Why isn't Real Audio Popular?

[ashok]

I have been Playing songs on my PC ever since I've Bought it.
Needless to say that almost allof those songs are in Mp3 format.
Some nonetheless were in WMA format which is found in Audio Cd's.
I agree that Mp3 is the most poupular Format.

But Ever since I've started Downloading Music from the net,my Preference
has shifted to the Real Audio format.I have a dialup Connection,so
downloading a Full-length Mp3 which is abt 5MB takes a lot of time.
But Real Audio files are no more than 700-800 KB large and can be
easily Downloaded.

I am wondering why that hasn't made the Real Audio format as popular
as Mp3. Real Audio is the Preferred format for streaming music,so why
it has'nt been dominant enough in the Music CD Segment?
RealPlayer is as popular as Winamp.Even then there are a handful
sites which offer RealAudio downloads whereas Mp3 Downloads run into Thousands.

Can Anyone please throw some light on the Disrepancy?

 

[borg]

Definitely...

Thats right man. I also think Real Audio is superior to MP3 in many ways. RA's sound quality for a given filesize is better than MP3. There are many reasons RA is not as popular as MP3. One of them is RA is a closed format controlled by Real Networks. They have all sorts of Restrictions imposed on that format. For ex. you cannot convert a file in RA to any other format legally. Whereas this is not the case with Mp3. So now you see.

 

[gxsaurav]

Real audio is made by real networks for real network, the other players can't play it, & everyone doesn't like the Real Player, even I recently gave up real player & uninstalled it cos I only had 4 porn video clips in real format, except for that no need for real for me

Infact WMV 9 codec is as good as real when it comes to online streaming, one of the main reasons me using real player for online viewing, also U cannot play real audio files in every mobile (except for Symbian OS) while U can play AAC or mp3 almost everywhere , Winamp, iTunes, Quicktime, WMP 10 (with nero digital decoder) etc, & even mobile phones which support mp4 files

With broadband I prefer WMV9 over Real or Quicktime when it comes to online streaming, wma sounds a lot better online then RA

 

[drgrudge]

i usually download all the songs in real format, and convert it to mp3 later.., .ra/.ram files are so compressed that u can get a 6 min. song in 800kb it self.

other than that dont like real player much, dont know why..., perhaps the interface or what, just for downloading songs i use this real player...

 

[Nemesis]

i use realplayer only 4 streaming realmedia files and coz i have some files in RealVideo...like the others said, it is not popular coz it is a proprietary format and real doesnt allow others 2 play their format...

@drgrudge: which converter do u use 2 convert RA/RV files???

 

[ShekharPalash]

i also use it for streaming media...

again me too wanna know...

@drgrudge: which converter do u use 2 convert RA/RV files???

 

[sunnydiv]

so u r saying digit dvd gave a illegal codec to run real media in wmp :O

as klcodec

 

[borg]

Theres a program called streambox ripper which used to convert real audio to mp3, etc. But that feature was taken out from the new versions. So u have to get the older version to be able to convert. Just run a search on the net.

 

[theraven]

so u r saying digit dvd gave a illegal codec to run real media in wmp :O

as klcodec

actually yes
thats what makes kazaa lite codec pack illegal
i found out kind of late myself
its not a very popular thing so not all know it

playing quicktime and ral media with another player / uding 3rd party codecs to do so ... IS illegal !

 

[ujjwal]

The official Real Player client absolutely sucks .... if there was a better and lighter client, it may become populor.

 

[drgrudge]

@drgrudge: which converter do u use 2 convert RA/RV files???

Hmm, i use boilsoft converter(rmtomp3). There are two types of boilsoft converters...one for video rm files and other for the audio alone.

*www.boilsoft.com/download.html

dude, it is not a freeware, so u know wht to do after u download the application

 

[h4ck3r]

Hey really real player is a kewl player .. Whatever said i feel comfortable with Winamp 2.8

 

[koolbluez]

Real player sounds ok.. but the equalizer is not great.. no presets..

I go 4 Winamp 5 with DFX.. DFX rocks...

Real player is rarely used by me.. infact i dont install it... only Real Alternative 4 WMP

 

[alib_i]

The official Real Player client absolutely sucks .... if there was a better and lighter client, it may become populor.

right ...
its too heavy ..
and basically sux

best option ..
install Tara Audio Plugin for Winamp
This plugin can allow u to play real media file in Winamp
( but u will have to install Real Player altho,
something like codecs of avi )
I luv this plugin .. i dont have to see the face of real player ever
*www.musiclivesonline.com/software/watara.html

-----
alibi

 

[indrajit]

Is there any s/w to convert mp3 fiiles to .rm? What I mean is, that would help to scale down the sizes of the music files. Is ther anything like that?

 

[alib_i]

dBpowerAMP works well

-----
alibi

 

[koolbluez]

dBpowerAMP Music Converter (dMC) is a "must have audio tool"
Often called a Swiss army knife of Audio
*www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

To download directly from Download.com:
*www.download.com/dBpowerAmp-Music-...534.html?part=dl-dBpowerAm&subj=dl&tag=button

dMC can:
* Rip digitally sound from Audio CDs and store in a multitude of formats, dMC is the Fastest CD Ripper and now AccurateRip Compatible
* Convert from one format to another, just about every audio type is supported: mp3, mp4, Windows Media Audio (wma), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC and many others [Codec downloads], whilst preserving ID Tags,
* Volume Normalize audio files,
* Windows Explorer Integration - right click Convert To & popup useful information on audio files (such as bitrate, length).
* ID tag editing [Power Pack Option],
* Record from LPs or anything,
* Fully compatible with Windows 95/98/ME NT4/2000, Windows XP and Linux ( using Wine).
* 100% Free (mp3 encoder on trial license), No nags, popups, hidden spyware or bundleware.


BUT I DON'T SUPPOSE IT CAN CONVERT MP3 2 RM

Also go 2 *www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm 2 learn more on dMC codecs

*img163.exs.cx/img163/7413/wolverine2et.gif

 

[h4ck3r]

Iam always comfortable with winamp and dfx(CR4ck3d)
for more on tht visit www.hnc3k.tk(my forums)

 

[ujjwal]

I am using Real Player for linux, and it isn't bad ... much lighter than the windows client.

 

[ashok]

@alib_i,Thanx for the info on the Tara Audio Plugin....
Am Waitin to download it and use it to rum rm files on Winamp.

I mostly download music off the net rather than listening to streaming music.
Hence i do prefer the files to be in real Format since they are small
and hence can be d/l faster. To be honest,I've never found any
degradation in the audio quality as compared to an Audio Casette
or a Music CD.Yes,in case of some amateur sites,the audio quality
sure takes a beating but in most other cases it's quite good.....


Another streaming player I've Come across is the live365 Player
at www.live365.com Any ideas on thsi player? Will it be able to play
Free Music Stations? I've seen at RWW that it is a Paid S/w.