Radio 3 at 320kbps
Thu, Mar 24 2011, 8:07AM
At last! Radio 3 at 320kbps via internet radio! And without any hint or explanation, despite a lot of lobbying through every medium I could think of. Great news for digital streamer users who enjoy classical music.
I was tipped off via the Linn forum this morning, and coincidentally, read there yesterday of Andrew Everard's explanation (on this site's home page) of everything related to getting streamed music. It's a model of clarity, even for someone with my woeful computer knowledge. Good one Andrew, and thanks.
A question though.
My Radiotime display (the software I use to access internet radio) shows Radio 3 as "ACC 16bit 320kbps" whereas, for instance, Linn Classical is "MP3 24bit 320kbps". What's "ACC" and how important is the 16 as opposed to the 24bit part?
Vic.
Tue, Mar 29 2011, 5:05PM
#2
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Anyone else sharing my delight and enjoyment of this achievement? It seems to have been a long fight, with never a word from the BBC throughout. I expect they will ask for feedback before long as they did with the Proms experiment in 320kbps (only on their website of course).
I find the result very impressive. This it the best I have ever heard from radio3. It is interesting to bring up the Radio 3 website on the iPad as I listen, and see details of what is being played. Now it's possible to hear the difference in recording quality and relate it to record label. It make me wonder what equipment the Beeb uses to broadcast recorded music. Can anyone spill the beans?
Not that it matters that much; "It's the music..." (he adds quickly, hopefully forestalling
jibes about hi-fi-itis).
Now I am really looking forward to a live broadcast of a concert - always the best sound from the radio. FM is history in this house now!
Vic.
Tue, Mar 29 2011, 9:01PM
#3
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Vic
I share your happiness at the fact of R3 being available at 320kbps.
However, as I do most of my R3 listening at work on a DAB radio and practically never sit down to listen "properly" at home, I can't claim to be getting full advantage.
Mon, Jul 18 2011, 4:34PM
#4
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Whilst this is a vast improvement over "normal" digital broadcasts and I have heard some very good sounding chamber and instrumental sounds (Wigmore Hall recitals have a good acoustic and usually sound very agreeable to my ears) I would still choose FM, certainly for full orchestral works.
Tue, Jul 19 2011, 6:52AM
#5
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
The sound quality of live Proms broadcasts at 320kbps is clearly superior to FM, in fact, it's amazing. Do an A/B comparison and the difference is clear. At last, radio listening is no longer the poor relation of digital CD or DS) and vinyl, at least with Radio 3 (and other high bit-rate providers). Of course, your FM reception and the means of getting on-line music to your sound system is key here. I couldn't hear the difference through my computer, for instance.
No, check out Andrew Everard's tips on how to get on-line digital broadcasts onto your hi-fi and prepare to be wowed. I certainly am. At long, long last!
Vic.
Thu, Jul 28 2011, 7:03PM
#6
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Yes! I'm with you there. I recently changed my internet radio stream (revo mondo) from MP3 to AAC and according to the display I've been getting up to 465Kbs. After the interrupted streaming problems of the last few weeks, it's been much more stable and reliable. I depend on this as we have no decent FM signal here. For special listening occasions I'll be plugging my netbook into the DAC on my Audiolabe 8200CD, as it sounds even better, albeit a subtle difference.
We've lived here with a poor FM signal for 17 years, but even before that with a good signal we always had the distant sound of frying eggs on Radio 3. At last we can hear it properly!
Fri, Jul 29 2011, 6:51AM
#7
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
And it's taken the Proms to a new level. Live broadcasts on Radio 3 were always superior on FM, now they are just amazing. I would love to know the extent of the take-up.
Vic.
Sat, Jul 30 2011, 10:03PM
#8
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
I agree Vic. Thursdays Beethoven 7th was superb in both quality of sound and performance. I am using a logitech duet, and connecting the optical output direct to my Quad digital preamp. I also have been able to record the same digital stream directly to FLAC and have been listening again to the recording and apart from the coughs, I reckon the quality is approacing CD standard. The only problem that I have faced is that my broadband connection sometimes drops out, but On Thursday it was stable throughout the whole concert.
Have you listened to Linn Classic or Linn Jazz? These are also 320kbs and also superb quality.
Kevin.
Sun, Jul 31 2011, 6:36AM
#9
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Yes, indeed. My equipment is Linn and I stream through their Majik DS player. I have several of their Studio Mastered downloads, my favourite at the moment being Messiaen Chamber Works with the Hebrides Ensemble. Linn Radio showcases their catalogue, of course. Amazing sound quality but only in bits, understandably enough. Apart from Radio 3, I also listen a lot to the Dutch Avro Classical (at 24bit256kbps) and Radio Suisse Classique. We are so lucky to have such great music at the tap of an iPad screen - and for free!
Vic.
Sat, Sep 3 2011, 11:58AM
#10
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Sorry, Vic, still have to disagree. Listened to quite a few Proms and with my equipment FM still wins; the sound is more open and less constricted. Equally however have the BBC changed their microphone techniques or changed how the signal gets to the FM transmitters (presumably now digital)? If I listen to some BBC Classics or BBC Music Magazine CDs recorded in the Albert Hall I get a greater sense of the Hall's acoustic on some of these discs than with the present broadcasts.
Sat, Sep 3 2011, 5:24PM
#11
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
........ Equally however have the BBC changed their microphone techniques or changed how the signal gets to the FM transmitters (presumably now digital)? If I listen to some BBC Classics or BBC Music Magazine CDs recorded in the Albert Hall I get a greater sense of the Hall's acoustic on some of these discs than with the present broadcasts.
I have noticed that, too. It seems the miking is much closer, to the extent you'd hardly notice it's the RAH.
Sun, Sep 4 2011, 7:13AM
#12
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Sorry, Vic, still have to disagree. Listened to quite a few Proms and with my equipment FM still wins; the sound is more open and less constricted.
I'm really surprised at this 33lp. Can I ask what equipment you use to access internet radio?
For comparison I use a Linn Akurate tuner with good FM reception, and a Linn Majik DS player for streaming and the difference is very significant for me. It could be a case of "not better but different", as some claim for digital v analogue, but I wouldn't have thought so given the difference that I hear.
What do others find?
Vic.
Wed, Sep 7 2011, 12:44PM
#13
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
Indeed it could be analogue vs digital and the difference is mainly noticeable on full orchestral works rather than chamber or solo instrumentalists. Obviously Vic you have much more sophisticated (and expensive) digital equipment. I first got sound out of my PC earlier this year with the advent of the G Player and the discovery that I could purchase and download CDs in uncompressed format rather than as Mp3 since with what I had read about the latter I had never taken any interest in computer audio. My first effort of connecting the PC's audio out to amplifier was distinctly unimpressive and not being sure if I wanted to pursue matters I purchased the inexpensive wireless DAC mentioned in one of Andrew Everard's articles as I wanted a simple plug in and play device. It operates at CD's 16 bit 44.1kHz rate (non of the CDs I wanted to purchase were available as higher rate downloads).
This produced a vast improvement and indeed I was quite impressed with my uncompressed purchased downloads which sounded very CD like. I downloaded one track I had on CD to try and do a direct A/B comparison to check out the download system but this was not too easy with a greater output from the CD player than the DAC. In the end I decided there might be a very small difference but it could have been imagination!
My FM tuner is a Sony, but surely the fact is that compared to CD even 320 Kb/s is still a considerable data reduction.
My question now however which I must post on the forum sometime is how to transfer and access my purchased downloads so I don't need to use the PC all the time to play them.
Sun, Sep 11 2011, 8:39AM
#14
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
A good analogue tuner is always going to sound better than a compressed aac stream. I wish I could hook up my tuner again but I've got terrible reception here and no chance of popping an aerial on the roof. Mind you 320aac is not bad. The BBC have the bandwidth for higher quality streams and I'm sure they are thinking about the next move up in quality.
Sun, Sep 11 2011, 9:37AM
#15
RE: Radio 3 at 320kbps
I think my tuner is pretty good, and I get a strong signal here, but to my ears, and through my DS player, the latter has a decided edge, especially with live broadcasts for some reason. I don't see why an analogue tuner "is always going to sound better". I read on the Linn forum of people passing on better tuners than mine when they hear radio through DS players. What are others' experience (with digital streaming though dedicated players, not computer feeds)?
Vic.
Correction: It's "AAC" not "ACC", and I've answered my own question via Andrew's Listening Wirelessly glossary mentioned above.
Listening to Radio 3 at 320kbps now and it sounds good.
Vic.