The Town Hall Archives

Jared · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2003 10:24 pm Post subject:

Everyone tells me not to listen online because the quality is so bad, but I have a high-speed connection (not as high as I'd like, but it's still broadband... just not cable) and a very, very nice computer sound system. It really sounds fine to me... at least radio quality.

But everyone else must experience it very differently than I do, as they say that even with high-speed access, the quality is terrible. I really don't think it is.

Besides which, my local Christian radio station is hard to pick up in the valley where I live (it's so bad that a nearby station, KDKA, which has the strongest broadcast signal in the world and can be heard in 38 states and 8 Canadian provinces, CANNOT BE HEARD where I live... you can hear this Pittsburgh, PA station out in Oklahoma, but not in the valley where I live -- 30 miles away). I have to keep moving the radio around and even then struggle to hear it through the static. And now, this station doesn't even bother to air weekend episodes... so, whether I like it or not, internet listening is the only way.

And when they remember to put up the episodes, it works out rather well.

Ferder- · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2003 11:31 pm Post subject:

strange. i have cable (the internet is practiclly useless with out it, no effence guys.) but Odyssey still isn't that clear. It's clear enough. It isn't fuzzy or anything, but I have found that its clearer on the radio. Maybe i'm not using the right player. I use Windows Media PLayer instead of Real Player.

hawkeye · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2003 12:49 am Post subject:

I have cable, and I get near cd quality epsiodes!

Ferder: Have you tweaked the connection settings in WMP?

I haven't paid much attention, but I don't hear any real difference in quality between WM and RP (for Odyssey anyway).... But then again, Odyssey isn't music, so 32 kbit works well....

... I wonder why oneplace hasn't been putting up real clips lately...

Jared · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2003 7:33 am Post subject:

The obvious answer: because Oneplace prefers fake clips!

I believe that the Windows Media quality is slightly better, but for some reason (and it's not due to a slow connection!) it skips on occasion in their popup window. Strangely, I get better results when I click "open in player" or whatever it is...

I have no idea why.

Coralfish · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2003 1:24 pm Post subject:

I have a 56K connection, and I find that Real Player works better for that, however I really do not listen very frequently because of the high levels of net congestion that constantly interrupts. It can take one hour sometimes to listen to a single episode! For that reason I ususally wait until the albums are released and listen then.

I was wondering though....does a high speed connection eliminate the high levels of net congestion? We have always had dialup, so I am not too sure.

Jared · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2003 1:39 pm Post subject:

Quite a few things are better with broadband... the congestion problems you suffer virtually disappear for the following reasons:

1. Because the connection is often digital (ISDN, DSL, Digital Cable, Satellite), there's no data loss. Think of it this way: information from all over is going through the lines, and sometimes it bumps into other data streams, causing a loss of data, which needs resent. In digital, it allocates sending areas, meaning that there's never these bumps, thus no congestion problems such as you suffer. Sure, if there are a ton of people online, things can slow down. However, you never see a download seem to reach 65 percent, then five minutes later be down to 58 percent.

2. With broadband connections, the final distance between the provider and your home, the most important area of the transfer, is shared with far fewer people. No more than 10 or 12 people are on a cable line, compared with hundreds on a traditional phone line. Thus, speedier transfer and generally lossless, continuous communication.

3. Well, it's just so much better. I wish I could have cable, but it doesn't come out this far into the country. But even dual channel ISDN isn't bad. True, it will take longer to download a 20 MB file, but it's not very noticible in regular web operations, and even internet video. It's still highspeed... and when I use dialup now, I almost go crazy... it crawls along!

Since the cost of broadband connections is generally about the same as 56k internet and a second phone line, anyone who uses the internet frequently and has the service available should jump at the chance to get it!

hawkeye · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:55 pm Post subject:

Dial-up people: Check out http://rawavrecorder.homestead.com/

You can download the player/recorder (you need ot have real player or real one installed already) and you can then save the ep, (as wav, needs about 50 megs per ep), and you can then listen without dropouts...

Wit this program, what you have is what you get. The site has not been updeted (nor the program), and I have tried to contect the author without response.... But it works well for me. I am pleased.

For Windows Media, try: http://sdp.ppona.com/ (product info->sdp receiver version ___). This one has active support, and I am happy with this one also. This one saves to wma format.

Coralfish · Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2003 11:17 am Post subject:

I would really like to have a cable connection installed, however, we only have one phone line and dialup so actually, paying for cable internet would be an added expense. I usually use the computers at my school(which have a cable connection) to complete work that would take hours at home. At this point though we have tried almost every IP out there and still have endless problems connecting-and disconnecting.....well actually disconnecting isn't a problem. My preferred IP(a long time ago) was CWIX, but they later merged with Prodigy, and everything changed.

I will check out those sites as well, and hopefully that might help when I listen at home....thanks.