Streaming Mp3 Glitches

[beelineuk]

Hello,

I've written a simple little web based mp3 player in flash mx, but as with Windows Media Player and other streaming technologies, flash is incapable of playing the mp3 on 56k modem with it continuiously stopping! And yes the file is compressed for 56k.

Isn't that the point of buffering? When I watch flash trying to stream I can see that it has already downloaded about an extra 10 seconds, but it still insists on stopping to have a think about it. WHY??

What's more with flash the file isn't getting cached, so the second time it plays there's zero improvement!

How do I compress my mp3 so that it streams smoothly over 56k? I'm already using Lame to compress the files, and have tried increasing flash's soundbuffer. Is there a better compression tool out there for optimising mp3s so these glitches don't occur?

Any tips are much appriecated.

Mike

[hp3]

56kbps is actually too much for an analog modem. While its true that that maximum data rate for a analog modem is 56kbps I dont think the phone lines typically support this.

I use a 56kbps modem and I almost always connect at 45kbps. Also the user's data rate can drop below the connection speed.

Try encoding at 32 or 24kbps.

[beelineuk]

That's a good point, I was assuming the compression software would take this into account, but come to think of it, that wouldn't make any sense.

It's still anoying when I can see it's got plently of room to play with in the buffer and it still stops. Grrrr.

Guess more compression is the only answer. There goes the last ounce of quality!

Cheers for your help.

Mike