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RE: Sound Quality of Terrestrial Radio vs Internet Radio

Ultimately the quality of either is going to come down to the formats and bitrates used from the studio to the final destination; as well as what they're sourcing music from.

Typically the analog signal will sound better, but with STLs (Studio-Transmitter Links) moving digital using all kinds of crazy IP over various physical methods. I've never bothered to ask the broadcast engineers I know what formats their STL's are running; I've only heard about the transmitter sites still on traditional phone lines running crazy low bitrates for STL. The internet streams will vary as to where the stream is encoded from and how many times it's been re-encoded. Most of the online-streams I've heard sound like they've undergone compression a few times or are using a stupid low bitrate codec with SBR.

I've been paying attention to the difference signal since I started playing around with software defined radios. I often see tell-tale signs of lossy compression somewhere in the chain from the analog signal. Some stations though sound really fantastic; like I've never heard WETA in DC sound any better than from my SDR.

It's really hard to say which will sound better than the other since there are so many variables that can happen to each from the time it leaves the studio to the time it gets to your ears.


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  • RE: Sound Quality of Terrestrial Radio vs Internet Radio - DewDude 17:16:45 08/03/17 (0)

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