Frequently Asked Questions About MP3 Sound Stream

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1. What is MP3 Sound Stream and how does it work?

Answer: MP3 Sound Stream (mp3ss.exe) is a software package that creates high quality 56K streaming audio from MP3 or WAV files. 

Select a file and it will create a web page and Flash animations that stream the audio even over a 56K modem just like the ones you see on this page. It uses industry standard LAME compression to produce very high quality output. 

The program uses flash technology which is estimated to be on 98% of computers. It will reduce a standard MP3 file by over 50% with almost no loss of quality. 

2. What is my recording time limit?

Answer: MP3 Sound Stream has a limit of 4.4 hours. This is more than ample for 99% of application including Internet radio shows and training.

3. Does the program have any spy ware, adware etc. Does it automatically connect to the internet?
     (phoning home etc)

Answer: Definitely not! Icons are supplied, and links are supplied in the help to access this site with your browser (if you click on them), but the program does not itself connect to the internet.

4. Is the program customizable?

Answer: Yes. You can have bare output (streaming music with nothing displayed on the screen) or you can have output controlled by buttons. There are many buttons to choose from in different styles and colors. Some of these buttons are just plain stop and play buttons, but some show elapsed times, have volume controls etc. See the "Buttons" page.

5. Why is the sound quality so high for 56K?

Answer: It uses LAME compression, reservoir bits and careful normalization. We have found that at high bit rates we can hardly tell the difference between one type of compression and another, but at low bitrates needed for streaming, LAME is by far the best. Reservoir bits are a way of extending the size of some sound blocks and greatly improves the quality. 

We have found that the Macromedia Flash5 creation program does not use them, but surprisingly the Flash5 plugin is capable of playing them! Normalization ensures that even if you start off with a loud input file, the output will not have any clipping of the sound.

6. Can I put streaming audio in an email?

Answer:  This is a common question and the answer is yes and no. You can easily embed an audio in an email however with the amount of spam and viruses around most people will have their security settings on high. This means it will block the audio button from being seen and consequently the audio cannot be played.

Most people use a link to a postcard or popup to stream the audio like the sample on the Tips and Tricks page