Orb | Audio Streaming | Audio Streaming Bandwidth Usage
Audio Streaming Bandwidth Usage
Audio streaming is a great way to listen to radio stations all over the world or access a nearly unlimited supply of music. But it can use a significant amount of bandwidth. Read more to find out about bandwidth, streaming music and general information about audio streaming bandwidth usage.
Streaming Audio
Streaming refers to the delivery method of the media (audio, television shows and movies) instead of the medium itself.
Orb MP-1, for example, is a medium used to play streamed music. It’s a wireless media player that allows you to play and listen to streamed music from any speaker or stereo in your home, instead of just your computer.
The streamed music comes directly to your computer from the Internet, most often in a .wav or .au file. This allows you to be able to listen to the broadcast as it arrives at your computer instead of downloading it and listening to it later.
Software or some sort of media publisher is typically required to listen to these files.
If you’re using a hardware wireless media player to listen to your music selection from sources other than your computer (such as your home stereo system), you’ll need to make sure the software that comes with the connecting devices is able to read and index all media files as they arrive so that you can listen to your music in real time from speakers outside of your computer.
Many wireless media players provide this type of software. The earlier example of Orb MP-1 has software called Orb Caster designed to transfer smooth audio streaming both inside and outside your home from your computer to another source like a stereo or DNLA compatible device.
Orb Caster is free, which is a perk not provided by all media players. It’s also compatible with both Mac and PC platforms.
Where Audio Streaming Bandwidth Comes From
When audio is streamed, data arrives constantly. It’s buffered for only a few seconds before playback begins. The playback of the streamed data starts and plays as more data arrives. As long as the data continues to stream (or arrive), you’ll be able to hear constant and uninterrupted music.
This process takes a lot of bandwidth.
Bandwidth usage is a term that measures the available or consumed data communication or the average rate that data has been successfully transferred. Audio streaming bandwidth usage is usually described in multiples of bits per second. Examples include kilobits and megabits, although audio files tend to be smaller than video files and use less bandwidth.
Bandwidth is created by pulling or transferring data from a variety of different networks, which is basically what the entire Internet is. There are a variety of large networks that provide most of the necessary bandwidth for audio streaming bandwidth usage. Some of these networks are:
- IBM
- CerfNet
- SprintNet
- BBN Planet
- PSINet
Cutting Down on Audio Streaming Bandwidth Usage
Your audio streaming bandwidth requirements depend on how frequently you plan to stream music. More expensive Internet service plans will allow you to stream more content.
But if you’re on a budget and want to make the most out of your available bandwidth, follow these steps to get the most out of your audio streaming bandwidth usage.
- Cut down on the other types of streaming you do such as Skype, YouTube and webcam transmissions.
- Set a schedule to upload streamed audio.
- Save streamed audio files so that you can listen to them again from the downloaded file instead of starting a new stream.