What (who) is RealAudio - definition

FILE FORMAT FAMILY

Realaudio; Real Audio; .ram; .ra; Real audio

RealAudio

<tool, communications> A program from Real Media for playing audio over the Internet, and the lossy audio compression format it uses. The system is implemented as a client/server architecture. The RealAudio server incorporates an encoder which compresses sound into RealAudio files. The client side is a web browser plug-in or add-on (a recent version of Internet Explorer apparently has built-in support for RealAudio) which allows the stream of data sent from the server to be uncompressed and output using the normal sound facilities of the computer, such as a sound card. A 14.4 KBps or better modem is required, and a 28.8 KBps connection is recommended for music-quality sound. http://realaudio.com/. (2001-12-13)

Cook Codec

AUDIO COMPRESSION CODEC

Cook codec; RealAudio Gecko

The cook codec is a lossy audio compression codec developed by RealNetworks. It is also known as Cooker, Gecko, RealAudio G2, and RealAudio 8 low bitrate (RA8LBR).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Codec

Wikipedia

RealAudio

RealAudio, or also spelled as Real Audio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fidelity formats for music. It can also be used as a streaming audio format, that is played at the same time as it is downloaded. In the past, many internet radio stations used RealAudio to stream their programming over the internet in real time. In recent years, however, the format has become less common and has given way to more popular audio formats. RealAudio was heavily used by the BBC websites until 2009, though it was discontinued due to its declining use. BBC World Service, the last of the BBC websites to use RealAudio, discontinued its use in March 2011.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealAudio

Examples of use of RealAudio

1. While there are no audio samples to accompany the Periodic Table‘s text notes, there is sound onsite – such as RealAudio clips from the 1'61 LPs, "Inside a Communist Cell," (with a "re–enactment of an actual cell meeting") and "The Complacent Americans" (which CONELRAD compares to a Cold War variant on "It‘s a Wonderful Life"). Other audio sources include "The Marxist Minstrels÷ The Communist Subversion of Folk Music" (featuring, "Bob Dylan÷ He, she or it?"), and a link to CONELRAD‘s Atomic Platters program on Live365 web radio.