[Icecast] Frauenhofer signing off on mp3, ogg stream player for Macs?

[Jack Elliott]

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits has stopped providing 
licenses for MP3 technology, "[...] noting that more superior audio 
formats have rendered the MP3 obsolete. Speaking to National Public 
Radio (USA), the Fraunhofer Institute said AAC has since become the 'de 
facto standard for music download and videos on mobile phones.' "

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3196788/consumer-electronics/mp3-player-ipod-licensing-dead.html

This raises a point I wanted to ask about. Icecast supports mp3 (it's 
the current lowest-common denominator for media players, yes?) and ogg. 
I'd like to send a higher-fidelity stream from our music festival 
remotes, but ogg isn't an option because the station's media player, 
iTunes (running on a Mac) doesn't support ogg.

Is there any work being done to support AAC in Icecast? Oh, wait. Use of 
AAC in an encoder requires paying a licensing fee. Drat.

So we have mp3 (free, sounds crummy, everything plays it) and ogg (free, 
sounds better, but does anyone know of any programs for Macs that can 
play an ogg stream?)

-- 
That Jack Elliott
(541) 848 7021
KPOV 88.9 FM High Desert Community radio
Producer, The Wednesday Point
Host, The Sunday Classics