Tips for Improving Windows Media Player Performance

If you are experiencing drop-outs in the audio stream, you may need to change some settings on your Windows Media Player. The default configuration for WMP is only a 3 second buffer and it uses UDP, which is not error-correcting. Here's how to fix it:

Version 6.x

  1. Click on any archived program to Start the Player.
  2. After it has started to play, click the STOP button.
  3. Go to the menu View --> Settings --> Windows Media Source Filter.
  4. Change the Buffering to Buffer and enter 15 seconds.
  5. Under Protocols, Uncheck the UDP option.
  6. Click OK, (or Press Enter) then EXIT/QUIT the player.
  7. Restart the player by clicking on an audio link.

New Version 7.0

  1. Open version 7 of Media Player to its expanded screen position
  2. Click on Tools located in the upper left corner task tray.
  3. Click on Options and inside that click Performance.
  4. Set the Network buffering to 15.
  5. Click open Network and uncheck UDP.
  6. Before closing up the Options screen click OK.
  7. Click OK, (or Press Enter) then EXIT/QUIT the player.
  8. Restart the player by clicking on an audio link.

This will increase the buffer size and will force the player to use an error-checking protocol instead of the non-error-checking protocol.

If you want to tailor the Frequency Response of the audio, you can set up the equalizer, Go to View --> Settings --> Windows Media Audio Decoder. I've found the following setting helps remove some of the digital artifacts of the high frequency sounds. Set the 19.2K and 9.8K sliders all the way down, and set the 4.8K slider about half way down. If you listen to other higher bandwidth content, don't forget to reset these settings for that content. In the latest version of Media Player simply bring up the Equalizer & pre set for "Acoustic", for the very best listening tone.

Important News About The "Grass Roots" Audio Archive

In a further effort to improve the quality of service, increase the quality of the audio signal and to lower the cost of delivery to you, all audio archives will be streamed in  Window Media Player format.

The quality of the audio of the new Windows Media Player, using the same bitstream rate, is considerably better than the Real Player. We can now get a much better sounding audio signal to you, using the Windows Media Player at a low speed dial-up modem bitrate. You may have already enjoyed the better sounding Windows Media Player LIVE stream.

Furthermore, all of the software used to prepare the archives files, to serve the files and play the files are freely available from Microsoft at no charge to you or us. In order to be able to provide the archives at no cost to you, we need to take advantage of any cost saving measures available to us also. It is a win-win-win situation, lower cost for us, lower cost to you, and it is better sounding! You'll also be able to listen to the program using the Radio Bar feature of Internet Explorer.

NOTE: Windows Media Player is now available for the MAC and Web-TV!

Help Notes For Users Of Apple Computers

In Internet Explorer go to Ragamuffin Radio Central: http://www.ragamuffin.fsbusiness.co.uk/ragaradiohome.htm

"Right click" (on a four button mouse) on any of The "Grass Roots Hour" (option-click if you are button impaired)  Streaming LINKS, then "save link to disk".  This creates a "Ragamuffin Link wma file" on your desktop.

If you already have a version of Media Player installed upon your Apple machine: *manually* start Windows Media Player, once  started up, from it's menu opened the local "local Ragamuffin Link wma File on your Desktop.  It will connect, began to buffer, and eventually started playing -  normally.

If you do not already have a copy of Windows Media Player installed upon your Apple machine. Download a copy of the Media Player free, from the following address: http://windowsmedia.com/mg/home.asp.  On this link download the latest player: version 7.1.

Iinstall the new player as instructed.  Also rebuild your desktop (hold down option and command during boot-up).  Start Internet Explorer & go to Ragamuffin Central:  http://www.ragamuffin.fsbusiness.co.uk/ragaradiohome.htm Click on the "Grass Roots Hour" link, it will start up Media Player, connect, buffer, and start to play all on it's own.

Notice in the README's :  Version 7. of  Media Player is not compatible with Carbon, which means if you are running your Mac under OS X, you'll have to start the media player in the "Classic" environment.

In Netscape 4.75. Go to exactly the same web page link for Ragamuffin Central link. Netscape will correctIy start up the Windows Media Player, but you will get a  "Cannot continue playing. Invalid or corrupt data was encountered" message in
the Player window.  Accordingly,  option-click to "save link as" and save the wma file locally to your Desk Top as above. You will  then be able to open it manually from Media Player (actually, after re-building the desktop, you only have to double click on the saved "Ragamuffin wma Link File on the desktop and it will correctly start and load Windows Media Player).  It then will play the web cast right through!

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

"The Ol' Silver Fox".