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Meta has come up with a way to compress audio that is ten times more efficient than the MP3 Codec. You can read about it +++ HERE +++.
Jim Fogle - 2024 BiaB (1111) RB (5) Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
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Got the popcorn out and kicked back to hear net remarks regarding how any degree of digital compression degrades the sound. And how audiophiles can (unless subjected to a double blind study  ) distinguish each protocol. Bud
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I love those supposed tests via the Internet that compress the files then tell you that you are hearing them wrong.
The article is interesting in that a such low amount of data could be helpful in situations where there is poor or no broadband. I’m just disappointed that, in an era where we have dramatic increases in data transmission and storage capacity, we would consider going backwards in audio quality.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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I've been involved with high compression speech and it's amazing how much can be done with the listener being barely aware of it ... in a 'phone call. In effect, the original speech is characterised and the data obtained is sent to the other end, where it's rebuilt almost from the ground up, using a vocoder technique. You're actually not hearing the original voice at all, just a modeled version of it, usually with a sample of background noises mixed in for comfort.
Trying to do that for music without significant damage to the quality seems improbable at best if one expects a good stereo image. But then perhaps they don't any more, just something wider than mono.
Meanwhile my wife has just told me that our local-radio station that we listen to over the Internet because we're in a poor coverage are, will shortly change standards and we'll need to upgrade out Internet radio yet again. Hopefully this time it'll be a firmware upgrade, because I'm sick of throwing away otherwise perfectly good kit and buying new kit!
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
Kawai MP6, Korg M50, Ui24R, Saffire Pro 40.
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BIAB2022 UltraPAK, Reaper, a bunch of stuff.
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Gordon, I hope I’m not hijacking the thread, but as I’m not in the UK, I’m curious what you mean. Are you referring to a switch to some kind of digital radio?
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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I've been involved with high compression speech and it's amazing how much can be done with the listener being barely aware of it ... in a 'phone call. In effect, the original speech is characterised and the data obtained is sent to the other end, where it's rebuilt almost from the ground up, using a vocoder technique. You're actually not hearing the original voice at all, just a modeled version of it, usually with a sample of background noises mixed in for comfort. Yep - since the spectral envelope of speech is slow moving and fairly narrow-band, you can throw a lot of information away and still get recognizable speech. With music, there's all sorts of psycho-acoustic tricks that can be done to try and determine what information is salient, and what can be discarded. For example, louder frequency bands mask other sounds in nearby bands, so those nearby frequencies can be discarded, For really high rates of compression, complex "non-harmonic" sounds are simply classified into a group of frequencies bands, and when reconstituted replaced with filtered white noise. It can make a cymbal crash sound like a trash can lid. I remember reading some time back how consumers had gotten used to that sound, and actually grown to prefer it over the actual sound of cymbals. Crazy! 
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I ran a personal MP3 sample rate test over a decade ago. I wanted to know if I could hear the difference between the different sample rates. I used a couple of songs with lots going on instrumentally (not just vocals) on a CD that I liked and knew well, and encoded them at 128K, 192K, 256K and 320K. Differentiating the 128K and 192K encodes was easy on whatever playback system I tested. Then things got a bit more difficult. The only playback system where I could differentiate the 320K encode from the others was on the 9-speaker H-K system in the Nissan Titan I was driving at the time. I think the presence of a subwoofer there made the difference. The lower rate encodes suffered from some very low frequency loss. Everything else was a wash. If I wasn't a bass player, I'd probably have just rolled with 192K or 256K, but I've been encoding at 320K ever since. Fortunately, the cost of storage has come down dramatically since then. I was encoding my 1000s of CDs for myself, and not for streaming, so wasn't worried about the bandwidth.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 11/06/22 11:19 PM.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; PreSonus Studio 1810c; BiaB 2024 Ultra
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Yep - since the spectral envelope of speech is slow moving and fairly narrow-band, you can throw a lot of information away and still get recognizable speech.
One can throw away an extraordinary amount and still hear a familiar voice.
I remember reading some time back how consumers had gotten used to that sound, and actually grown to prefer it over the actual sound of cymbals.
Crazy! crazy
I feel exactly like that about most percussion in modern mixing. Most of it to me now sounds horribly artificial. Obviously I'm getting old.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
Kawai MP6, Korg M50, Ui24R, Saffire Pro 40.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11; Win8.1: Scarletts
BIAB2022 UltraPAK, Reaper, a bunch of stuff.
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I ran a personal MP3 sample rate test over a decade ago. I'm in the same boat with you there. I started encoding my CDs at 192K early on then switched to 320K part way through. I've pretty much eliminated anything 128K or less in my MP3 collection.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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I liken this to the day I watched a guitar player, in person, be blindfolded, be handed 5 guitars and try to identify each one by the sound. He guessed, in some order, Strat, Tele, Les Paul, Gretsch and Ibanez.
Except that he was handed only 2 guitars, once the same guitar twice in a row. Each time he was told "Okay now. Here's one of the other ones."
Power of suggestion is indeed powerful. Those weight loss capsules full of nothing of value that people KNOW is helping them lose weight are a great example. Currently the latest scam is Golo. Not that the commercials show these fatties suddenly walking and playing basketball and eating a higher fiber, lower carb diet, which they didn't do before. But yeah, it's the pill doing it!
I have run into SO many people who claim they can tell this bitrate from that bitrate, or vinyl vs CD, while blindfolded.
But you know what? if you want to spend money buying every CD you own on the new latest and greatest vinyl re-release, with some claim of "higher fidelity using the newest whoop-de-doo technology", you go right ahead. It isn't costing me a penny. But remember, "Take The A Train" is still "Take The A Train" no matter what medium it is on. The song didn't change and never will. One of my former friends has the SAME Beatle collection with every hype boost applied. Remaster, with outtakes, with a 2k notch filter applied, special edition with 2 songs in a different running order, all the nonsense. But A Day In The Life starts with "Day after day, alone on a hill" on every one of them.
So The Book Of Face can sell their snake oil if they want to. I listen to what the songs mean, not if they are brighter or duller to the ear.
Like Steve I encode/download only at 320k like I have forever.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Update Your PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 Today!
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The newest RealBand 2024 Build 5 update is now available!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
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Today (April 5) is National Flash Drive Day!
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
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Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
Learn more about this free update for Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm#1111
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!
If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
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If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
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Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed!
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