NEED
HELP TUNING IN?
Which format should I choose?
Dial-up users, go aacPlus
A note about firewalls
What is aacPlus?
What do I need to
listen to your aacPlus streams?
WHICH FORMAT SHOULD I CHOOSE?
It largely depends on what media players you
have installed on your computer and your
personal preferences. If you're impatient and
don't feel like experimenting with it, just
start clicking the radio LISTEN links at the
upper left corner of the page. In the pop up
windows one of them is bound to work.
Winamp [aacPlus]
Streaming CD-quality in stereo that beats
Windows Media and MP3. Also a good call if
you're trying to skimp on the bandwidth to make
sure your company's IT department doesn't
notice. You'll need the latest version of
Winamp.
This stream is also compatible with
VLC
Player on Mac and other *nixes.
iTunes [MP3] (comming soon)
If you want to listen using
iTunes,
this is the way to go. Compatible with a ton of
players including
iTunes
on Mac/PC,
Winamp,
RealPlayer
and many more.
Windows Media Player
You'll need
Windows Media Player and follow the
instructions for installing the Orban aacPlus
plugin
here.
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DIAL-UP USERS, GO AACPLUS
Why are you still on dial-up modem? I guess
that's your choice if you want to surf the web
at glacial speeds. But please, for your
listening pleasure, make sure to grab a copy of
Winamp and choose the Winamp [aacPlus] stream
links.
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A
NOTE ABOUT FIREWALLS
All of our aac+ streams now stream on port 115
which means you should have no trouble picking
them up through a firewall. Now that doesn't
mean that your overly paranoid corporate IT
staff isn't actively filtering streaming media
on your firewall. But that's an entirely
different situation and one that neither we nor
you can do anything about.
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WHAT IS AACPLUS?
aacPlus is a new audio format that allows for
stereo, near CD-quality streaming audio at only
32 kbps. This means that high quality Internet
radio has finally become affordable. Offers
vastly superior fidelity over MP3, Windows
Media, Real Audio and Ogg Vorbis at equivalent
low bitrates.
<geek>
From
Coding Technologies' website:
MPEG-4 aacPlus is the combination of three
MPEG technologies comprising Advanced Audio
Coding (AAC), coupled with Coding Technologies'
Spectral Band Replication (SBR), and
Parametric Stereo (PS) technologies. SBR is
a unique bandwidth extension technique which
enables audio codecs to deliver the same quality
at half the bit rate. PS significantly increases
the codec efficiency a second time for low bit
rate stereo signals.
SBR and PS are both forward and backward
compatible methods to enhance the efficiency of
any audio codec. As a result, aacPlus delivers
streaming and downloadable 5.1 multichannel
audio at 128 kbps, near CD-quality stereo at 32
kbps, excellent quality stereo at 24 kbps, and
good quality for mixed content even below 16
kbps mono. This level of efficiency
fundamentally enables new applications in the
markets of mobile and digital broadcast.
</geek>
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WHAT DO I NEED TO LISTEN TO YOUR AACPLUS
STREAMS?
You'll need the latest version of
Winamp on
Windows or
VLC
Player on Mac and other *nixes. iTunes does
not currently support the aacPlus format (aac
and aacPlus are similar but different beasts).
Hopefully Apple will eventually support aacPlus
in the next major revision of Quicktime.
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