If you're making the investment to upgrade your home by having a multi-room audio system installed, please remember this point....
MP3 audio quality is nice for headphones but is not as good as uncompressed (CD Quality) .WAV files.
The science behind compressing an audio file supports this, and on occasion I have heard the difference but nothing like I had heard yesterday. A friend had a party to show off his new multi-room audio system. At first glance, it was impressive -- 12 rooms of audio with in-wall keypads and high quality speakers (Polk). But we soon noticed a difference in sound quality when switching sources from his CD player to his ipod. The sound floor automatically dropped several dB and the high frequencies with the song recorded in the compressed MP3 format vs. the same song we had heard previously off of the CD were non-existant.
Simply put -- the song on MP3 sounded dull and flat over the Multi-Room Audio system, but the same song on CD sounded rich and full.
When I had asked my friend what bit rate he had recorded the song to MP3, he told me it was 300 kbps, not a bad sampling rate at all. In fact, when we unplugged the iPod and listened to the song over the small headphones, it didn't sound as flat as it did over the Multi-Room audio system, though admittedly it wasn't as good as the original CD.
We then recorded the song to an uncompressed (.WAV) file format and it sounded almost as good as the CD.
Why the difference in audio quality between MP3 and uncompressed (.WAV)? Well, let's look at the technology. MP3 audio is a specially formatted and havily compressed computer file. Depending on the sample rate, the audio quality can sound close but not equate to that of a CD. An uncompressed audio file of 1 minute consumes nearly 9 megabytes (MB) of disk space. An MP3 file uses only about 1 MB of disk space for that same minute of audio. This reduction in file size has revolutionized the delivery of music, because it is now easier to transmit music over the internet. A song that would have taken almost an hour to download (depending upon the connection speed) can now be download much quicker. However, in exchange for the smaller file size, the listener sacrifices 70% of the data that holds what some describe as the 3-D characteristics of the audio necessary to create staging, imaging, and rich audio texture. An uncompressed (.WAV) music file contains all of the data found on a CD, without any of the compression of loss of data. This offers the listener the highest quality audio available from a CD.
The difference in audio quality is of course more perceptible with better quality speakers and better quality amplification.
If you're interested in hearing for yourself the difference, visit the demo section of our website. http://www.netstreams.com/demos.aspx
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Our Hearts Go Out
Our hearts go out to everyone in the gulf coast who are suffering from Hurricane Katrina. Many of our NetStreams employees have donated their time and skills to the American Red Cross building computers and assisting in creating networks so that displaced people can contact their families, and those separated from eachother at various Texas shelters can be re-connected.
Our hearts are with all those suffering.
Our hearts are with all those suffering.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Digital Music Servers
Maximizing your digital music server can allow you to take full advantage of the technology. Why? Well, think about this. Digital music servers are a great way to store and enjoy all of your songs. Depending upon the size of the hard disc drive, you can record 10,000 ~ 30,000 of your favorite songs with the cover art, artist and album information, as well as the genre for each song.
But, with a traditional system, how many songs can you listen to at one time in different rooms of your home?
Well, the answer to that depends upon the number of discrete audio outputs on the music server, because each output must be connected to a multi-channel amplifier so that it can be routed to each room.
So we were thinking....there is a fundamental disconnect with what the technology can provide from a music server and how it is implemented with a traditional system today in the marketplace. Imagine this -- I can run multiple applications on my PC. Right now I've got my browser open, my email open, an .xls spreadsheet, and a press release from my VP of marketing open on my PC, not to mention several Microsoft word documents. All open. All running at the same time.
Since a digital music server is essentially a PC (it has a hard disc drive, a microprocessor, a CD-ROM drive for recording music, and an operating system), why not be able to listen to several songs in several rooms throughout the home?
And with a traditional installation, I need to turn on my TV to listen to my music coming from a music server, because I need to be able to select what I want to listen to. So that's another cable I have to hook up. When I explained all this to my daughter a year ago, the conversation was really funny, because she kept asking "But Dad, why do I have to turn on the TV to listen to music?"
Why indeed...
With our IP-Based DigiLinX products it can be done. We've partnered with some of the best digital music server companies in the marketplace - ReQuest (http://www.request.com/); Escient (http://www.escient.com/) and Imerge (http://www.imerge.co.uk/) and made them compatible with our solution. What does this mean -- well, with one CAT5 connection from the media server to our switch, I can listen to up to 6 separate songs (or "streams" of music, as we like to call them) in different rooms or groups of room s at a time. And I don't need to run a video cable because the menu to select the songs stored in the media server appear on any touch screen in the home.
Now that's progress.
But, with a traditional system, how many songs can you listen to at one time in different rooms of your home?
Well, the answer to that depends upon the number of discrete audio outputs on the music server, because each output must be connected to a multi-channel amplifier so that it can be routed to each room.
So we were thinking....there is a fundamental disconnect with what the technology can provide from a music server and how it is implemented with a traditional system today in the marketplace. Imagine this -- I can run multiple applications on my PC. Right now I've got my browser open, my email open, an .xls spreadsheet, and a press release from my VP of marketing open on my PC, not to mention several Microsoft word documents. All open. All running at the same time.
Since a digital music server is essentially a PC (it has a hard disc drive, a microprocessor, a CD-ROM drive for recording music, and an operating system), why not be able to listen to several songs in several rooms throughout the home?
And with a traditional installation, I need to turn on my TV to listen to my music coming from a music server, because I need to be able to select what I want to listen to. So that's another cable I have to hook up. When I explained all this to my daughter a year ago, the conversation was really funny, because she kept asking "But Dad, why do I have to turn on the TV to listen to music?"
Why indeed...
With our IP-Based DigiLinX products it can be done. We've partnered with some of the best digital music server companies in the marketplace - ReQuest (http://www.request.com/); Escient (http://www.escient.com/) and Imerge (http://www.imerge.co.uk/) and made them compatible with our solution. What does this mean -- well, with one CAT5 connection from the media server to our switch, I can listen to up to 6 separate songs (or "streams" of music, as we like to call them) in different rooms or groups of room s at a time. And I don't need to run a video cable because the menu to select the songs stored in the media server appear on any touch screen in the home.
Now that's progress.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The State of the Industry
I read an article today in the September / October issue of Robb Report Home Entertainment & Design about "networked control" and it struck me how far behind the consumer electronics industry is in thinking about TCP/IP. (Note this edition is not yet posted on their website but the print issue is beginning to circulate. Go to your newstand and look for this magazine. I find it very insightful!).
Yes, controlling audio, video and home automation products over TCP/IP is a no brainer. Frankly, we all should have moved towards this years ago. My company was beginning to work on this 7 years ago, back when we were the incorporated as GE Smart and were a joint venture with General Electric and Microsoft.
Why do I say the industry is behind where it should be? It seems to me that too many people in our industry think about TCP/IP in the sense that it is just another protocol, like RS-232, RF or IR.
CE Manufacturers of high end equipment started putting RS-232 connectors on their devices in 1997. In the Robb Report article, Jared Lewis (an installer) is quoted as saying "If you think about it, we never got there on RS-232. I mean, you're just starting to see RS-232 on entry level to mid-grade components." And this is now 2005!
To think that our industry may take just as long to transition to a complete IP-Based system (not just IP-Based Control) makes me worry about the future of the CE manufacturer. Our counterparts, the PC Manufacturers, move much quicker on a new technology, especially when they identify a significant enhancement which will improve the value proposition for the consumer. (The key here is improving the value proposition significantly!).
Sure, you could use TCP/IP to control products, but TCP/IP was designed to deliver content too. It's not impossible to do that. At NetStreams, we've proven that with our DigiLinX system, which has been selling for several months now. A whole host of media server manufacturers have enabled their Ethernet connections so that audio is distributed over TCP/IP (more about that in a later post).
Simply controlling A/V equipment over TCP/IP is, in my opinion, not a compelling value proposition to the market. However controlling AND distributing the entertainment content is very attractive to the consumer. Why? Well to name a few reasons:
- Audio can be distributed to multiple rooms digitally and with high resolution (over TCP/IP)
- Multiple songs can be listened to from one hard disc drive based media server (over TCP/IP)
- the system is extremely flexible and scalable
There IS a difference between IP-Based Control and a complete IP-Based system. For those investing in a new system in their home, make sure you're compatible for the future.
Yes, controlling audio, video and home automation products over TCP/IP is a no brainer. Frankly, we all should have moved towards this years ago. My company was beginning to work on this 7 years ago, back when we were the incorporated as GE Smart and were a joint venture with General Electric and Microsoft.
Why do I say the industry is behind where it should be? It seems to me that too many people in our industry think about TCP/IP in the sense that it is just another protocol, like RS-232, RF or IR.
CE Manufacturers of high end equipment started putting RS-232 connectors on their devices in 1997. In the Robb Report article, Jared Lewis (an installer) is quoted as saying "If you think about it, we never got there on RS-232. I mean, you're just starting to see RS-232 on entry level to mid-grade components." And this is now 2005!
To think that our industry may take just as long to transition to a complete IP-Based system (not just IP-Based Control) makes me worry about the future of the CE manufacturer. Our counterparts, the PC Manufacturers, move much quicker on a new technology, especially when they identify a significant enhancement which will improve the value proposition for the consumer. (The key here is improving the value proposition significantly!).
Sure, you could use TCP/IP to control products, but TCP/IP was designed to deliver content too. It's not impossible to do that. At NetStreams, we've proven that with our DigiLinX system, which has been selling for several months now. A whole host of media server manufacturers have enabled their Ethernet connections so that audio is distributed over TCP/IP (more about that in a later post).
Simply controlling A/V equipment over TCP/IP is, in my opinion, not a compelling value proposition to the market. However controlling AND distributing the entertainment content is very attractive to the consumer. Why? Well to name a few reasons:
- Audio can be distributed to multiple rooms digitally and with high resolution (over TCP/IP)
- Multiple songs can be listened to from one hard disc drive based media server (over TCP/IP)
- the system is extremely flexible and scalable
There IS a difference between IP-Based Control and a complete IP-Based system. For those investing in a new system in their home, make sure you're compatible for the future.
Friday, August 12, 2005
My First Blog Post
My name is Herman Cardenas and I am Chairman and Founder of NetStreams, a company based in Austin Texas. NetStreams was formed with the idea that all consumer electronics (your TV, DVD player, Speakers, PC etc) in the home will distribute their entertainment content and communicate with each other using TCP/IP (the same language as the internet).
Why TCP/IP? It's the same language as the Internet. The architecture makes it easily expandable. It's an open protocol, so it's easier to configure a system to communicate with and control a variety of products from a variety of manufacturers. And it's the same language that the computers in your home use to talk to each other.
No Question -- IP is the future.
With this vision, Netsteams created and shipped DigiLinX, the world's first IP-Based Multi-Room Audio system in the market. (IP-Based meaning that the system distributes audio, data, and control over TCP/IP).
So what's so difficult about creating an IP-Based Multi-Room Audio system? Well the biggest issue that NetStreams overcame is the ability to synchronize the audio. Synchronization of high quality audio is important in a Multi-Room Audio system. Why? TCP/IP was primarily developed to distribute data, and never designed to be real-time. Imagine if I'm sitting in a room with 3 people and I send one email to all of them. We're all in the same room, but one person might get it before another person and so on. With audio, if you're listening to the same song in the kitchen and the dining room over an IP-Based system without synchronization, you would hear a strong echoing effect when you're walking from one room to another.
Maybe you're wondering why I wrote this blog? Well... several reasons....
Why TCP/IP? It's the same language as the Internet. The architecture makes it easily expandable. It's an open protocol, so it's easier to configure a system to communicate with and control a variety of products from a variety of manufacturers. And it's the same language that the computers in your home use to talk to each other.
No Question -- IP is the future.
With this vision, Netsteams created and shipped DigiLinX, the world's first IP-Based Multi-Room Audio system in the market. (IP-Based meaning that the system distributes audio, data, and control over TCP/IP).
So what's so difficult about creating an IP-Based Multi-Room Audio system? Well the biggest issue that NetStreams overcame is the ability to synchronize the audio. Synchronization of high quality audio is important in a Multi-Room Audio system. Why? TCP/IP was primarily developed to distribute data, and never designed to be real-time. Imagine if I'm sitting in a room with 3 people and I send one email to all of them. We're all in the same room, but one person might get it before another person and so on. With audio, if you're listening to the same song in the kitchen and the dining room over an IP-Based system without synchronization, you would hear a strong echoing effect when you're walking from one room to another.
Maybe you're wondering why I wrote this blog? Well... several reasons....
- I wanted to share, with interested people, my thoughts on the future of home entertainment and technologies, as wellas my personal experience with the same.
- I know that from my experience as a home builder that choosing the right technology and wiring for your home (whether it's a new build or a remodel) is a confusing and frustrating experience for many, so I thought I might be able to help.
- And of course, I'd like to hear your comments and ideas.
Best,
Herman
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
