Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: streaming audio book site .. (Read 4908 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

streaming audio book site ..

i want  to build a site that would stream audio-book .. so the recommend format should be Ogg Vorbis ? that site should also allow users to upload their media content and the admin to do bulk upload .. and it should base on PHP + mySQL ..
so anyone can suggest me any particular solution (which software .. )
any other suggestions are welcome
thanks

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #1 –
If you don't mind about Linux compatibility, I suggest using WMA Voice for encoding. Every Windows version since Win98 supports it out of the box, so you site would also be usable for newbies that don't know about plugins.

Besides, WMA Voice is probably much better than Vorbis at voice encoding. You get excellent quality at 16kbps.

Your visitors can also freely encode to WMA Voice using Windows Media Encoder, so that they can later upload streams to you.

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #2 –
Vorbis is the codec of choice when it comes to streaming. It's very well designed for streaming, it performs better than mp3 on low bitrates, and it's opensourced. Ogg Vorbis streams are also supported by major players on Windows and Linux - don't know about Mac (I don't know anything 'bout Mac). Well, WMP won't play it without a codec, but WMP is WMP.

But if you are aiming for really low bitrates and your content is speech only, I would take a look at SPEEX too, an opensourced dedicated speech-codec.

For best settings for your purpose, try FAQ and Search here on HA.

For your other Q's, wait for more qualified repliers.



EDIT:
BTW: Vorbis, SPEEX and the streamserver Icecast2 - which might (?) also intrest you - have found a home round here: http://www.xiph.org/
"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #3 –
Quote
If you don't mind about Linux compatibility (...)

Just shut them *nix users out in the dark, ehy...?

"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #4 –
thanks 4 ur replies .. I'm now searching for some information about Icecast2 ..
my site is just for regular users, so to have linux compatibility or not is not really a problem 
now, just don't know which format I should choose, vorbis or WMA .. speek might be a bit difficult for users to encode ..

besides Icecast2, is there any other software that i can look around ?

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #5 –
Quote
(...)
my site is just for regular users, so to have linux compatibility or not is not really a problem 
(...)

Humm, hum, hummmm......
Are Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, etc. users not "regular users"......??????
"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #6 –
no .. i meant, in my country (Vietnam  ) most of the people use windows

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #7 –
Also (and I'm not a GPL zealot, far from) opensource is a point. It belongs to you and me and the rest of the world, not to Bill Gates. Nobody can claim later that you used something that "belonged" to them.... (I guess that if you use mp3 you should in reality pay a licensing fee to the Fraunhofer institute...)

"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #8 –
Quote
(and I'm not a GPL zealot, far from)

Haha! Suuuure...

Quote
Are Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, etc. users not "regular users"......??????


Since you surely don't know: There is Windows media Player for Mac OS

And I still believe WMA Voice is the best option. It's easily playable on any reasonably modern Windows version. Ogg Vorbis isn't nearly as efficient for voice encoding. And Speex is a bad idea - it requires users to find, download and install players and plugins so that you can play it back.

In this case, the open source codecs would be better suited for a site targeted at nerds.

Quote
Vorbis is the codec of choice when it comes to streaming. It's very well designed for streaming

So is Windows Media

Quote
it performs better than mp3 on low bitrates

Still, it's unefficient for voice

Quote
and it's opensourced

Soooo...? GNU zealot warm fuzzy feeling?

Quote
Well, WMP won't play it without a codec

It does play WMA without a codec OTOH

Quote
but WMP is WMP.

Right - the most popular and easy to use (I.E, no need to download and install) player in the Windows world.

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #9 –
Quote
Since you surely don't know: There is Windows media Player for Mac OS


I suppose you have also ported it to BSD and Linux?

Quote
And I still believe WMA Voice is the best option. It's easily playable on any reasonably modern Windows version. Ogg Vorbis isn't nearly as efficient for voice encoding. And Speex is a bad idea - it requires users to find, download and install players and plugins so that you can play it back.


Remember that not everyone has a "reasonably modern Windows version" either. Besides, downloading a Speex plugin isn't that hard (some have even made that into a Java applet) and I think it's worth all the bandwidth that can be saved.

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #10 –
Quote
Since you surely don't know: There is Windows media Player for Mac OS

You are absolutely right, as I stated earlier in this thread, I haven't a clue about Mac
But that still won't help Linux/BSD etc. users... My point here was simply that Vorbis is easily available on all platforms (and it's open and it's free and so on and so on....).

Quote
And I still believe WMA Voice is the best option.

I was planning for a little ABX test just for myself of recommended audiobook encoding settings for different codecs, I'll add that to my list of codecs to try.

Quote
Ogg Vorbis isn't nearly as efficient for voice encoding. (...) Still, it's unefficient for voice

OK. I'll see after that ABX test of mine. So far I have just tested it for music, so you could be right....

Quote
Right - the most popular and easy to use (I.E, no need to download and install) player in the Windows world.

XMPlay is a 300 Kb download that handles both ogg vorbis, mp3 and wma streams excellent. Foobar2000 lite isn't exactly big either....

Quote
i want  to build a site that would stream audio-book (...) that site should also allow users to upload their media content and the admin to do bulk upload .. and it should base on PHP + mySQL ..
so anyone can suggest me any particular solution (which software .. )
any other suggestions are welcome
thanks


Well, seem the two of us (me & rjamorim) has effecively torpedoed original posters inquiry for useful software for his site by turning this into yet another codec of choice/opensource vs. proprietary discussion, probably preventing any useful postings in that respect from happening... So, I'm sorry for that, boobi    Hopefully somebody else will come along and help you out with it...


Quote
(...) Haha! Suuuure... (...)would be better suited for a site targeted at nerds. (...)

How old are you really, rjamorim...?
"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #11 –
Quote
I suppose you have also ported it to BSD and Linux?

Don't try to be a smartass. he was claiming WMA is not supported on MacOS, I corrected him. I didn't claim it was supported anywhere else.

Quote
Remember that not everyone has a "reasonably modern Windows version" either.


Reasonably modern = Win98 and newer. I don't believe there is still a large user base for Win95 and NT 3.5

Quote
Besides, downloading a Speex plugin isn't that hard (some have even made that into a Java applet) and I think it's worth all the bandwidth that can be saved.


Much harder than clicking the link once and playing the file right away. (or you don't even need to click a link if you embed WMP on the web page)

You gotta consider that not all users are open source enthusiasts that agree it's worth going through the hassle of downloading and installing a program just because it's Stallman-Approved.

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #12 –
Quote
Quote
Right - the most popular and easy to use (I.E, no need to download and install) player in the Windows world.

XMPlay is a 300 Kb download that handles both ogg vorbis, mp3 and wma streams excellent. Foobar2000 lite isn't exactly big either....

But that's my whole point! You don't even need to download 300Kb to play WMA. Just click the wma link and WMP pops up, playing it.

Another advantage that just crossed my mind: WMP can be embedded on pages, making the whole solution more elegant (no programs popping up out of nowhere)

Quote
How old are you really, rjamorim...?


22

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #13 –
Quote
Quote
Besides, downloading a Speex plugin isn't that hard (some have even made that into a Java applet) and I think it's worth all the bandwidth that can be saved.


Much harder than clicking the link once and playing the file right away. (or you don't even need to click a link if you embed WMP on the web page)

You gotta consider that not all users are open source enthusiasts that agree it's worth going through the hassle of downloading and installing a program just because it's Stallman-Approved.

It always depends on the final goal. If the audio book is several hours and you're going to download many of them, installing a plugin and saving hours of download (for a modem user) is a good thing. If the file is 1 minute, it doesn't help as much.

In all cases, using WMA means completely locking out BSD and Linux users, so it's minor inconveniance+bandwidth benefit for Windows users vs. locking out anyone who doesn't use Windows or MacOS (you'd be surprised at how many people still run Win95 BTW).

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #14 –
Quote
Also (and I'm not a GPL zealot, far from) opensource is a point. It belongs to you and me and the rest of the world, not to Bill Gates. Nobody can claim later that you used something that "belonged" to them.... (I guess that if you use mp3 you should in reality pay a licensing fee to the Fraunhofer institute...)


I don't think that's a big issue in Vietnam...

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #15 –
Quote
I don't think that's a big issue in Vietnam...


I think you are right.....

 

R. T.
(Who lives on the North Pole)
"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #16 –
OK. To get down to it:
I'm not going to carry no torch or beat no stick around for the GPL cause. I myself uses what's best for the job. I use EAC not CDex, for instance....
But if it's also open/free, hell, it's an extra bonus. I do also more and more often find open alternatives that offers the better practical solution.
(And also: ideology means a bit more than warm fuzzy feelings in a world that's more & more & more MONEY=GOD, even though I'm not too clever myself    )
And if people want to use WMP, hell, go along, if it's good for you.....
(Personally I don't find the interface very useful and I'm not too crazy 'bout the idea of a player that by default reports my user habits to Redmond, but, heck, that's just my personal preferences.....)

But there are some issues I want to beat a little:
First of all, the original poster is aiming at making a website that is intended as a public service if I understand this right. Maybe it's just my unfashionable scandinavian socialdemocratic upbringing, but by public service I do understand available to all.
Shutting out people that don't want to use Windows (not to say IE, which I guess is a prerequisite for browserembedded wma, correct me if I'm wrong), is unacceptable by these standards for me...
...Here SPEEX BTW could be a real contender, since it gives good speech playback at bitrates so low that even modem users will have no problems.
There should have been developed some speex browserplugs for Opera, Mozilla and IE, so that it would be just like if you want to view Flash content you have to install the Flash plugin... people don't find that too hard....
Also, for the poster (even though legislation is probably (?) quite relaxed in Vietnam), using open software for a public service will keep his back free for all forseeable future... (probably not important, but all the security you can get...)
And: Poster also mentions encoding & upload by users. I tried to encode some wma files; Well, first I have to do a 9,5 Mb download, and then I get something that's got an interface so easy and intuitive that I guess even Einstein or Salvador Dali would shrink from trying... Stupid me had to set it up through foobar2000 cli to be able to encode anything at all... But hey! ... having fb2k downloaded & installed I can just download some small binary and encode something easy like vorbis, speex, mp3, aac instead.....
(BTW: wheres your recommendation for HE AAC, rjamorim?  )
"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #17 –
sigh .. u guy turned this into a codec war ..

talk about my question, i did some search in google and sourceforge.net , and found some solutions, for ex, netjuke, streamsicle, jinzora .. all based on PHP + mysql .. they don't really satisfy me, so can someone recommend me any other software solution ?

about codec .. i chose WMA .. so plz don't argue about that here ..

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #18 –
Ok. Being the effing a***hole that f**cked it up for boobi I'm gonna bump this thread for him/her and shut my big effing mouth soforth.... I willl not bump it again  though or enter this thread again....
"ONLY THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL ACHIEVE THE ABSURD"
        - Oceania Association of Autonomous Astronauts
 

streaming audio book site ..

Reply #20 –
Quote
Shutting out people that don't want to use Windows (not to say IE, which I guess is a prerequisite for browserembedded wma, correct me if I'm wrong), is unacceptable by these standards for me...

You are wrong. Of course you are wrong

Quote
so that it would be just like if you want to view Flash content you have to install the Flash plugin... people don't find that too hard....


Most browsers come with flash embedded, so no, that's another flawed argument coming from you.

Quote
I tried to encode some wma files; Well, first I have to do a 9,5 Mb download, and then I get something that's got an interface so easy and intuitive that I guess even Einstein or Salvador Dali would shrink from trying...


I can use it easily. That's what I use for my tests actually.

Quote
(BTW: wheres your recommendation for HE AAC, rjamorim?   )


I recommend WMA Voice/Acelp.net because it's much better for voice than HE AAC.

Different from you, I recommend what will be best for people, I don't recommend what I personally prefer out of my ideologies or something like that.

Regards;

Roberto.