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Wade Into the Stream

Four streaming technologies dominate the Net airwaves: RealNetworks' RealAudio, Microsoft's Windows Media, Apple's QuickTime, and Nullsoft's streaming MP3 technology, called Shoutcast. Each provides its own compression schemes, and some do a better job than others at delivering audio over low bit-rate pipes such as modems. For example, RealAudio uses a feature called SureStream that handles network congestion by downshifting to lower-quality sound rather than interrupting playback.

Among all those technologies, you'll find plenty of content. You can tune in to more than 3100 radio stations (you can find links to these stations at portals such as NetRadio), of which about 250 broadcast only on the Web. You can hear everything from jazz and rock to talk shows and local government meetings. And new stations appear every day.

What do you need to listen? Just a PC with an Internet connection, sound card, and speakers or headphones--and a streaming audio player. Free players from companies including RealNetworks, Microsoft, and Apple are vying for your eardrums.

RealNetworks' RealPlayer 7 dominates the field. But Microsoft's Windows Media Player has advanced in the past year, thanks to its being bundled with Windows 98 and to a growing number of content providers adding Windows Media support. Luckily, you don't have to pick one player. Streaming players generally coexist well, and you can enjoy the full streaming smorgasbord by simply installing multiple players.

But you can listen to streaming audio sans PC, too. For example, Kerbango's $300 Internet Radio is a tabletop radio-size device that tunes in streaming radio stations through a built-in 56-kilobit per second modem or a broadband connection. It currently supports only RealNetworks' RealSystem G2 content. AudioRamp's $399 iRad takes a different approach. Resembling a boom box, it plays RealSystem G2, Microsoft Windows Media, and MP3, and it has a built-in CD-ROM drive that plays both audio CDs and CD-ROMs containing MP3 tracks.

If those seem a bit pricey, explore the less expensive options. C. Crane's $50 fx-200 device plugs into your PC's sound card and transmits Internet audio around your house on the FM radio band. This means you can tune in your PC's sound from any radio within 150 feet.

Streams Away

What else is ahead for streaming audio? Better sound quality, for starters. Codecs, the compression schemes used to slim down the files, continue to evolve, with each new generation producing files with less distortion. And connection speeds are gradually improving, enabling content providers to use less compression. At digital subscriber line and cable modem speeds, only golden-eared audiophiles can tell the difference between streaming audio and a compact disc. And these continuous connections make tuning in far more convenient--there's no waiting while modems dial and screech at each other.

In addition, you might not need to keep multiple players on your PC, as competing companies are talking about playing nice together. For instance, RealNetworks licensed Microsoft's Windows Media audio codec, so you can expect future versions of RealPlayer to support the playback of Windows Media streams.

Also look for streaming to continue its migration from the PC. Internet radio appliances are only the beginning. Forthcoming satellite and wireless delivery technologies will give us streaming audio car radios and mobile phones. But don't expect good old radio to go away: Just as cable and broadcast television do, streaming audio and radio will both prosper.

Additional resources:

• RealNetworks' streaming guide
  
  
• weekly computer radio show.
  
  

Jim Heid has been producing streaming content since 1995, including a weekly computer radio show.