Free (well, advertising sponsored - so a bargain in me book) streamed
music is currently blasting through my HiFi rather nicely at the moment,
via some S/PDIF trickery and an outboard DAC - not that that is really
necessary.

I'm using both We7 and Spotify, and noticing better playback quality of
We7 (Mp3 192kbps) compared with Spotify (Ogg Vorbis q5 approc 160kbps).

OK, it's not CD - but for having a rummage around (and finding new
artists for future purchasing) it's ideal...

http://www.we7.com (flash based)
http://www.spotify.com (windows/mac P2P application)

--
Adrian C

On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:07:20 +0100, Adrian C
wrote:

Free (well, advertising sponsored - so a bargain in me book) streamed
music is currently blasting through my HiFi rather nicely at the moment,
via some S/PDIF trickery and an outboard DAC - not that that is really
necessary.

I'm using both We7 and Spotify, and noticing better playback quality of
We7 (Mp3 192kbps) compared with Spotify (Ogg Vorbis q5 approc 160kbps).

OK, it's not CD - but for having a rummage around (and finding new
artists for future purchasing) it's ideal...

http://www.we7.com (flash based)
http://www.spotify.com (windows/mac P2P application)

I've tried both, and Spotify is definitely a bit cleverer - songs
start instantly, and searching is much better. When I did a bit rate
test the other day I was seeing 394k - maybe the rate is not the same
on all tunes.

d

Adrian C wrote:
Free (well, advertising sponsored - so a bargain in me book) streamed
music is currently blasting through my HiFi rather nicely at the moment,
via some S/PDIF trickery and an outboard DAC - not that that is really
necessary.

Makes all the difference!

I'm using both We7 and Spotify, and noticing better playback quality of
We7 (Mp3 192kbps) compared with Spotify (Ogg Vorbis q5 approc 160kbps).

I've not used We7 in a while but Spotify sounds very good to my ears.

Don Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:07:20 +0100, Adrian C
wrote:

Free (well, advertising sponsored - so a bargain in me book) streamed
music is currently blasting through my HiFi rather nicely at the moment,
via some S/PDIF trickery and an outboard DAC - not that that is really
necessary.

I'm using both We7 and Spotify, and noticing better playback quality of
We7 (Mp3 192kbps) compared with Spotify (Ogg Vorbis q5 approc 160kbps).

OK, it's not CD - but for having a rummage around (and finding new
artists for future purchasing) it's ideal...

http://www.we7.com (flash based)
http://www.spotify.com (windows/mac P2P application)

I've tried both, and Spotify is definitely a bit cleverer - songs
start instantly, and searching is much better. When I did a bit rate
test the other day I was seeing 394k - maybe the rate is not the same
on all tunes.

Doubtful. Although .ogg tops out at 500kbps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg_vor...hnical_details

q5 is 160kbps. FLAC varies between 600 and 1,200kbps IME.

Don Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:07:20 +0100, Adrian C
wrote:


Free (well, advertising sponsored - so a bargain in me book) streamed
music is currently blasting through my HiFi rather nicely at the moment,
via some S/PDIF trickery and an outboard DAC - not that that is really
necessary.

I'm using both We7 and Spotify, and noticing better playback quality of
We7 (Mp3 192kbps) compared with Spotify (Ogg Vorbis q5 approc 160kbps).

OK, it's not CD - but for having a rummage around (and finding new
artists for future purchasing) it's ideal...

http://www.we7.com (flash based)
http://www.spotify.com (windows/mac P2P application)


I've tried both, and Spotify is definitely a bit cleverer - songs
start instantly, and searching is much better. When I did a bit rate
test the other day I was seeing 394k - maybe the rate is not the same
on all tunes.

d

Yep, Spotify is impresive IMHO. Just how did you check the bitrate?

--
Nick

On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:49:21 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:07:20 +0100, Adrian C
wrote:


Free (well, advertising sponsored - so a bargain in me book) streamed
music is currently blasting through my HiFi rather nicely at the moment,
via some S/PDIF trickery and an outboard DAC - not that that is really
necessary.

I'm using both We7 and Spotify, and noticing better playback quality of
We7 (Mp3 192kbps) compared with Spotify (Ogg Vorbis q5 approc 160kbps).

OK, it's not CD - but for having a rummage around (and finding new
artists for future purchasing) it's ideal...

http://www.we7.com (flash based)
http://www.spotify.com (windows/mac P2P application)


I've tried both, and Spotify is definitely a bit cleverer - songs
start instantly, and searching is much better. When I did a bit rate
test the other day I was seeing 394k - maybe the rate is not the same
on all tunes.

d

Yep, Spotify is impresive IMHO. Just how did you check the bitrate?

Just had a network monitoring tool hanging on the computer - it was
flatlining at about 384 (394 was a typo) all the way through a song.
Spotify is a no-buffering service so you don't get bursts of full
speed.

d

Don Pearce wrote:

Yep, Spotify is impresive IMHO. Just how did you check the bitrate?


Just had a network monitoring tool hanging on the computer - it was
flatlining at about 384 (394 was a typo) all the way through a song.
Spotify is a no-buffering service so you don't get bursts of full
speed.

d

Ahh, ok, I wondered if that was what you had done. Spotify is a p2p app,
so you will be having data going out as well as going in, the traffic is
not just for your use.

--
Nick

On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:22:48 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Yep, Spotify is impresive IMHO. Just how did you check the bitrate?


Just had a network monitoring tool hanging on the computer - it was
flatlining at about 384 (394 was a typo) all the way through a song.
Spotify is a no-buffering service so you don't get bursts of full
speed.

d

Ahh, ok, I wondered if that was what you had done. Spotify is a p2p app,
so you will be having data going out as well as going in, the traffic is
not just for your use.

That would only make sense if somebody was listening absolutely
synchronously with me (to some early John Mayall, I think). I doubt
very much if that was happening.

d

Don Pearce wrote:
On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:22:48 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Yep, Spotify is impresive IMHO. Just how did you check the bitrate?

Just had a network monitoring tool hanging on the computer - it was
flatlining at about 384 (394 was a typo) all the way through a song.
Spotify is a no-buffering service so you don't get bursts of full
speed.

d
Ahh, ok, I wondered if that was what you had done. Spotify is a p2p app,
so you will be having data going out as well as going in, the traffic is
not just for your use.

That would only make sense if somebody was listening absolutely
synchronously with me (to some early John Mayall, I think). I doubt
very much if that was happening.

d

Or, if the app cached a number of songs or parts of songs on your disk
and them made them available from that cache. Doesn't have to just be
what you are listening to.

Give that Spotify describe there service as p2p I suspect you are
incorrect in your doubts.

From their web site:

"Why does Spotify use so many internet connections?
Spotify uses a peer-to-peer network along with streaming servers to
stream music. This is why you see multiple connections to other Spotify
users.

What quality does Spotify stream in?
We use the Ogg Vorbis q5 codec which streams at approximately 160kb/s. "

--
Nick

On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:28:34 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:
On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:22:48 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Yep, Spotify is impresive IMHO. Just how did you check the bitrate?

Just had a network monitoring tool hanging on the computer - it was
flatlining at about 384 (394 was a typo) all the way through a song.
Spotify is a no-buffering service so you don't get bursts of full
speed.

d
Ahh, ok, I wondered if that was what you had done. Spotify is a p2p app,
so you will be having data going out as well as going in, the traffic is
not just for your use.

That would only make sense if somebody was listening absolutely
synchronously with me (to some early John Mayall, I think). I doubt
very much if that was happening.

d

Or, if the app cached a number of songs or parts of songs on your disk
and them made them available from that cache. Doesn't have to just be
what you are listening to.

Give that Spotify describe there service as p2p I suspect you are
incorrect in your doubts.

From their web site:

"Why does Spotify use so many internet connections?
Spotify uses a peer-to-peer network along with streaming servers to
stream music. This is why you see multiple connections to other Spotify
users.


You are right, but I just fired it up for ten minutes without
listening to any songs, and there was no network traffic at all.
Perhaps it doesn't find you until you are active.

What quality does Spotify stream in?
We use the Ogg Vorbis q5 codec which streams at approximately 160kb/s. "

Ah well, I was wrong. They do seem to get a reasonably full 20kHz of
bandwidth though, albeit with a strange tip-up of level at the extreme
top end. Well beyond my hearing range these days, I'm afraid.

d