]

Thanks for the replys. I actually want to stream Windows media, (wma) files. Seems to be already streaming on my PC, but on Mac, it always wants to download the file to desktop.

Do I need to do anything special to stream these files? Thanks.

[riviera]

Oops, I may have just answered my own question. I think I need to create Metafiles for each audio file. Would like to confirm that with others.

[daledude]

You can try the following. Change the width, height, filename, src, etc. parameters. This method allows you to "stream" just about any file media player can play. Check http://www.webreference.com/js/column52/install.html which explains details.

<OBJECT ID="MediaPlayer"
WIDTH="320"
HEIGHT="292"
CLASSID="CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-11d0-94ab-0080c74c7e95"
CODEBASE="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=5,1,52,701"
STANDBY="Loading..."
TYPE="application/x-oleobject">
<PARAM NAME="FileName" VALUE="http://www.yoururl.com/music/blowyourspeakers.mp3">
<PARAM NAME="AnimationatStart" VALUE="false">
<PARAM NAME="TransparentatStart" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="AutoStart" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="ShowControls" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="ShowAudioControls" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="ShowPositionControls" VALUE="false">
<PARAM NAME="EnableTracker" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="ShowTracker" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="ShowStatusBar" VALUE="true">

<EMBED SRC="http://www.yoururl.com/music/blowyourspeakers.mp3"
NAME=MediaPlayer
AnimationAtStart=0
TransparentAtStart=0
ShowControls=1
ShowAudioControls=1
ShowPositionControls=0
EnableTracker=1
ShowTracker=1
ShowStatusBar=0
AUTOSTART=1
Width=320 Height=292 TYPE="application/x-mplayer2"
pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wurecommended/s_wufeatured/mediaplayer/default.asp">
</EMBED>
</OBJECT>

Good luck ;)

Dale