Streaming Audio
How to get your sermons on the Internet
 

In Brief

  1. Convert the .cda file to a .wav file (Cdex)
  2. Convert the .wav file to an .ra file (Real Producer)
  3. Upload the file to the RA Server (WS-FTP)
  4. Create & upload a .ram file (Notepad & WS-FTP)
  5. Link to the ram file (Webpage Update)
In Detail
  1. Download & install the tools (these are the free ones :)
    1. CDex to convert the .cda file to a .wav  CDex Home Page
    2. RealProducer to convert the .wav file to an .ra (Real Audio) file
  2. Sign on to a Real Audio Server:
    1. You can just use MP3 if you want, but the files are about 8 times larger than RA (about 8 mb for 10 minutes in mpg as opposed to 1 mb in ra).
      1. Music is different... songs are shorter than sermons, plus higher audio quality is required
      2. This can be stored anywhere on the Internet, but will require a long time to upload
      3. Users will normally have to download the whole file, but there are some streaming options also
      4. This is probably not a good choice.  If you have access to a computer that is online all the time with plenty of storage space, you can use CDex to convert the file to MP3 and save it locally for whatever reason.
    2. Standard HTTP server
      1. Usually you will have to pay extra for streaming to be enabled on your web server, unless you own your server... if you do, click here for instructions on how to enable it for RA streaming.
      2. Note that using a web server will work only for single mode RA files and with a maximum of 5 users on a fast server.
      3. You can archive your RA files on any server and link directly to them for users to download the file and listen to... this would not stream, but would be a cheap alternative to having an RA server host, especially for archiving purposes.
    3. FishNet Hosting service provides low cost archiving and streaming with their host packages.
      1. The Standard $12.95 package will provide enough disk space for a year or so of sermons (depending on how long they are :)  Their packages start at $4.95 a month for 25 mb (about 10 sermons).
      2. This choice includes full featured web hosting and email.  Very good deal imho.
    4. AudioHost.com (do the $30 for 3 months package) for a fairly painless & inexpensive fast RA server
      1. If your file is under 2 mb (about 15 minutes) this is a really painless solution
      2. Over 2 mb is less painless (you have to ftp the file and wait for someone there to manually place it and send you a link before it is available on the internet)
      3. You'll need to buy an extra mb or so at $3 a mb per month for larger sermons, or if you want more than one to be online at a time.
      4. This host is best for posting one sermon, then rotating it weekly.   They charge only for storage space, not for the amount of transfers (which would increase with the number of people listening to the sermon).  For a higher traffic sermon, this would be cheaper.  As a sermon archive, it would be more expensive.
  3. Using CDex, convert the .cda file to a .wav file
    1. This will take about 1/2 the listening time of the file, depending on the speed of your computer (ie If it's a 20 minute sermon, conversion will take about 10 minutes)
    2. test the file to make sure it is all there... sometimes they don't work or only convert the first few minutes of the file and you'll have start over if you do everything else... slide the listening bar down near the end and make sure your last words are included in the file.
    3. Redo this step if necessary
  4. Using Real Producer, convert the .wav file to an .ra file
    1. use single rate, voice only, and 28K options for maximum compression
    2. test the file to make sure it is all there... sometimes they don't work or only convert the first few minutes of the file and you'll have start over if you do everything else... slide the listening bar down near the end and make sure your last words are included in the file.
    3. Redo this step if necessary
  5. Upload the file
    1. FishNet
      1. Upload the file using WS-FTP
      2. Create a .ram file
      3. Link to the ram file
    2. AudioHost
      1. Go to your AudioHost control panel
        1. Smaller than 2 Mb. (approx. 15 minutes)
          1. Note that it will look like there is no activity while the file is uploading... just go off somewhere for a little while and forget about it... it's uploading... for a standard modem connection it will probably take about as long for the upload as the listening time for the file..
          2. Test the uploaded copy, as above, using the generated link
          3. Copy & paste the generated code that appears when the upload is complete into a web page
          4. Note that you don't have to create a .ram file when you use this service...
        2. Larger than 2Mb. (approx. 15 minutes)
          1. Click on "To upload files that are larger than 2MB follow these instructions!"
          2. Click on their ftp link in step 2... if it doesn't work, you'll need to use an FTP program
            1. Use WS-FTP if you have it, to log on to audiohost.com anonymously and upload the file to the "incoming" directory
            2. If you don't have an FTP program:
              1. Open an MS DOS window
              2. Type   ftp audiohost.com  & press Enter
              3. At user prompt, enter  anonymous
              4. At password prompt, enter  guest@unknown
              5. At the ftp> prompt, Type   cd incoming   & press Enter
              6. At the ftp> prompt, type  send  and the full path to your audio file (ie  FTP> send c:\output files\myfile.rm )  & press Enter
              7. When the file transfer is complete and you are returned to the ftp> prompt, Type   quit   and press Enter, then close the dos window
          3. Complete the form at the bottom of their upload page, telling the filename and the title, and they will post the file.... check back later for the URL to link to
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