quoted 2 lines What's the point of having pre-recorded RealAudio tracks? Isn't
> What's the point of having pre-recorded RealAudio tracks? Isn't
> RealAudio meant for live broadcast?
No. RealAudio was originally designed as a way to deliver acceptable-quality
audio content over the web in real time, but nothing about the encoding scheme
requires that anything (either the encoding or the delivery) happen in real
time. Offering fully-encoded files for download and offline listening gives
people more flexibility in when and where they can listen to things.
quoted 3 lines If I want to hear pre-recorded stuff that I get from the web, why can't
> If I want to hear pre-recorded stuff that I get from the web, why can't
> I just download a full-quality 44/16/stereo WAV file, maybe
> zip-compressed, and listen to that?
If you can find someone to throw the storage space and the pipeline at it, and
you're willing to spend the download time, nothing's preventing you. But
44.1kHz/16-bit/stereo WAV files will run you about 175k/second to ReadAudio's
3.6k/second, which is why a lot of folks prefer to put things online in
RealAudio format.
quoted 2 lines That is, instead of listening to a crappy RealAudio file which not only
> That is, instead of listening to a crappy RealAudio file which not only
> sounds bad but breaks up in heavy net traffic?
If you download the RealAudio files before listening to them and play them
locally, you don't have to worry about net traffic.
--
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