RealAudio

RealAudio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks. It is especially designed to conform to low bandwidths, and it can be used as a streaming audio format, i.e. played at the same time as it is downloaded.

Codecs

RealAudio files are compressed using several different audio codecs. Below is a list of the codecs and the version in which each was introduced:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• IS-54 VSELP (RealAudio 1)
• G.728 LD-CELP (RealAudio 2)
• Dolby AC3 (RealAudio 3)
• Sipro Lab Telecom ACELP-NET (RealAudio 4/5)
• G2/Cook Codec (RealAudio 6)
• Sony ATRAC3 (RealAudio 8)
• MPEG-4 AAC (RealAudio 10)
• RealAudio Lossless Format (RealAudio 10)

While the newest version of RealPlayer should be able to play any RealAudio file, other programs may not support all codecs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~