Setting up an MPEG audio player

Nearly all of the sound clips on this site are stored in MPEG audio format (44.1KHz 16-bit mono). MPEG audio files are much smaller than WAV or AU files, yet retain most of the original sound quality. Setting up your web browser to play MPEG audio (.mp2) files is not difficult, but there are a few steps.

Additional information about MPEG audio players is available at the Internet Underground Music Archive.

First, download an MPEG audio player:

Windows

(Note: the ActiveMovie Control that comes with Microsoft Internet Explorer has MPEG audio support built in.  Users of other browsers, however, may need to follow these instructions)
 
Click here to download XingSound MPEG Audio Player. Create a new directory, copy mpgaudio.exe to the new directory and run it --- it is a self-extracting archive.
If you have any problems with XingSound, MAPLAY is a simple public-domain audio player for Windows 95 and NT that also works well.
 
Macintosh
Click here to download MPEG CD 2.0.5 from Kauai Media.
 
Unix
Click here to download source maplay_tar.z or access IUMA's FTP site for compiled version for several workstations.

Next, set up your web browser to run the player whenever you click on an MPEG audio file. For most Windows and Mac browsers, the procedure is something like this:

  • From the Options menu, select "Preferences"
  • Select the Helper Applications preference page
  • Click on the button labeled "New..."
  • In the box labeled "Mime Type:", enter "audio" (without the quotes of course...)
  • In the box labeled "Mime Sub Type:", enter "x-mpeg" and then click "OK"
  • Back in the Helper Applications page, enter "mp2" in the box labeled "Extensions:"
  • In the Action portion of the page, select Launch and enter xing_ply.exe (for Windows, MPEG/CD for Mac) as the application to launch (with the full path name)

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