Catering for dial up listeners.
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Housegroove
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:00 pm
Catering for dial up listeners.
Hi folks...I`m new to internet radio and have a question concerning dial up listeners. Is it worth catering for dial up listeners? I dont know anyone (at least here in the UK) that uses a dial up connection. Is dial up bigger in other countries? Sorry if this seems a bit of a daft question, but I`m new at this, and want to get it right when I finally come on air. What is the ratio of listeners that stations experience, between dial up and broadband users? How many slots do they choose between "Low Band" and "Hi Band"? Many thanks guys. 
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SpazzRadio
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:36 pm
- Location: Jasper, Indiana
- Contact:
Re: Catering for dial up listeners.
From my experience, there is no real reason to try and cater to anyone using dial up internet.
There are many reason .....
1. not many of them left
2. if they can listen, it will be at such a low bandwidth that it will sound like crap
3. my low bandwidth streams only get about 1/5th of the listeners of my high bandwidth stream. and that is on a good day. This tells me there is not much of a market for low quality audio.
Slightly off topic ....
I THINK that low bandwidth links ARE worth investing in as Cell phones and PDA's become more and more Internet radio (streaming media) friendly.
There are many reason .....
1. not many of them left
2. if they can listen, it will be at such a low bandwidth that it will sound like crap
3. my low bandwidth streams only get about 1/5th of the listeners of my high bandwidth stream. and that is on a good day. This tells me there is not much of a market for low quality audio.
Slightly off topic ....
I THINK that low bandwidth links ARE worth investing in as Cell phones and PDA's become more and more Internet radio (streaming media) friendly.
Spazz Radio Network : Absolute Rockz, Absolute Spazz, Always HOT Country, Absolute Hitz, and NoPayRadio
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THREETEN RADIO
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:37 am
- Location: UK office, streamed from USA
- Contact:
Re: Catering for dial up listeners.
I put out an additional stream at 32kbps mono, I never thought I would get any listeners on it and used to get a couple now and again. Since being listed on iTunes I can get 10 or more on that stream so people with phones etc... do listen to lower bitrates. Anything below 64kbps sounds better if mono I have found, if you stream at 48 or 32k, try mono and listen to how the quality is better.
All the pop hits of the 70s, 80s & 90s on THREETEN RADIO. www.threetenradio.com
Re: Catering for dial up listeners.
I've had the same experience too. The best combination is 24k mono @ 22050 sample rate for dialup and people with non aac+ capable players. Some mobile phones need an extra app to do aac+. Also for people that are straight out of the box with a new PC.
Then 64k stereo 44khz sample rate AAC+ for those with ADSL and wanting quality. Then 128k stereo 44 khz sample rate for those that can. The difference between 64k aac+ and 128k mp3 is there. But it's very hard to pick the 128k will have a little sharper top end definition.
Any higher bitrate is getting a little silly. If you use wave files for your audio playout these bitrates will rock!
In short I've had the same argument with people over dialup. But for me it seems to get hammered one day then ez off for a couple then the 128k gets hammered. I see even the 64k aac+ getting it's fair share too.
Then 64k stereo 44khz sample rate AAC+ for those with ADSL and wanting quality. Then 128k stereo 44 khz sample rate for those that can. The difference between 64k aac+ and 128k mp3 is there. But it's very hard to pick the 128k will have a little sharper top end definition.
Any higher bitrate is getting a little silly. If you use wave files for your audio playout these bitrates will rock!
In short I've had the same argument with people over dialup. But for me it seems to get hammered one day then ez off for a couple then the 128k gets hammered. I see even the 64k aac+ getting it's fair share too.