The ElementaryDesign HTTP Streaming HowTo

Ogg Vorbis

Advantages: Format is free, open, and unpatented. Created by geeks for geeks, who claim it offers audio quality that is better than mp3 in smaller files. Supported in the latest version of WinAmp, etc. Not widely supported in handheld devices and many are not aware that Ogg Vorbis files can be easily converted to .wav files for playback in standard CD players.

Disadvantages: Still fairly new, so older versions of WinAmp and other media players lack native support, which means visitors may need to upgrade their software or add plugins in order to listen to streams. Not widely supported in handheld devices and many people are not yet aware that Ogg Vorbis files can be easily converted to .wav files for playback in standard CD players.

More importantly, listening to streams takes a bit of doing. Here are the currently available methods/software I have found:

Zinf, which has built-in support (Windows and Linux).
WinAmp plugin, which works with WinAmp 2.x, but not WinAmp3 (Windows).
XMMS, which has built-in support (Linux).
QuickTime plugin, which works in QuickTime Player (MacOS 9, MacOS X and Windows).
JOrbis Player, a nifty piece of software that should work on any platform, provided you have installed the Java Plug-in (J2SE V.1.3 or later). Here is a link to a sample 64kbps Ogg Vorbis stream.

You may have to change or establish certain file associations in order to make the above software play Ogg Vorbis http streams. Take the following steps if you use Netscape/Mozilla:

To open the Netscape preferences dialogue, go to the Edit menu and click Preferences.
Expand the + next to Navigator, and click on Applications (or Helper Applications in Mozilla).
Click New Type to add the Ogg Vorbis file association.
In the Description of Type box, type Ogg Vorbis Streaming Audio.
In the File Extension box, type m3u.
In the MIME Type: box, type audio/x-mpegurl.
Click Browse to browse to the folder in which you installed one of the above software packages. (e.g., C:\Program Files\Winamp2.81\)
Browse to this folder and double-click winamp.exe.
Click OK to add the type, and then click OK again to exit preferences.
Restart your Netscape browser to finish the association process.

Internet Explorer, at least on machines running Windows, relies on its operating system to tell it which program should open specific files (i.e., Word opens files with the .doc extension). Here is a Microsoft-endorsed tutorial on files associations.

Alternative Media (Transcripts): Lyrics to "Town and Country" and "Your Submarine Gown."

Technical Notes: How I prepared Ogg Vorbis files for HTTP streaming.

Minimum Quality (45kbps)

Town and Country 1.46MB | 61 files | 4,109 streams

Your Submarine Gown 1.50MB | 60 files | 4,000 streams

Low Quality (64kbps)

Town and Country 1.91MB | 47 files | 3,141 streams

Your Submarine Gown 1.97MB | 45 files | 3,045 streams

Comparable to mp3 Average Quality (112kbps)

Town and Country 3.20MB | 28 files | 1,875 streams

Your Submarine Gown 3.21MB | 28 files | 1,869 streams

Lossless Stereo Coupling (192kbps)

Town and Country 5.42MB | 16 files | 1,107 streams

Your Submarine Gown 5.18MB | 17 files | 1,158 streams