It might sound great if you can get it....

Tweet

Wonderful news from the BBC, but without a decent internet connection you won't feel the benefit... or will you?.
This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com

Technology is about to embrace Radio 3, in a big way.... just as with Television High Definition is coming to Radio. An experiment which was first run during the BBC Proms season is about to be extended. Live Performances on Radio 3 is going to be `Live-streamed' at 320 Kb/s instead of 128 Kb/s.

This is excellent news and really does take the transmission of music closer to CD quality, although it is still quite a long way off.

I would be rejoicing at this news apart from two slight problems.

1) Years of decadence have buggered my ears, so I probably won't be able to hear the real difference.

2) The new HD service is being `Live Steamed' only, and not available on Listen again, or indeed for download. That means that those of use who have to manage with connections of less than about 1Mb/s ...., like many of us in rural areas, on a good day will be treated to even more pauses than usual on Radio 3 as the live stream struggles to buffer.

Remember as a licence fee payer I am also going to be contributing to the coffers of BT(in all likelihood) through the pilot projects for the roll out of next-generation net access..... if it ever happens.

Still let us feel glad that those in urban areas will be able to listen to BBC Radio 3 in HD..... bless them.

UPDATE: 20.50 14/12/10

Have been listening to it on a connection of 1Mb/s (Tested via Speedtest.net) and so far it hasn't buffered yet.... It would be interesting to know what the performance of the live-steam is like for those on slower connections.... There are a copule of clicks coming from the Laptop's sound-card though, and I am listening on a cheap pair of headphones....