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[Jinster]

The concept of streaming escapes me. So I am seeking people's expertise on this.

Would it not be easier to just make the files sharable using windows so that all machines can read them? It seems that streaming would require a lot of setup and also would need a fast server to actually encode things (such as video) to stream. A file server is far less demanding and has less issues to put up with.

So, what is the benefit of streaming files?

[richard.e.morton]

There are several reasons for streaming.

When you use windows file sharing it pulls the entire file to your local computer before it starts to use the file. Streaming starts to send the file and if there is sufficient bandwidth (which there normally is) it starts playing immediately.

The other thing you mention is trans-coding where a file is converted from one format to another. You're right that this is linked to streaming, but it is also as important for downloading files into any player that doesn't play the format.

MC can do both, which is great for storing your files in a low-loss or lossless format like ogg-vorbis or FLAC and streaming them to a soundbridge or transferring them to an MP3 player.

HTH

Rich

[Jinster]

Thank you for the reply, Richard.

Transcoding seems like a major benefit associated with streaming. Storing FLACs and transtream MP3 is a great idea. Why didn't I think of that? I should look into this.

Although I don't think shared (rather than streamed) files are downloaded in entirety for before media playback. That is how my current setup runs. And I have 1GB+ movies files that play instantly via a Windows network file share.

[AustinBike]

Streaming would *theoretically* let you play the same stream at the same time on mulitple systems.  Think of TV vs. VCR.

One of the big compliants that I have is that I have 2 tivos, one upstairs and one downstairs.  When I am doing things all over the house it would be nice to have the same song streaming to both, but there is no easy way to synchronize that....

[richard.e.morton]

well that's a specific type of streaming called multicasting and you can achieve this through a piece of software called streamcast.

Rich

[AustinBike]

Yes, I actually used to run shoutcast on the server to re-broadcast throughout the house.