A RealAudio Player Without RealAudio?

[Jason Dunn]

A friend of mine is looking for something that seems to be rarer than a Unicorn - a player that plays RealAudio streams without having all the crud associated with the Real player itself. He's looking for a small player, not a full Jukebox solution such as Winamp with their RealAudio plugin. We've both been Googling without success - any ideas from our wise community of readers?

On a side note, it really bugs me when Web sites only provide a RealAudio stream - they're really shutting a lot of people out who don't have that player installed. That's one of the reasons why Flash-based audio and video work so well - almost everyone has Flash installed, so it makes for a very seamless experience.

[Citezein]

Isn't there a player called RealAlternative? Might be two words. The new RealPlayer 10 is surprisingly pretty good. They removed the spyware and seem to be trying to rebuild the public's trust. You can download it in two clicks from their main website.

Citezein

[Ed Hansberry]

Isn't there a player called RealAlternative?
I've found Raeal Alternative, but haven't installed it yet. It seems to need Media Player Classic (and app that mimics WMP 6) andysome other things. Seems true open source - might as well recompile my kernel. :roll:

I may try RA 10 if I can scratch together another PC to try it on. I have heard Real.com has gotten religion and is taking their users numerous spy/adware complaints seriously.

[that_kid]

Wow they're up to version 10 now, i'm still using version 8. I would rather not install real at all But like jason pointed out, there are sites that only use real audio.

[dean_shan]

I use Real Alternative. (http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm) It is so much better then the Real Bloatware

[OSUKid7]

Yep, Real Alternative's the only alternative I've seen.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

There's a Real Audio plugin for Winamp? Where? I used to have it, but then I got a new PC..

[rubberdemon]

The version 10 of Real Player worked on the CarTalk guys - (the great radio show from NPR). They had Real streams for years, then eventually switched to Windows Media because of the usual complaints people have had about ads, bloatware, all the crap Real did to your system. Then of course they got some complaints about Windows Media, and Real contacted them and convinced them that things were better now, really, and please could you take us back... and they did. There's even a letter from Real on the site.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/real/

[Jason Dunn]

Then of course they got some complaints about Windows Media, and Real contacted them...

Not to sound like a fanboy, but what possible problems could there have been with a WMA stream? Nowadays streams either work or they don't, and the issue is usually whether or not the visitor has the right player installed. WMP is on so many computers now it's more or less the standard for audio streaming.

I don't normally believe in conspiracy theories, but Real offered to save them money, so what if that's the real reason why they switched back?

[darrylb]

I was looking at this over the weekend.

If you download the .RAM file (it is a text file) then open it you get the location of the .RA file. If you then take that URL and change the rtsp:// to http:// you can download the ra file to your computer.

Then you can get a RA to MP3 converter like Wisecroft Ripper (http://www.mp3-converter.biz/wisecroft-ripper/) (which is **REALLY TOO EXPENSIVE**) and turn it into an MP3. This process does not require (not so) Real Player to be installed.

If anyone knows of another RA to MP3 converter that does not *cough* cost $30, I'm very keen to hear about it. I'd love to get rid of Real Player from my computer... There are others around, but they mostly just work by playing the file and recording it to another format at the same time. Wisecroft is a simple file in/file out system.

[bbarker]

Not to sound like a fanboy, but what possible problems could there have been with a WMA stream? Nowadays streams either work or they don't, and the issue is usually whether or not the visitor has the right player installed. WMP is on so many computers now it's more or less the standard for audio streaming.
It's probably the money thing. Or maybe Mac users complained about WMA. Can they play WMA streams?

[Jason Dunn]

It's probably the money thing. Or maybe Mac users complained about WMA. Can they play WMA streams?

There's a Windows Media Player for the Mac ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/software/Macintosh/osx/default.aspx ) so I don't see why it would matter...?

[Filip Norrgard]

It's probably the money thing. Or maybe Mac users complained about WMA. Can they play WMA streams?

There's a Windows Media Player for the Mac (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/software/Macintosh/osx/default.aspx) so I don't see why it would matter...?
The version for Mac isn't "Series 9"-optimized and it is a bit problematic to try to view v.9 WM streams... at least when I last tried it.

I guess the problem is that there is no WM player for Linux and *BSD and hence the demand for Real is big. If Microsoft or some third party would care to port a WM player (with DRM) to Linux & *BSD, then Real would be dead faster than the speed of light... :twisted:

Right now, the only WM codec available for Linux is a WMV compatible one and only when buying some program from uhhh.. some company... (can't remember which) :?

[Ed Hansberry]

It's probably the money thing. Or maybe Mac users complained about WMA. Can they play WMA streams?

There's a Windows Media Player for the Mac (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/software/Macintosh/osx/default.aspx) so I don't see why it would matter...?
I suspect that is clearly a religious thing - having to install MS software on a Mac. :?

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Then what about MS Office for the Mac? =P

[Suhit Gupta]

Then what about MS Office for the Mac? =P
Heh, maybe he uses Staroffice or openoffice.

Suhit

[ThePitch]

Then of course they got some complaints about Windows Media, and Real contacted them...

Not to sound like a fanboy, but what possible problems could there have been with a WMA stream? Nowadays streams either work or they don't, and the issue is usually whether or not the visitor has the right player installed. WMP is on so many computers now it's more or less the standard for audio streaming.

I don't normally believe in conspiracy theories, but Real offered to save them money, so what if that's the real reason why they switched back?

I have had quite a number of problems with Windows Media Streams... Here are some:

1. The video stream cannot be fast-forwarded/rewound (read: stream seeking) that smoothly.
2. I hate the browser-integrated version even more as it does not let you do anything to your viewing experience.
3. It's bloated and very slow.

My personal favorite has always been QuickTime... Just check out the movie trailers at http://www.apple.com/trailers/ from Apple's website... The Full Screen version of Spiderman-2 Trailer blew me away...

But If I had a choice between Real & Windows... I would go with Windows

[Jason Dunn]

My personal favorite has always been QuickTime... Just check out the movie trailers at http://www.apple.com/trailers/ from Apple's website... The Full Screen version of Spiderman-2 Trailer blew me away...

I won't argue with that - Apple's presentation makes it very fast and easy to get to the video stream you want. A+ on that part! As a player though, I don't like Quicktime very much - looks goofy on the PC, and it doesn't seem to work right.

[bbarker]

Why wouldn't they simply add back the Real stream but keep the WMA one? This suggests something to do with finances. Real just make them a good offer.

[jizmo]

I won't argue with that - Apple's presentation makes it very fast and easy to get to the video stream you want. A+ on that part! As a player though, I don't like Quicktime very much - looks goofy on the PC, and it doesn't seem to work right.

Same here, love the concept - hate the player. The "real" qtplayer with great options such as "full screen" costs $30 and if we are not willing to pay that we are spammed constantly with this behest to buy the full player.

After spending a considerable pile of cash to get my mac, I wasn't too happy about this "modern media master's" unability to play full screen video without paying even more. :evil:

/jizmo