nyc4785 Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Anyone upgrade to Pandora One? It gets you the desktop app and a higher streaming rate (192 kilobits/sec). It's not much money ($36/year), but any opinions welcome. More generally, how does 192 kilobits/sec compare to CD's ripped to your computer? Do any internet radio stations stream CD quality or high res material? It would seem this is possible through a broadband connection as Apple, Netflix and others stream HD video content? Jim Link to comment
watchnerd Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 As you mentioned, it's not expensive, you get better quality, no ads, and IMHO, get to support a company making a great product. How does the sound compare? Well, it's not really a fair comparison for me, as I rip everything to lossless. And it doesn't sound as good as that. But it's perfectly listenable, doesn't induce listening fatigue, and is the highest bitrate internet radio stream I've ever heard of. It seems to be about as good as the radio stations I can get over cable tv. Just like terrestrial radio, I don't listen to Pandora expecting the highest quality sound, anyway. I listen to it for variety and interesting programming. And for that, it's great. MacBook Pro -> AppleTV ->Rotel RSP-1570 -> Martin Logan Electromotion[br]MacBook Pro -> Icon HDP -> AKG K701[br]Apple Lossless all the way Link to comment
nyc4785 Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Makes good sense. anybody of the non US folks tried Spotify? I'm looking forward to their US launch. Link to comment
mikenyc Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I upgraded to Pandora One a few months ago. I probably listen once per week. The difference in sound quality versus the free version is really significant. I personally found the free version just barely listenable. Pandora One is not up to par with loseless files, but as someone else said, it is very listenable. I also listen to Pandora One when I travel. My iTunes library is one my iMac at home. Pandora One is a nice option for listening and most hotels have decent high speed connections these days. I think that the biggest benefit is that I listen to new music (new in terms of not in my library as opposed to just released). It is really easy to get in a rut where you listen to the same things all of the time. Pandora One has helped me find some new things that I really like. It is well worth the price just for this alone. A few other things I have like about Pandora One include the desktop app which is quite nice, but with a few unclear things in the interface. I also think that the engine for determining what to play is more sophisticated than the iTunes genius function. The draw back here is that when you just start using it, the algo seems very sensitive to the first few things you give a thumbs up to. It took a little while for the variety to build again. PS. First post here. Have been reading for a while and thought I should offer feedback on this since I recently considered the same thing. Take care. Oyen MiniPro via Firewire -> Macbook Pro (Amarra 2.3.2, Audirvana Plus) -> Wireworld Starlight USB -> Wavelength Proton -> Stax SRM323S -> Stax 007 Mk1 Link to comment
ardano Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 To All: Saw the posts regarding a superior sound on the upgrade of pandora which made me wonder about the differences between Pandora and say Slacker. Any ideas? I used to have sat rad and thought the fidelity was terrible. I got tired of it and didn't like supporting those ridiculous contracts to celebs who were not worth it. Like many here I create my own library through lossless ripping but have had a basic pandora account since its inception. Link to comment
Part-Time Audiophile Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 It's great. Get it. Scot Hull Part-Time Audiophile Link to comment
ktm300 Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 MOG.com 320 kps streaming, 7 million tracks and growing. Pandora's channels suck compared to Slacker. Pandora may have better sound quality but, the Slacker channels are great, created by humans not software and cover just about every genre. Link to comment
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