How can I distribute audio through the Web?
Not all web browsers have audio support built-in, but nearly all
can launch external "viewers" to handle audio. These player programs
are widely available as freeware or shareware for most architectures
(or standard with your operating system).
Audio is a particularly thorny case owing to the need to download
the entire audio program before it can be heard. Fortunately,
there are now systems available which avoid this problem by
playing the audio as it is downloaded.
- RealAudio
- By Progressive Networks (URL is <URL:http://www.realaudio.com> ).
The RealAudio player can communicate with
a specialized RealAudio server in order to play back audio as
it is downloaded, eliminating download delays even over long
distances and slow modems. RealAudio now supports
a variety of quality levels and non-audio features such
as HTML pages displayed in synchronization with the audio.
RealAudio players are available for Microsoft Windows,
the Macintosh, and several Unix platforms.
- StreamWorks
- By Xing Technology (URL is
<URL:http://www.xingtech.com/>).
StreamWorks also provides streaming audio playback, again in
conjunction with a special StreamWorks server. Video is also
available and can be played back over modems at reduced frame rates.
StreamWorks players are available for Microsoft Windows,
the Macintosh and several Unix platforms.
- Winplay
- Winplay <URL:http://www.iis.fhg.de/departs/amm/layer3/winplay3>
is unusual in that it offers very high-quality audio using MPEG Level 3
compression, which is currently not available in other products. For
Windows only at the time of this writing. Winplay does not currently
offer a specialized streaming server.
- VocalTec
- VocalTec <URL:http://www.vocaltec.com/> also offers
streaming audio technology for the web. VocalTec's
Internet Wave product is available for the Microsoft Windows
platform only.
World Wide Web FAQ