Option to stream at a different bitrate than 128kbps

22 Sep, '18
mart Merged

It would be nice to be able to broadcast at lower bitrates than 128Kbps. Some of us don't have enough data a month to broadcast live at 128kbps without getting charged for overages. 64Kbps comes to mind.

27 Dec, '18
Kevin Johnston

I would very much like to be able to broadcast at a higher bit rate than what we currently are able to.

25 Feb, '19
Philip Admin

"OPTION TO BROADCAST IN 320 KBPS" (suggested by steve reich on 2019-02-19), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

1

17 Jun, '19
Greg Stafford

I agree with this. I've been broadcasting at 256k MP3 for awhile now.

1

10 Jul, '19
Bill

Or at least be able to use AAC.

1

28 Oct, '19
Dennel

Make no mistake about it, 192 - 320 kbps is far better than 128. This is one of the biggest complaints I have about live 365 is the sound quality.

2

19 Nov, '19
Steve

AAC would be nice, I have songs that are at 320kbps

23 Mar, '20
Kevin Krueger

It would also be nice to have multiple streams at various bitrates and let the listeners pick which one they want.

13 May, '20
Sam Crutchfield Merged

128kps is currently the maximum encoding speed available for Live365, but the sound is not at all comparable to 320kps. I'd be willing to pay extra to have that available to me. I'd even be willing to trade out some other feature to have it.

25 May, '20
Philip Admin

"Add Premium Option of Broadcasting/encoding at 320kps" (suggested by Sam Crutchfield on 2020-05-13), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

30 May, '20
Sam Crutchfield Merged

All Live 365 stations top out at 128kbps. I'd be willing to pay more for higher encoding quality.

26 Jun, '20
Philip Admin

"Offer higher kbps encoding/streaming option - 256 or 320" (suggested by Sam Crutchfield on 2020-05-30), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

13 Jul, '20
Andy Steven

After having invested so much in a professional broadcast audio chain and then encode high-quality streams at 320k MP3/AAC I am a little disappointed the hard work is now downgraded by the 128k limitations. Would like to support the cause to have the ability to stream in higher quality.

1

28 Aug, '20
INNERSPHERE

i have to agree, i am coming for a site that offered 320 and it is so much better.

25 Sep, '20
Jayson Tanner

I, too, have heard from listeners who would like it best if we were in 320 ... as they are now experiencing HD Radio in other places. Even some YouTube vids are higher quality now. As of this writing (Sep. 2020) U2's channel, for instance, is going ALL Highest Possible Quality. I know a lot folks won't notice the difference. This is for the people who do notice.

15 Oct, '20
SakeBito at Amanogawa Express

I'm totally confused about whether this limitation has to do with bandwidth or storage - presumably the latter. But yeah, every song I rip and upload is encoded at the max available with MP3, 320kbps, so I assume it's automatically converted downward to 128. And since I'm using less than 6% of my 30GB storage allowance, the file sizes are not a problem.

06 Nov, '20
AmanogawaExpress

I always encode at 320kbps anyway, so yeah, this would be a big plus.

05 Feb, '21
steve reich

as with the other comments above, I do support the 320 all my tracks are encoded at 320 however are downgraded to 128k which was the standard for many years. now that we are 2021 it's time to adjust this. It's time to enhance the sound quality for our listeners to experience Live365 like they never heard before.

1

05 Mar, '21
Matt

Please make this happen soon. This is a clear need in the community.

1

16 May, '21
Joe Boomer

The option to stream in HD and Ultra HD would be huge for Live 365. Perhaps it can be an option for the Live 365 Pro broadcasters as a premium. It would be a huge money-maker for everyone and trust me, the audience knows the difference!

30 May, '21
Jayson Tanner

Yes!! People are using better headphones - better listening equipment is dropping in price. People who contact me for sure want better sound quality in the mix. Me too, as I'm a listener, too! I hate having to mix everything down to 128. Some music is such high quality now you can't even possibly make a 128 sound good.

12 Jun, '21
Ronan Ryan

This would be great. I use live365 audio to broadcast on Dab radio in Ireland. Make it happen Guys.

16 Jun, '21
Ionut Sarghi Admin

"Bitrates at lower kbps" (suggested by mart on 2018-09-22), including upvotes (3) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

30 Jun, '21
James H Becker

With the file size increase going from 128K, does the sound enhancement justify the increase?

17 Oct, '21
The Boomer

Yes I think the sound enhancement does justify the increase for those of us willing to pay for the higher quality. Just as Live365 has different broadcast packages 1-4, they could also add to each of those packages an option to choose between 128kps, 160kps, 192kps, 256kbps, and 320kbps. You just pay more for the higher quality and space. For those who don't want to pay more, they can remain at 128kps at the current price. I think that would be fair so that we all have a choice rather than a 1 size fits all approach.

14 Dec, '21
Steve Fama

Yes, Pro music services have 320kbs music.

22 May, '22
Bill Ferencz

Hi Team!
This request has been outstanding for so long. Please, please make the adjustment. 128kbs is way in the past. Let's have the quality improvement we all crave for.
Appreciate the work that you do.
Cheers!

1

07 Sep, '22
Ben

This request should be a priority especially since we've been asking for this for so long and 128kb is outdated.

1

19 Oct, '22
DMR

In the last four years, average internet speeds have probably doubled (Google is about to release 5 Gbps service!).

128kbps was at the low end of good in 2018, and now is laughably slow and verging on unacceptable and a major competitive disadvantage in an ever more crowded and competitive field.

I love - love - love how Live365 takes care of all royalty/licensing issues, but 128kbps is a deal breaker for me.

1

18 Nov, '22
Ionut Sarghi

I would like to see this implemented.

18 Nov, '22
Ionut Sarghi Admin

"I want to stream at 320kbps" (suggested by Ionut Sarghi on 2022-11-18), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

09 Jan, '23
Raymond Barbier

I agree on AAC, At least up to 128 for normal accounts and up to 320 for pro accounts . I find AAC is a bit better than mp3,

16 Jan, '23
WION Radio Ionia MI

Our listeners at WION AM Stereo are asking about "bitrates" as they were used to 192kb on our old stream and when we compare our private "engineer" stream used only by staff to detect issues in sound to 128, there's a huge difference. We would be happy to pay more per month for a higher available bitrate. Is this on the horizon with Live365? Our whole purpose in streaming is showing off AM Stereo, and as you can see from our stats, it's a popular stream for a small town AM (stereo) station!

-Jim Carlyle, Owner, Midday Cohost, WION Radio
Ionia, MI USA

25 Jan, '23
Michael Donnelly

It would be amazing to have different bitrate options for streaming. I've seen some people say that they'd prefer to stream at 64kbps in order to conserve data on a limited connection, but I personally would love the option to stream at a higher bitrate, like 320kbps or 256kbps, but at least a 192kbps options would be nice.

MOST IMPORTANTLY... PLEASE ALLOW AAC!!

If the bitrate must stay the same because of hardware or network limitations, allowing AAC instead of MP3 files would make a world of difference since AAC files are known to sound better than an MP3 of the same bitrate, especially at lower bitrates, like 128kbps.

AAC files, although compressed, maintain more of the original sound than MP3s because of the differences in the compression algorithms. This should allow for nearly the same file size and bandwidth requirements while also allowing much better audio to be played. I'm not a genius, so there may be something I'm missing, but I hope will not be too hard to implement.

1

26 Jan, '23
Robert Bass

MP3 is behind the times now, even 320k. There are lossless encoding options that L365 should be looking at. But if that ever happens, then broadcasters will have to reupload all their tracks to take advantage. They could at least consider a now for those of us who run in Live mode.

1

04 Feb, '23
Jake Leonard

I know that in my experience, I still output the audio to Live365 at 320kbps despite the fact that it's limited to 128kbps. That was mostly done so that the delay isn't near as long compared to 128kbps. I think it's not much of a difference, considering it only sheds the delay from 45 seconds to maybe 20 seconds on the platform.

But yes, Live365 should be looking at newer encoding options for broadcasters.

Jake Leonard
Program Director
Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network WPMD-DB
Nokomis, IL, USA

1

16 Feb, '23
Jim McElhiney

There are many people that just won't listen to mp3 at 128kbps. I personally would pay more to stream at a higher bit rate. There is no more cost in royalty payments if you stream at a higher bit rate.

2

31 Aug, '23
Garry

Upping the bitrate would be awesome

2

Option to stream at a different bitrate than 128kbps

Comments: 38