Easier way to stream MP3 files?

January 27, 2005 4:26 PM

I'm trying to setup Firefox to stream MP3 files from my webserver rather than download them first. I know about creating an .m3u file with a link to the mp3 to do this but does anyone know an easier way, I'm not going to create .m3u files for 90,000 songs.
posted by Cosine to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Meet Andromeda.
posted by Asparagirl at 4:38 PM on January 27, 2005

You don't say what platform the server is running. On OS X, there's a nifty app called MP3 Sushi that acts as an audio server; it does all sorts of cool stuff on the fly, like AAC>MP3, bitrate conversion, m3u creation. It's really just a package of Unix open-source utilities under a Mac wrapper. So if you're on OS X, get this and you're set. If you're on Unix, you might want to find out what's under the hood there and use that. If your on some other platform (what else is there?), I'm sure someone will be able to help.
posted by adamrice at 4:39 PM on January 27, 2005

What Asparagirl said. It will create .m3u stubs on demand, through your web browser.
posted by AlexReynolds at 4:44 PM on January 27, 2005

Ampache will do a similar thing, though it is a pain to set up.
posted by phatboy at 4:50 PM on January 27, 2005

Zina is a free Andromeda alternative. I use it as a nice mp3 jukebox.

Jinzora has even more features, although it has a stupid requirement to have all your mp3s in a subdirectory of the installation (fine on nix, but not windows)

Both are probably slight overkill for what you're asking, but they're pretty cool.
posted by OldMansHands at 6:13 PM on January 27, 2005

I use Edna in a pinch. Sounds like it might meet your needs.
posted by bobadoci at 8:57 PM on January 27, 2005

I too have used Edna with good results. Even hacked together a modified version that transcoded my mp3s on the fly down to 32kbps for streaming over my (woefully inadequate) DSL line to work.

Another nice alternative is SlimServer, the backend software for Squeezebox from Slim Devices. It's got a large number of features and streams to desktop MP3 players as well as their own hardware.

The Squeezebox is a sweet bit o' kit, and the SlimServer software is a key part of that. (I know two people that own them -- I want one.)
posted by xiojason at 9:18 PM on January 27, 2005