I have some original recordings I would like to share online. I also have space on a server to host them. What I need to know is how to best set them up to be accessible to potential listeners. I know it takes a while to download mp3 files so I was thinking that maybe I should set them up to be “streaming” files (play live online). But, I don’t know how to do that. When I try to listen to mp3s online, sometimes they play in real time and sometimes I have to download them in order to play them.
Thanks,
Deaton

Your Server must support streaming before you would be able to stream your mp3's Deaton. Also you may want to consider zipping your mp3's. Zipped files take up less space so the mp3's will be of smaller size accordingly. Streaming would be the best option IMO though.

Best regards,
Mike

Can zipped mp3 files be "streamed"? My server does support streaming. So, what do I have to do to make the files I post streamable?
Deaton

To my knowledge .Zipped .mp3 files cannot be streamed. Your Server web site should have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section where it hopefully would address Streaming .mp3 files and how to do it. Most likely you will have to set up a separate directory to store the .mp3 files only you will most likely store them with the suffix .m3u = streaming file. Another thing you have to consider is the Streaming .mp3 files will have to be "tailored down" to no more than 96kbps (bit rate) and most likely you will want to sample them with no more than a 11,025Hz (sample rate). The reason for that is you want people with "dial up" connections to be able to hear your .m3u files without the sound "breaking up" when listening to them through Winamp, etc. If you encode the files with too high of a bit rate, say, 192kbps and @ 44,100 Hz sample rate people with dial up connections won't be able to listen to your songs without it constantly cutting out every few seconds or so to re-buffer the file. Broadband users would have no problem listening to higher bit and sample rate files but most people still use a dial up connection to access the internet.

So what I am saying Deaton is you are probably better off just .zipping your .mp3 files onto your Web Server site and providing a link to the file and posting that link for the group to click on and download. Unless of course you don't mind the rigmarole, ie., (hassle) of setting up your files as Streaming files on your Web Server and also in re-sampling and reducing the bit rate of your .mp3 files, etc. If you don't mind that then Streaming would be fine. But especially for the sake of "dial up" users you may just want to .zip 'em and let him or her simply download the .zip file. That way the person would also be able to listen to your file again and again because he or she would have easy access to it since they would be on his or her Hard Drive. If your files are Streamed the link would have to be brought up again if the person wanted to listen to one of your songs again. Streaming is very convenient though because almost as soon as you click the link the file begins to play. It's up to you Deaton. Your Web Server site should have info on how to setup an .mp3 as a Streaming file on their Server if you choose to do so though.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-16-2003).]

Hi guys,
keybplayer I have to correct you on some points :-)

- zipping mp3s:

mp3 already uses zip-like compression (huffman compression) and as you know rezipping a zip file does not make the file shorter.
If you try to zip a standard mp3 (that does not contain lots of silence) usually it compresses between 0-2% so it's not worth the trouble.

Plus as said zipping mp3s make them unstreamable. Some people do zip mp3s because some free hosting providers do not allow mp3 downloads (the webserver automatically blocking it etc).

To stream mp3s: the server does not need to have special support for streaming because the streaming is carried over standard HTTP connections, just like when you download a file.
See this site for a brief explanation how to make your mp3 streamable (basically just set up a .m3u or .pls file and upload that file and the mp3 on the server).

Scroll down to "MP3 Playlists: M3U Metafile"
Use m3u instead of .pls because it's recognized by more players, .pls is supported only mainly by winamp. http://www.panix.com/web/faq/multimedia/streamed.html


Regarding the dialup bandwidth:

an analog modem labeled 56K in theory can transport 56000bits/sec but in practice it it is limited to effctive 40-50kbits.

To make MP3s streamable in real time on dialup modems you need to encode them at 32kbit and as we know the quality will suck. (11kHz).
Dialup ISDN can achieve up to effective 56Kbit (in theory 64kbit but there is the TCP/IP protocol overhead etc thus you loose a few %).

An alternative to mp3: the non-proprietary OGG/Vorbis format http://www.vorbis.com

The quality at low bitrates is really good, for example if you encode at let's say 40kbit (mono) you can stream it over analog modems and the quality usually surpasses that of analog FM radios.
With 56kbit you can achieve comparable quality but in stereo.

Winamp supports OGG playback and streaming out of the box, if you want it in mediaplayer then just install the DirectShow filter:
http://tobias.everwicked.com/oggds.htm


Returning to streaming: to satisfy everyone (both dialup users and DSL/broadband users) you could upload two mp3s with different bitrates:
32kbit for dialup users and 128kbit for broad band users.

ok I'll shut up now :-)

cheers,
Benno
http://www.linuxsampler.org