Streaming Audio Pointers Needed

[Waitone]

I need help from internet audio gurus.

I use Windows Media to access audio via internet.  About 1/2 of the streaming audio out there is in Real Audio formats.  Three times (count'em, 3 times) I've downloaded RA bloatware to my computer to use to listen to RA format streaming audio and three times I've gotten PO'd and pulled it out by the roots.  The crap called software squats on my ram, loads up the HD, forces capabilities down my throat that I have duplicated elsewhere on my system.  Worse yet RA calls home everytime I light it up.  How do I know they are listening?  Funny how emails come back in hawking products and services similar to my listening habits.  Yeah, I know I can cut that nonsense off and I do.

Three times tears it.  I'll not load that crap back on my machine.  I still have the problem of needing to listen to RA based streaming audio on my machine.  Windows media clearly says it does not support RA files.  A site called realaudioalternative.com claims to have windows plugins that allow use of RA formats . . . . all except for streaming audio.

What are my options?  RA is put into the same category as Norton Bloatware, too big, too bulky, too buggy, and squats too hard on my ram.

I feel better now.

[caseydog]

Point me to an RA stream , i've got Media Player Classic with Real Alternative codec here , just want to test it before I brag to you about it 

Ray

[Vodka7]

Yeah, like Casey said, RealAlternative is the answer, just google it.  RA has some limitations--.smi and .smil files usually won't work, and you won't be able to use rtsp streaming with it in Windows Media (players like MPC, though, get around that just fine, and most Real Audio nowadays is streamed through http anyway.)

[Waitone]

http://www.radiotower.com/?c=Classical&h_i=0&h_r=6

Here's one fer ya.

Real Alternate says what you just said concerning Windows Media Classic.
Where can I get one of them "Classic" thingy thangs. I'm sporting WM 10.whatever.  So where do I get a classic version?

By the by, the above referenced website is the specific place where I lost my cool with RA Bloatware.

[caseydog]

Ok I tested that and a few others , works fine.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm

Media Player Classic looks similar to the olddd WMP 6.4, but it has some seriously advanced capabilities and a very lite footprint on my machine.

Edit: as a bonus , you can get Quicktime alternative too and get rid of more software.
Ray

[Waitone]

If I read properly it appears the codec comes complete with a Classic WM   Zat rite?  Can't get too carried away here as I am headed to the salt mines.

[caseydog]

Yes the link I posted is the package, you need the media player too , if you decide to add the Quicktime codec you can choose the "lite" version since MPC will already be installed.

Ray

[Vodka7]

Just a note, MPC is *not* made by microsoft.  It's made to look like WMP 6.4 like Casey said, but thankfully it's a completely different codebase.