Speex dev - Feb 2006 - How to use Speex Cross-Browser, Cross-Platform on Web Pages

My apologies if this request is a little outside the scope of the normal track
of this discussion group. My question is more about the use of speex as a web
developer than about the internals of the codec. I searched all over the web
for this information, though, and am trying here as a last resort.

I am trying to develop a way to offer slide shows with a voice-over. I would
like to offer speex as a low-bandwidth option in addition to MP3 and possibly
WAV formats. I am struggling to figure out how to support the
"audio/x-speex"
mime type across browsers effectively.

Ironically, the one where I have had best success is with Windows Media Player.
Once the DirectShow filters are installed on a PC, I use the <object> tag
to
invoke Windows Media Player, and it happily plays the speex file. (Ironic that
this is the least-standard-compliant, least-open-source combination of web
browser and OS, and the only one where I can get speex working!)

I would like to be able to bring up a player with the correct, HTML 4.01
approach, that should support any browser that recognizes the MIME type and the
correct use of the object tag. The tag looks like this:

<object type="audio/x-speex" data="myaudio.spx">
If your browser does not support a player object, <a
href="myaudio.spx">download
the speech</a> and play it separately.
</object>

(The main object tag gives the mime type and file location. The text between it
and the close is an alternate rendering, for browsers that cannot display the
object tag.)

My problem is that I am not sure which speex players will properly register the
MIME type with the web browser and operating system, so that a ".spx"
file will
play and so that the "audio/x-speex" MIME type creates a player
object.

I have tried using Firefox under MS Windows, and Firefox does not even recognize
the MIME type at all, even after installing DirectShow filters. It does not
even know what to offer to download.

I am happy to give separate tech support instructions for different browsers and
operating systems, because my hope is that people will keep coming back to my
site for educational information. I may offer WAV or MP3 formats for more
casual users, or perhaps just short "teasers" to get them to download
the
decoders for the more efficient speex format.

My hope is by getting an answer to this question, I can help promote the use of
speex on the web. I certainly plan to send any solutions to the Firefox team,
so that they recognize and offer to download players for the speex MIME type in
the future.

----------------------
Alex S. Brown, PMP
alexsbrown@alexsbrown.com
http://www.alexsbrown.com/

Have you thought of using jspeex (http://jspeex.sourceforge.net/)? The
other way I can think of is to do the same as the Annodex Firefox plugin
(http://www.annodex.net) and use VLC. Conrad Parker might have some more
info on how to do that. Conrad?

	Jean-Marc

Le lundi 20 f?vrier 2006 ? 14:50 -0500, Alex S. Brown a ?crit
:
> My apologies if this request is a little outside the scope of the normal
track
> of this discussion group. My question is more about the use of speex as a
web
> developer than about the internals of the codec. I searched all over the
web
> for this information, though, and am trying here as a last resort.
> 
> I am trying to develop a way to offer slide shows with a voice-over. I
would
> like to offer speex as a low-bandwidth option in addition to MP3 and
possibly
> WAV formats. I am struggling to figure out how to support the
"audio/x-speex"
> mime type across browsers effectively.
> 
> Ironically, the one where I have had best success is with Windows Media
Player.
> Once the DirectShow filters are installed on a PC, I use the <object>
tag to
> invoke Windows Media Player, and it happily plays the speex file. (Ironic
that
> this is the least-standard-compliant, least-open-source combination of web
> browser and OS, and the only one where I can get speex working!)
> 
> I would like to be able to bring up a player with the correct, HTML 4.01
> approach, that should support any browser that recognizes the MIME type and
the
> correct use of the object tag. The tag looks like this:
> 
> <object type="audio/x-speex" data="myaudio.spx">
> If your browser does not support a player object, <a
href="myaudio.spx">download
> the speech</a> and play it separately.
> </object>
> 
> (The main object tag gives the mime type and file location. The text
between it
> and the close is an alternate rendering, for browsers that cannot display
the
> object tag.)
> 
> My problem is that I am not sure which speex players will properly register
the
> MIME type with the web browser and operating system, so that a
".spx" file will
> play and so that the "audio/x-speex" MIME type creates a player
object.
> 
> I have tried using Firefox under MS Windows, and Firefox does not even
recognize
> the MIME type at all, even after installing DirectShow filters. It does not
> even know what to offer to download.
> 
> I am happy to give separate tech support instructions for different
browsers and
> operating systems, because my hope is that people will keep coming back to
my
> site for educational information. I may offer WAV or MP3 formats for more
> casual users, or perhaps just short "teasers" to get them to
download the
> decoders for the more efficient speex format.
> 
> My hope is by getting an answer to this question, I can help promote the
use of
> speex on the web. I certainly plan to send any solutions to the Firefox
team,
> so that they recognize and offer to download players for the speex MIME
type in
> the future.
> 
> ----------------------
> Alex S. Brown, PMP
> alexsbrown@alexsbrown.com
> http://www.alexsbrown.com/
> _______________________________________________
> Speex-dev mailing list
> Speex-dev@xiph.org
> http://lists.xiph.org/mailman/listinfo/speex-dev
>

On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 09:21:32AM +1100, Jean-Marc Valin
wrote:
> Have you thought of using jspeex (http://jspeex.sourceforge.net/)? The
> other way I can think of is to do the same as the Annodex Firefox plugin
> (http://www.annodex.net) and use VLC. Conrad Parker might have some more
> info on how to do that. Conrad?
Hi,

AFE currently has a bug where it can't handle audio-only files.
Hopefully we'll fix that soon.

Nevertheless, something like jspeex sounds better for this at the
moment. Cooler would be a way of doing timed images + speex in ogg ...

Conrad.
> 	Jean-Marc
> 
> Le lundi 20 f?vrier 2006 ? 14:50 -0500, Alex S. Brown a ?crit :
> > My apologies if this request is a little outside the scope of the
normal track
> > of this discussion group. My question is more about the use of speex
as a web
> > developer than about the internals of the codec. I searched all over
the web
> > for this information, though, and am trying here as a last resort.
> > 
> > I am trying to develop a way to offer slide shows with a voice-over. I
would
> > like to offer speex as a low-bandwidth option in addition to MP3 and
possibly
> > WAV formats. I am struggling to figure out how to support the
"audio/x-speex"
> > mime type across browsers effectively.
> > 
> > Ironically, the one where I have had best success is with Windows
Media Player.
> > Once the DirectShow filters are installed on a PC, I use the
<object> tag to
> > invoke Windows Media Player, and it happily plays the speex file.
(Ironic that
> > this is the least-standard-compliant, least-open-source combination of
web
> > browser and OS, and the only one where I can get speex working!)
> > 
> > I would like to be able to bring up a player with the correct, HTML
4.01
> > approach, that should support any browser that recognizes the MIME
type and the
> > correct use of the object tag. The tag looks like this:
> > 
> > <object type="audio/x-speex"
data="myaudio.spx">
> > If your browser does not support a player object, <a
href="myaudio.spx">download
> > the speech</a> and play it separately.
> > </object>
> > 
> > (The main object tag gives the mime type and file location. The text
between it
> > and the close is an alternate rendering, for browsers that cannot
display the
> > object tag.)
> > 
> > My problem is that I am not sure which speex players will properly
register the
> > MIME type with the web browser and operating system, so that a
".spx" file will
> > play and so that the "audio/x-speex" MIME type creates a
player object.
> > 
> > I have tried using Firefox under MS Windows, and Firefox does not even
recognize
> > the MIME type at all, even after installing DirectShow filters. It
does not
> > even know what to offer to download.
> > 
> > I am happy to give separate tech support instructions for different
browsers and
> > operating systems, because my hope is that people will keep coming
back to my
> > site for educational information. I may offer WAV or MP3 formats for
more
> > casual users, or perhaps just short "teasers" to get them to
download the
> > decoders for the more efficient speex format.
> > 
> > My hope is by getting an answer to this question, I can help promote
the use of
> > speex on the web. I certainly plan to send any solutions to the
Firefox team,
> > so that they recognize and offer to download players for the speex
MIME type in
> > the future.
> > 
> > ----------------------
> > Alex S. Brown, PMP
> > alexsbrown@alexsbrown.com
> > http://www.alexsbrown.com/
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speex-dev mailing list
> > Speex-dev@xiph.org
> > http://lists.xiph.org/mailman/listinfo/speex-dev
> > 
> _______________________________________________
> Speex-dev mailing list
> Speex-dev@xiph.org
> http://lists.xiph.org/mailman/listinfo/speex-dev