-=> CHARLES ANGELICH wrote to WAYNE CHIRNSIDE <=-

 CA> Hello Wayne -

 CA> --8<--cut

 WC> BTW on you .mp3 web site "Dust in the Wind" downloads as a
 WC> 64 or thereabouts file with a .mpu file name extention.

 CA> All done in order to 'stream' the music file.

 OK, with my inability to play HiFi MP3's here and the lack of the 
 plugin in NS 4.08 I've no experience.
 Used to be sites refered you to the plugin but back 
 then I had a messed up drive and they wouldn't
 load for the munged boot sector.
 Now I've got a good drive and 4.08 isn't supported anymore 
 or the sites don't foward you to the plugin.
 
 CA> At the top of the SAMPLES.ASP page the MP3 are 156kbps short
 CA> pieces of the entire music file. They sound much better at this
 CA> sampling rate since CD-DA (normal audio CDs) is at 320kbps.
 CA> Problem is you must download the entire file before you get to
 CA> hear it and know that you actually want the file. At 156kbps
 CA> each complete music file is approx 5 meg in size. For dialup
 CA> users that's about a 20 minute, or more, download to find they
 CA> may not like the music?

 Took an hour to DL a 7 meg file I couldn't use with a 28.800
 but I believe the server was loaded too as it was only
 2/3rds optimal transfer for most of the connect.
 
 CA> The lower portion of that page are links that will 'stream'
 CA> the transfer (play and download simultaneously).

   Got ya.

 CA> get on FM radio. We are accustom to this limitation and most
 CA> people have no problem with the sound. A few referred to as
 CA> 'golden ears' do not like this at all and will just refuse to
 CA> access the files. Many hate FM radio for the same reason.

 I have those golden ears having some really top notch 
 audio equipment when I was young. F.M. is tolerable
 but sounds a bit muddy to me and lacks dynamic range.
 
 CA> To intitiate this 'streaming' mode of transfer a short text
 CA> file containing the URL of the music file is required. I have
 CA> no idea why the MP3 players require this but this is how they
 CA> work. If I link directly to the MP3 or WMA file most browsers
 CA> will only download the entire file and _then_ launch the player.

 CA> What you refer to as "64" (bytes) is actually a 57 byte text
 CA> file containing _only_ the full URL of the location of the MP3
 CA> file. The extension for this MUST be ".m3u" or it will not be
 CA> recognized as a request to launch the player by the browsers
 CA> out there now. For Windows MultiMedia Audio - WMA - the
 CA> extension MUST be ".wax" for audio-only (there are others for
 CA> audio+video) that will also stream (play during the transfer).

 WC> I really wanted to snag that one.

 CA> Try using
 CA> http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/music/ditw.mp3

 CA> This method is not there to keep anyone from downloading the
 CA> MP3 files, it's required to intitiate streaming of the file as
 CA> it downloads. In the future just load that little text file
 CA> into an editor and use the URL stored there. It will then
 CA> download the entire file to your hard drive (or wherever you
 CA> tell it to store the file) as do all other links to files.

 Alright, thanks for taking the time to reply in such detail.
 
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