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Simplest Ogg Streaming Clients for non-Unix Users?

Posted by Cliff on from the for-those-other-OSes-out-there dept.

Dr. Smeegee asks: "I recently set up an .ogg stream for beta testing, on a website chronicling my hometown's music scene in the 80's. I stream nothing but independent bands from the Evansville area. I chose IceCast using Ogg Vorbis for obvious reasons. The only problem is, I've been using ogg123 on BSD for so long, I didn't realize that streaming Ogg support is sketchy at best on the Windows and Mac platforms. Can anyone suggest good players? Or am I going to have to downgrade my sound and stream in .mp3?" "I have provided my potential users links to these applications that claim to play .ogg streams:

Zinf
VLC for Windows
OggDS plugin for Windows Media Player
Winamp 2.81
Whamb
MacAmp Lite, and the
Quicktime Plug-In

However, am still getting complaints of flaky behaviour not linked to the stream itself. One Mac OS X user in particular, using MacAmp, could play the stream, but the system kept a download dialog up the whole time! Most, however, complain that the applications flat won't play streams."

64 comments

  1. Winamp 5.05 by kyhwana · · Score: 4, Informative

    Winamp 5.05 plays ogg streams just fine..

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    My email addy? should be easy enough.
  2. About WinAmp 2.81 by SteWhite · · Score: 5, Informative

    I use WinAmp 2.81 to play OGG streams.

    The important thing with this one is to ensure you get the full version, not the lite one. The lite one doesn't have the necessary features.

    1. Re:About WinAmp 2.81 by bartok · · Score: 1

      The Winamp 2.x branch is no longer available on the Winamp web site. P2P is the only way to find it now I think.

    2. Re:About WinAmp 2.81 by jbridge21 · · Score: 1

      the standard version also includes the vorbis plugin.

    3. Re:About WinAmp 2.81 by geeksunny · · Score: 1

      oldversion.com
      because newer isn't always better :D

  3. noXMMS. by Leffe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You could try porting noXMMS, a console port of XMMS with no links to X. I don't know how tricky that would be though. I'm pretty sure it supports OGG streams though.

    Otherwise Winamp is the obvious choice.

    1. Re:noXMMS. by nitrocloud · · Score: 0

      BMP is a XMMS port in GTK2 that should be even more portable than XMMS... perhaps...

      --
      Karma: Good, or bust!
  4. xine by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 1, Informative

    I'm a little peeved that xine doesn't play ogg streams properly. it stops playing after a song change or so. annoying.

  5. RealPlayer? by Anton+Anatopopov · · Score: -1
    What about realplayer? You might want to consider using MP3 for all your stuff, as I have found that Ogg is quite a minority platform, and you will find that hardly anyone will have the ability to decode it.

    If you MUST be different, try AAC, its lossless unlike ogg and gives better than cd quality by eliminating jitter.

    1. Re:RealPlayer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you MUST be different, try AAC, its lossless unlike ogg and gives better than cd quality by eliminating jitter.

      Not only that, my good man! It is well known that AAC decodes to pointier ones and rounder zeros than OGG, for a richer, smoother and creamier digital playback experience. True audiophiles use nothing less.

    2. Re:RealPlayer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      try AAC, its lossless unlike ogg

      Ogg can be lossless. You are mistaking Ogg for Vorbis.

    3. Re:RealPlayer? by JRIsidore · · Score: 2, Funny

      If you MUST be different, try AAC, its lossless unlike ogg and gives better than cd quality by eliminating jitter.

      Ah, nice, so I can finally get rid of that crappy quality of my CDs. Thanks man, gotta try that out!

      --
      :w!q
    4. Re:RealPlayer? by Paladin128 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      AAC has a lossless mode, but the default is NOT lossless. I'm good friends with a Dolby engineer that worked for the company while they developed AAC. One internal thing that they didn't want to let out is that AAC is better in every way than Dolby Digital AC3.

      Besides, for good lossless, we have Ogg FLAC.

      As far as the frame jitter issue goes, any decent CD player that has a 16-frame buffer (a whole whopping 256 bytes -- could be cache on the D/A chip) could effectively eliminate jitter. Period. In modern CD-players, it's not an issue, regardless of what your friendly neighborhood audio store will say. Same with "greening" cd's. It's psuedoscience that sounds feasible, but in reality is a load of crap.

      --
      Lex orandi, lex credendi.
    5. Re:RealPlayer? by tepples · · Score: 1

      any decent CD player that has a 16-frame buffer (a whole whopping 256 bytes -- could be cache on the D/A chip) could effectively eliminate jitter.

      "Could" doesn't necessarily mean "does". To get a product sold at Wal-Mart, the manufacturer has to cut costs each year, and sometimes that means using half-ass parts.

    6. Re:RealPlayer? by tepples · · Score: 1

      You are mistaking Ogg for Vorbis.

      It's an easy mistake, as .ogg is the common file name suffix for files containing Vorbis audio, and most pocket-size players that can handle Ogg Vorbis can't handle Ogg FLAC. Besides, at current levels of residential bandwidth, lossless audio formats aren't suitable for streaming music.

    7. Re:RealPlayer? by Paladin128 · · Score: 1

      That's why I said "decent". I'm talking mid-range or better -- component units from Denon, Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, etc.

      Basically, I use a fairly high-end pre-amp/processor with excellent DACs and SPDIF inputs. Thus, the only thing that matters to me in the CD player is build quality and SPDIF out. I have an inexpensive (was about $150 5 years back) 5-disc Yamaha CD player that's built like a tank.

      --
      Lex orandi, lex credendi.
    8. Re:RealPlayer? by boudie · · Score: 1

      Three comments to make. a) Real Player sucks and should be avoided. Anyone who'd play oggs in Real is missing the point. b) AAC is in no way lossless and is of lower quality IMHO than Ogg. c) AAC is not even close to CD quality.And I'd be willing to bet you don't know what jitter is.

  6. JOrbis - Java Applet by EABinGA · · Score: 4, Informative

    Try JOrbis, the pure java Ogg Vorbis decoder as an applet.

    1. Re:JOrbis - Java Applet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, it really works!
      Try their online demo.

    2. Re:JOrbis - Java Applet by pete-classic · · Score: 1

      Jorb? What, is that Coach Z's Ogg player?

      -Peter

    3. Re:JOrbis - Java Applet by Dr.+Smeegee · · Score: 1

      Hot Damn!

      This looks like the simplest solution. I have implemented it, while also adding links to some of the suggested packages as well.

      Thanks EABinGA!

    4. Re:JOrbis - Java Applet by Spoing · · Score: 1

      Awesome. Bookmarked. Thank you!

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    5. Re:JOrbis - Java Applet by #undefined · · Score: 1

      in the vein of java applets try:
      jlguiapplet

      or somewhat similar, but a full java application (which can be almost instantly launched using webstart):
      jlgui

      i don't know how well they handle ogg streams, as i only use it to play ogg files stored on the same webserver as my personal installation of jlguiapplet.

      jlgui not as full featured as the popular winamp or my personal favorite foobar, but for sitting down at a computer other than my workstation and nearly instantly having an mp3/ogg player (without having to install/uninstall anything) nothing beats it.

  7. Simplest? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    It must be JOrbis. It is extremely simple.

  8. The opposite of WINE? by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For instances like this where Linux has a good app, but Windows does not, could a WINE-like product be useful? I have a favourite Windows ad-filtering proxy that I've taken with me on my slow move to Linux. Perhaps a way to run Linux binaries on a Windows PC would be helpful to bridge a gap and even an aid to migration.

    1. Re:The opposite of WINE? by hey! · · Score: 2, Informative

      For instances like this where Linux has a good app, but Windows does not, could a WINE-like product be useful?

      It's called Cygwin.

      The typical ./configure, make sequence works for many Linux packages.

      However, it's not a solution for "drive by" internet users.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:The opposite of WINE? by jonadab · · Score: 2, Informative

      Agreed. In terms of _working_, cygwin is somewhat better than WINE (assuming
      you have the source of the app you want to run; it's not much good for running
      binaries, obviously). This is presumably because the POSIX API and stuff
      doesn't have to be reverse-engineered to be implemented.

      But as you say, neither WINE nor Cygwin is really appropriate for the hurried,
      "Just run this _now_ and don't bug me with setup" user. Some distros claim to
      have WINE pre-set-up so that running popular Windows apps is almost that easy,
      but in practice it usually doesn't work out that way -- and Cygwin doesn't
      even attempt that, AFAIK, because it is squarely aimed at an audience of tech
      users who know *nix but are on a Win32 platform for other reasons.

      I would think the solution for getting *nix apps running on Windows would in
      most cases be porting them over. Granted, this has to be done for each and
      every app, and end users can't do it... but the end results should be a lot
      better than with emulation. Using Gimp on Windows is a lot nicer than using
      a Windows app on Linux with WINE. Sure, the scrollbars are a bit funky (since
      Gimp uses GTK, not the native widgets), but that's minor.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    3. Re:The opposite of WINE? by Baloo+Ursidae · · Score: 1

      Why not just make the bloody switch already? I can do everything on my Linux box as my roommates do on their Windows boxes (and we are all gamers, transgaming goes a long way but native ports are more likely to get my money), but I haven't had to reinstall.

      Obligatory chickenshit, winbigot response follows...

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    4. Re:The opposite of WINE? by amorsen · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually it's called coLinux. Binary compatibility can be very useful.

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      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    5. Re:The opposite of WINE? by Kris_J · · Score: 1
      Some distros claim to have WINE pre-set-up so that running popular Windows apps is almost that easy,
      For me, I installed WINE with an apt-get and I get Proxomitron running by copying the directory from a Windows PC and simply running the .exe. It really was that simple. So when I say something like WINE for Linux apps on the PC, at no time should anything have to be compiled.
    6. Re:The opposite of WINE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Linux sucks. You suck.

    7. Re:The opposite of WINE? by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      Man, you paint people who don't want to bother with setup in such a bad light. Is there something wrong with wanting a simple self-contained binary which requires no installation other than copying the file and can be de-installed by deleting it?

    8. Re:The opposite of WINE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      try privoxy for GNU/Linux

    9. Re:The opposite of WINE? by jonadab · · Score: 1

      > Man, you paint people who don't want to bother with setup in such a bad
      > light.

      You read something from my post that I didn't write into it.

      > Is there something wrong with wanting a simple self-contained binary which
      > requires no installation other than copying the file and can be de-installed
      > by deleting it?

      No, but Cygwin doesn't provide this; that is not its purpose. If you want
      this, you need applications that have actually been ported to the OS you
      are using, and also, developers need to get rid of certain ideas about how
      development is done; for example, apps developed in C or C++ tend to result
      in lots of files, so the above won't work, and you need an installer. PAR
      or the equivalent is closer to what you're asking for but is not in widespread
      mainstream use by application developers at this time.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    10. Re:The opposite of WINE? by CaptainTux · · Score: 1
      For instances like this where Linux has a good app, but Windows does not, could a WINE-like product be useful?

      You could try recompiling the app using cygwin on a Windows box. Most apps will compile and run with no problems.

      --
      Anthony Papillion
      Advanced Data Concepts, Inc.
      "Quality Custom Software and IT Services"
  9. Java client by Frodo420024 · · Score: 2, Informative

    At Diamondway Teachings we use a simple Java client (don't remember which one) for the purpose. We're streaming Ogg, as it sounds LOTS better than MP3 at very low bitrates.

    --
    I'm in a Unix state of mind.
  10. VLC all the way by j0kkk3l · · Score: 2, Informative

    Streaming wirh vlc is really easy. Just follow the streaming howto pdf on their website. http://www.videolan.org
    there are even clients available for almost all platforms and you may also stream videos!

    1. Re:VLC all the way by tobyvoss · · Score: 1

      i strongly agree with the parent post!
      i am a mac user who has tried the aforementioned Whamb, JOrbis and Quicktime plugin without much satisfaction.
      i have been using VLC client for .avi movies for quite some time, but it never crossed my mind to use it as a streaming client...
      thanks j0kkk3l for the eye-opener.

    2. Re:VLC all the way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I second this recommendation; VideoLAN Client (VLC) performs flawlessly for both streaming and local playback.

      If you want to encourage people to download it, you might also mention its ability to play DVDs on your terms: no unskippable previews, no "operation prohibited by disk" messages", just the content you paid for displayed how you want to see it. VLC will also play almost any video and audio codec available, thanks to FFMPEG.

  11. Why are you doing it? by SteveX · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you're doing it to advocate Ogg Vorbis then rock on. If you're doing it because you want people to listen to your stuff, then maybe you should consider that the audience is used to mp3 streaming and already has the tools to do that, and offer them an mp3 feed in addition.

    1. Re:Why are you doing it? by Paladin128 · · Score: 1

      Ogg Vorbis also sounds better at a given bitrate for most stuff. The poster may be doing it to either minimize bandwidth or maximize quality.

      A number of games have been using Vorbis for quite a while because it allows them high quality with excellent compression. The only lossy CODEC that holds up to it is AAC, which I believe ties with Vorbis in recent blind listening tests. AAC is VERY proprietary, so Vorbis is the obvious choice.

      --
      Lex orandi, lex credendi.
    2. Re:Why are you doing it? by Joe+Tennies · · Score: 1

      There are a couple other reasons they use vorbis.
      1) Cross-platform/Single implementation. This is particularly true of UT as they support multiple platforms.
      2) Royalty-free. Yup, game developers would definitely have to pay for MP3s to be put in their game

    3. Re:Why are you doing it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Ogg vorbis has a faggy name.

      Nobody except zealots use it. (Or cheap ass VG makers)

      Free software sucks dick

      Thank you

  12. foobar2000 by Skuto · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://foobar2000.org

    Simple. Works.

    The author is the original author of the Winamp Vorbis support...

  13. ask your users what they want by truffle · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Why not ask both the people who listen to your stream what format they'd like the music in?

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    1. Re:ask your users what they want by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Maybe he doesn't have a license from Frauenhofer for encoding MP3?

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  14. Foobar 2000 by EvilIdler · · Score: 2, Informative

    You could try Foobar 2000 for Windows.
    I haven't tried any Ogg/Vorbis streaming with it, but please post
    some links if you're not afraid of the hordes ;)

    1. Re:Foobar 2000 by Dr.+Smack+PhD · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I use foobar to listen to OGG streams and it works quite well. If you are forced to stream from a Windows box, you can also use foobar to complete this task as well via the magic of plugins. Oddsock has pretty much everything you'd need to complete this portion of the task (for which the poster did not request, but someone else might want).

  15. http://www.freedomaudio.com/ by drcobb · · Score: 1

    FreedomAudio http://www.freedomaudio.com/ - uses the q public liscense, java, and runs inside the web browser. a few bigger internet radios use it 3WK Underground Radio Even if you are streaming just local bands you may be subject to RIAA intervention.

    1. Re:http://www.freedomaudio.com/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it really Open Source Software?
      If so, where is the source code?

  16. Quintessentail Player.. by pr0c · · Score: 1

    Quintessential player is my new favorite http://www.quinnware.com/ Win32 only..

  17. Why not both by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Providing a pre-recorded stream in more than one lossy format would require twice as much storage on the server. Providing a live stream in more than one lossy format would require twice as much computing power. Some people can't afford to rent that.

  18. Almost Certainly Not! by parvenu74 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Any /. reader could figure out how to get their computer to play any streaming format ever made, but that doesn't do anything for folks not as "enlightened" / "have more of a life" than us. While OGG is certainly a very nice format, if the basic premise of the streaming is to provide a service of interest to mainly non-technical folks -- like those *primarily* into 80's music -- then you might have to consider the possibility of not using the *coolest* format and opt instead for the most *available* format.

  19. For Macs, JustOgg 1.0.1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "JustOgg 1.0.1 is a ogg vorbis decoder for PPC macs." JustOgg 1.0.1

  20. Simplest OGG/Mp3 streaming Appilication by szyzyg · · Score: 1

    Although it does require unix, and perl, and sox, and curl..... but it does allow you to set up live Ogg/Mp3 streaming from a standard web hosting account which allows you to run CGI scripts.

    http://www.djsnm.com/cgicast/

    The whole application is under 10kbytes and actually works surprisingly well once you figure out how to encode your audio of choice at the command line.

    1. Re:Simplest OGG/Mp3 streaming Appilication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      It seems that although you are capable of setting up live streaming, you are unable to read. Were you able to read, you would have noticed that the problem is client support, not server support.

    2. Re:Simplest OGG/Mp3 streaming Appilication by szyzyg · · Score: 1

      The response is what's called an 'aside', a comment which while not directly answering the question provides some information which may be relevant to the greater discussion.

  21. wxMusic by Yohahn · · Score: 1

    I have found wxMusic to be a nice player.

    The only problem I have is that it needs some kind of runtime sound compression or auto-level.

  22. ogg by torrents · · Score: 1

    it seems that most all players that now support mp3 support ogg (not hardware players) with the exception of windows media player which you need to manually install the codec for...

    --
    Get your torrents...
  23. Tips by delus10n0 · · Score: 1

    If you're trying to set up OGG streaming, use jetCast or something for Winamp-- it works with Winamp5 just fine.

    Winamp5 will also play OGG streams just fine-- but I personally use FooBar2000.

    For the record, I cannot believe how good OGG vorbis sounds at just 64kbps VBR. Beats the pants off of 128kbps CBR MP3 for streaming.

    --
    Not All Who Wander Are Lost
  24. Ogg is dead. Go mp4/AAC by sakusha · · Score: -1, Troll

    Your band buddies aren't going to be happy to learn you've deliberately made their music hard to get, so you can advocate an obscure, disused format.

    Go with the flow, use the new AAC/mp4 format. Everyone can play it, Mac/Win/Unix. You can stream with QuickTime Streaming Server, which runs on Mac/Win/Unix. I've streamed with AAC/mp4 and the sound quality is much better than mp3 or ogg, especially at low bitrates.

  25. Coolplayer by joh6nn · · Score: 1

    i use coolplayer; it has native Ogg Vorbis support, and is open source. it's a standalone executable; no dlls or anything to mess with. download it, unzip it, hit "L", and you're ready to go.

    --
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  26. Another vote for Foobar 2000 by holden+caufield · · Score: 1

    Be sure to donwnload the special installer, for the most ease-of-use.

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  27. Illiminable's DirectShow filters by gfim · · Score: 1

    http://www.illiminable.com/ogg

    --
    Graham