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Please Note:
We no longer stream or record programs in the RealMedia format. When WPR started streaming programs in 2001,
RealAudio (later renamed RealMedia) was essentially the ONLY format available. As other streaming methods appeared and the popularity of this format declined, we
introduced MP3 and then Windows Media Audio (WMA) archive streaming. On January 11, 2011 we ended all use of RealMedia on our
core web site, however we still provide online access to over 18,000 news and program archive files encoded in this format.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT REALPLAYER
I went to the RealNetworks site to download the free RealPlayer and I can't find it!
Try this direct link to their Free Player.
Note that "RealPlayer Plus" has some nice additional features, but it isn't necessary to receive our streams.
I have an older RealPlayer Version on my computer. Will this work?
We've found that some older RealAudio players may not work - even though we are sending out
"Compatible" streams. Since the newest version of Realplayer sounds much better, we suggest you download it
from the RealNetworks Site above.
When I listen to your RealMedia archives, the audio "pauses" every few minutes and sometimes
it stops completely. Why?
This can happen at times because the audio quality you receive is
only as good the weakest link between your PC and our RealMedia Server. The speed of your connection
to the internet is often the limiting factor, but the amount of "traffic" on the internet,
limitations in your Internet Service Provider's equipment, and the processor speed of your computer
will all have an impact on the reliability and quality of webcast reception.
Remember also that editing large word-processing or graphics files, or surfing
the web while listening also can create short-term dropouts if your PC has limited processing power
or limited internet bandwidth.
Most dropouts will cause the Player to mute but then recover in a few seconds
without loosing any of the programming. If the dropout lasts more than a few seconds however, your
Player may simply shut down. To re-establish the connection, simply click on the Play (triangle) button
to reconnect.
When I try to receive WPR archived programs using RealPlayer, it loads to 98% then stops. I never
receive your programming. I have the latest player so what's going on?
We've found that the latest version of RealNetwork's Helix Server, while
impressive, seems to request several ports during handshaking that some firewalls don't have turned
on by default.
Specifically, users of Symantec's Norton Internet Security sometimes have to shut down the
"Internet Security" process in order to receive our RealMedia files. There doesn't appear to be a way
to keep the firewall up but the proper ports open for RealPlayer to communicate with the server at the same time.
If the program was produced after January 2006, please listen to the MP3 version of the archive.
Sometimes I receive your program archives using RealPlayer at 16kbps
and sometimes it's at 44kbps and it's better quality. What's going on?
Before 2004 or so, all programs in RealMedia format were encoded at 16kbps because the majority of our
listeners were using dialup. Later we switched to "multi-bitrate encoding" and encoded our archives at 16kbps, 32kbps and 44kbps,
all contained within the same file.
Using multi-bitrate encoding increased the quality of the audio for many people but still allowed users with slow dialup
connections to hear the shows. Now if you're still on dialup, you'll receive the show at 16kbps or 32kbps, while higher speed
cable and DSL users will get the program at the higher bit rate automatically. Generally, the better the connection, the better
quality audio you'll hear and the more reliable the connection will be.
If you have any questions about our streaming or archiving, please contact us at Webmaster@wpr.org.
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