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***************************************************************
RealAudio Player 2.0 Beta Release 1 (Windows)
from Progressive Networks
***************************************************************
Release Notes
For the latest information see http://www.realaudio.com
CONTENTS:
Introduction
Installation Procedures
System Requirements
New Features
Firewalls
Feedback
Sound Quality
The Internet Adapter (TIA)
Known Problems
Upgrading Your Browser
Manual Configuration of the Player
This document describes Progressive Networks' RealAudio Player.
Our web site is http://www.realaudio.com. Please check it
for the latest information. For technical information and
answers to frequently asked questions, see
http://www.realaudio.com/help.html. The software and documentation
is provided to you in accordance with your license agreement.
The RealAudio Player provides real time sound over the Internet.
Once you have installed the RealAudio Player, RealAudio will play
automatically when you select any RealAudio clip on a World Wide Web
page. You do not need to load the RealAudio player first. The
RealAudio Player only plays RealAudio files. It does not play .au
or .wav files.
To use your RealAudio Player, connect to a World Wide Web site
that has RealAudio. Click on a link and the RealAudio player will
open and start to play. The Player first contacts the host
computer that contains the audio. It then briefly buffers
some audio. If you are curious about the audio packets coming
into your computer, please pull down the "View" menu
and select "Statistics."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Installation
There are two different RealAudio Players available for Windows:
* RealAudio Player for Windows 3.1 and Windows 3.11
The installer for this player is called RA16_2B1.exe
This is a 16 bit Windows application.
* RealAudio Player for Windows 95 and Windows NT
The installer for this player is called ra32_2b1.exe
This is a 32 bit Windows application. It requires a
32 bit winsock.
To install, execute the installer under Windows.
If you want to control where and how RealAudio is installed,
use Custom Setup. The default installation location is
C:\RAPLAYER\RAPLAYER.EXE
The RealAudio Player for Windows 95 and Windows NT
consists of the following files:
In C:\RAPLAYER (or the directory specified under Custom Setup):
RAPLAYER.EXE, RATASK.EXE, RAPLAYER.HLP, README.TXT,
START.RAM, COMPLETE.RA, THANKYOU.RA
In Windows System directory:
RA32.DLL, RA3228_8.DLL
If you installed the RealAudio Plug-In, then in the
plugins directory:
NPRA32.DLL
The RealAudio Player for Windows 3.1 and 3.11
consists of the following files:
In C:\RAPLAYER (or the directory specified under Custom Setup):
RAPLAYER.EXE, RATASK.EXE, RAPLAYER.HLP, README.TXT,
START.RAM, COMPLETE.RA, THANKYOU.RA
In Windows System directory:
RA16.DLL, RACT28_8.DLL
--------------------------------------------------------------------
System Requirements
To play RealAudio files, your system must meet
the following requirements:
* 486/33 SX or better PC running Microsoft Windows 3.1x,
Windows NT or Windows 95
* 8 megabytes RAM.
* 2 megabytes free disk space.
* A sound card with a Windows Sound driver.
(The RealAudio Player is not compatible with the
PC Speaker program or other software programs which
simulate a sound card.)
* An Internet Connection. Either a direct connection
or a 14.4K Baud or better modem with a SLIP or PPP
connection to an Internet Service Provider.
* RealAudio for Windows 95 or Windows NT requires a
32 bit winsock.
RealAudio now offers 28.8 content. To listen to
RealAudio 28.8, you need:
* 486/66 DX or better running Microsoft Windows 95,
or Windows NT. If you are running Windows 3.1X,
you will need a Pentium class machine.
* An Internet Connection. Either a direct connection
or a 28.8K Baud or better modem with a SLIP or PPP
connection to an Internet Service Provider.
RealAudio for Windows 95 and Windows NT provides a Netscape
Plug-in. To use the Plug-in requires Netscape 2.b2 or later.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New Features
* RealAudio 28.8 - RealAudio 28.8 is a new algorithm that provides
enhanced sound quality to all people who have a 28.8 baud modem
or better connection to the Internet. This near-FM (mono) sound
quality greatly enhances the clarity of music and voice delivered
in real time over the Internet.
* Plug-in - The new RealAudio Plug-in for Netscape Navigator allows
content creators to seemlessly integrate RealAudio directly
into their Web page layouts. Plug-in's are supported by
Netscape Navigator 2.0b2 or later. Plug-in's are only available
with the RealAudio Player for Windows 95 and Windows NT. The
Windows 3.1X RealAudio Player does not support Plug-ins.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Accessing RealAudio through Firewalls
RealAudio uses port 7070 for TCP and ports 6970 through 7170
inclusive for UDP transmission. If you are accessing RealAudio
through a firewall, your firewall administrator will need to
authorize these ports. You can point your administrator to our
firewall page, http://www.realaudio.com/firewall.html for details.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reporting Feedback
We are very interested in your experiences with our beta products.
Please use the problem reporting form located at
http://www.realaudio.com/problem.html or the copy attached
to the bottom of these release notes to report problems.
If you have comments or suggestions, please e-mail them to
beta@realaudio.com .
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound Quality
Audio is transmitted to the RealAudio player in the RealAudio
format. The player then by default produces 16 bit
8 Kilohertz sound. If you hear garbled audio then you can change
the kind of sound the RealAudio player produces. To change the
kind of sound produced, please pull down the "View" menu and
choose "Options". Select "Advanced" and you will see toggle boxes
for "use 8 bit" and "use 11 Khz":
* 16 bit 8 Kilohertz (default)
* 8 bit 8 Kilohertz (select use 8 bit)
* 16 bit 11 Kilohertz (select use 11 Khz)
* 8 bit 11 Kilohertz (select use 8 bit and use 11 Khz)
If you receive poor quality audio, please see our
FAQ entry on audio quality by going to
http://www.realaudio.com/help.html and choose FAQ. From there,
select the "Audio Quality" entry.
Please note that to receive RealAudio 28.8 you must have at least
a 19.2KBaud connection to your Internet Service Provider.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Internet Adapter (TIA)
The RealAudio Player does not currently work with TIA.
TIA does not transmit UDP packets to client connections. If
you connect using TIA you will receive everything but the audio.
A TIA version that supports UDP is expected in the near future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Known Problems
* Having large applications open may prevent the RealAudio
installer from executing. If this happens, please close
all other applications and then install.
* Starting or quitting large applications while playing
RealAudio can cause some brief disruption of the playback.
* Playback on some 486/25 SX computers does not work properly.
* The user interface during playback of 28.8 content on slower
systems may have slow response time. Performance of other
applications may suffer during playback.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Browser Upgrade
After you upgrade your browser, you may lose the configuration
information for the RealAudio player. The easiest way to
re-configure your browser is to re-install the player.
Alternatively, you can manually configure your browser:
* Viewer name: c:\RAPLAYER\RAPLAYER.EXE
* Mime Type: audio
* Mime Subtype: x-pn-realaudio
* File Extensions: .ra, .ram
* Homepage URL: http://www.realaudio.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Audible Defects
There are occasional audible defects that are evident when
playing audio clips. To help our continuous quality improvement
plans, we would appreciate it if you could submit a problem
report telling us which clip and where in the clip the defect is.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Manually Configuring the RealAudio Player
In the event that RealAudio Setup was unable to find a Web Browser,
please check our on-line help information for detailed instructions on
how to configure your web browser. On-line information is available
from http://www.realaudio.com/help.html
Please be sure to send us a problem report if you have to manually
configure the RealAudio Player for a supported Web Browser.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1995 Progressive Networks, Inc.