I have hired a programmer to build a little application that downloads and plays audio files off of a web server.
We are trying to agree on what audio compression format he can/should use.
I want people to be able to request an audio file and begin playing it without having to download the entire file. (In case the file is very big and long).
I don’t want to use a streaming server.
I do want to use simple progressive downloading (also known as http streaming I believe).
The way this works in my understanding is: The audio file is compressed into one of many possible formats such as wav or mp3. The audio file is downloaded to the client. The audio file is played as soon as an adequate chunk of the file is downloaded (buffered.)
Yesterday I told my programmer I wanted to use http streaming of the audio files.
My programmer wrote to me today:
“As for streaming, the compression bieng used will not allow streaming because small chunks of the file will not contain sequential data.”
Can anyone explain this to me?
Could he be using a form of compression that is not compatible with progressive downloading(http streaming)?
If so, why? Could he achieving a higher rate of compression using this special compression?
I am asking here, because you guys explain things to me better than my programmer, and I like to verify the information he gives me.
Does it make sense for me to just reply: “I want progressive downloading. Please use a form of compression compatible with that.”?
Thanks!