RealAudio has come a long way in terms of quality, and if you have a fast Internet provider and decent speakers the listening experience is great. While I was researching this question I listened to a mono version of a new Rolling Stones song in the background. Even in AM-style mono the quality was crisp and clear. I couldn't, however, save it to disk when I'd finished. You need the RealPlayer Plus 4.0 to record .ra files for later use, but only when the audio is flagged for you to record it. The RealAudio server must be configured to allow recording and the organisation providing content may not want this. Check http://www.timecast.com for a list of broadcasters providing recordable audio. Such sites include CBC Stereo and PC World Daily News Radio Summary.
When recording is enabled in the Plus version, the symbol of a little recorder appears at the bottom of the player. A red bar through that image indicates the content provider has not enabled copying or recording.
If you wish to open multiple programs when you connect to the Internet you need use a dial-up assistant program such as Dunce (http://www.dunce.com/dunce.html). Dunce will take care of the dialup connection and launch up to four programs when successful.
- Tony Locke
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