[Arty]

Thought I would hook up a Powerbook to my fairly good stereo (Arcam amp, Monitor Audio speakers) via. a mini to RCA adapter to listen to some streamed radio stations (BBC Radio 1, NPR, etc.)

The only problem is, the sound quality is TERRIBLE! It is so bad I had to yank the plug after about 1 minute.

Is there any software that can improve the sound somewhat? Or is it totally limited by the Quicktime/Realaudio stream quality?

Thanks.

[f1000]

1. Get a faster Internet connection.
2. Lower your PowerBook's headphone output volume until it matches your amp's line-in level.

Here is my own unscientific appraisal of iTunes streaming quality:

160 kpbs = CD quality
128 kbps = FM quality
32 kpbs = AM quality

Even a 16 kbps stream shouldn’t sound much worse than a weak AM station.

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by f1000:
1. Get a faster Internet connection.

Even a 16 kbps stream shouldn’t sound much worse than a weak AM station.

[lenox]

If you're an audiophile with high-end equipment, highly-compressed streaming 16-bit music is not ever going to sound acceptable.

[Arty]

I guess that is basically the problem. Many of the stations I want to listen to have pretty low streaming rates (even though I have a DSL connection).

Although they sound okay coming from a powerbook's speakers, when fed through my speakers, it sounds like a blown tweeter is imminent from all the distortion.

[chabig]

If you're an audiophile with high-end equipment, highly-compressed streaming 16-bit music is not ever going to sound acceptable.

Agreed. No audiophile is going to listen to streamed audio.

[f1000]

I thought the BBC offered high bandwidth streaming in Europe?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/broadband/