Codec cuts Internet radio bitrate

Digitally Imported Radio (DI) has added aacPlus streams to its free radio service.

Digitally Imported Radio (DI) has added aacPlus streams to its free radio service.

By adding aacPlus streams to its radio service, DI is both enhancing the audio quality for their listeners and is reducing the bitrate required for their free streams.

Listeners can tune in to these streams immediately at www.di.fm and www.tuner2.com.

"We are always working to hit the perfect balance of cost versus quality for our popular radio channels", said Ari Shohat, President of Digitally Imported.

"aacPlus delivers a 4x improvement over mp3 in quality per bit, dramatically improving both our listener experience and our bottom line".

"From the early days, DI has been at the forefront of making the economics of Internet radio viable", said David Frerichs, Vice President and US General Manager of Coding Technologies.

"By adding aacPlus streams, they are continuing to show the way toward profitable streaming on the Internet".

MPEG-4 aacPlus is AAC coupled with Coding Technologies' SBR (Spectral Band Replication) and Parametric Stereo technologies.

SBR is a unique bandwidth extension technique, which enables audio codecs to deliver the same quality at half the bitrate.

Parametric Stereo enhances the codec efficiency a second time for low-bitrate stereo signals.

Both SBR and Parametric Stereo are backward and forward compatible methods to enhance the efficiency of any audio codec.

As a result, aacPlus delivers streaming and downloadable 5.1 multichannel audio at 128Kbit/s, near CD-quality stereo at 32Kbit/s, excellent quality stereo at 24Kbit/s, and great quality for mixed content down to 16Kbit/s and below.

This level of efficiency fundamentally enables new applications in the markets of mobile and digital broadcast.

Back to top