Was looking forward to comparing my streamed song against the local file tonight during the “bad” period, but unfortunately for the test, it’s really not sounding bad at all tonight. Not at all like last night which was unlistenable. And, one kid is playing games online and the other is FaceTiming friends in a marathon call. And there’s a kitchen fan in the background that is on, plus there is a loud computer fan that is on as well. Doesn’t sound as great as really late or earlier in the day, but not terrible like it was yesterday!
Effect of Internet Service Quality on Streaming?
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- 73 posts total
As I have understood streaming over the many years that I have been doing it (remember the Griffin iMic?), the "streamed" files are downloaded, cached and replayed by the given software: Apple Music/iTunes, Spotify, Qobuz et al. Although someone of you may refute that, it seems that the problem of line, processor, cable etc. noise has largely been solved by well-wrought(writ?) playback software. Just measuring the sound floor in a quiet NJ den, I get readings of 27-30dB. Whose ears and brain can process that amount of ambient hash and hear the "effect" of AC, cable, fiber transmission?
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@jkevinoc , I believe you are correct in the way that modern playback software works. But I don’t believe the “captured” and cached stream would be a bit-perfect copy of an equivalent purchased local file at the same bit rate. Possibly due to differences in the streaming company’s source file, and possibly due to errors introduced in the stream that the cached copy came from originally (due to noise or jitter). And yes, I am aware that the Ethernet protocol has error correction built in, but I still believe noise and jitter are still factors.
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@jeffseight , I am based in western Canada. Never heard of the device you are referring to but I’ll look into it - thanks for the suggestion. I’ve not been able to measure the quality of my power as I don’t have a meter that reads THD. I mentioned above that I had measured my internet service quality using Fusion network tests (a website you go to and click to start the test). Measures jitter, latency, download and upload speed. And as I mentioned, when the sound is bad, jitter and latency go from their normal 3ms and 12ms to spikes of 40ms or so and 70ms, respectively. I’m simply guessing that AC quality is also poorer during those times.
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- 73 posts total