Octave Radio is no joke. It’s so good, you may never upgrade a system again. Shows up other source material as, well, crap. More than that, I wouldn’t actively seek out this type of content. Yet when I hear it, I love it!
I didn't know about Octave Radio, I knew about Octave Records but not the Radio station, I'll give it a listen. It also warms my heart when someone hifi has Raspberry Pis as some of the components, I use Pis for for my Volumio nodes using either USB DACs or DAC hats, and I also have a Pi NAS where I store all my flacs.
I use a Pi front ending my Denafrips Ares II DAC and its been a very stable platform. I do wonder what a dedicated streamer (like the Air Lens) could do and if I would even hear a difference.
@markdecker2112 I've never had the chance to try a high-end streamer like the PS Audio AirLens, but in my experience, a standard Raspberry Pi delivers comparable sound quality to a WiiM. One of the great advantages of using a Raspberry Pi is the flexibility it offers-you can find a wide range of parts and upgrades, including improved power supplies and re-clocking modules, to enhance its performance. That said, by the time you’ve added all the extras, including a case for a polished finish, you could end up spending about a third of the cost of an AirLens. It’s an excellent option for those who enjoy tinkering and customizing their setup while still keeping the budget in check.
Question is that you need to go from DSD to DXD to do any form of mixing or mastering as Paul has previously explained. So is it better to then stay with DXD or transform back to DSD which surely adds additional, unnecessary processing? So which version should I buy from Octave Records, the DSD or DXD?
@@ryanschipp8513 If I understand correctly I would not see it that way. Gain is volume. Compression is compression. One can be full fidelity at higher volume and the other can be reduced fidelity through lower dynamic range.
@@ryanschipp8513 It sounds like it is really loud and shouting. In reality they are restricted from making it much louder than the regular program so they use compression to make it sound really loud even though the dB may not be much higher.
I searched for (and found) Octave Radio on my internet tuner. I was very surprised to discover that it is an MP3 stream. Given your usual uncompromising stance on sound quality I was expecting, at the very least, CD quality. Am I missing something?
Compression is ok for background music and keeping everything at the same level. But yes, if you are listening seriously (focusing) on the music the compression then sounds flat and pretty ordinary. Notice mainly on a lot of pop music radio stations.
Paul, any chance you can broadcast your Octave Radio such that Roon picks it up as a radio station? What I listen to I like, but rarely have a browser open for music streaming
Hi Paul, thank you. Often in audio reviews we can find phrases like English sound, Italian, American one. I would like to know what you think about this - is there any sense in this or is this banal gimmicks for amateurs. Thanks. Igor
SiriusXM radio is a good example of a highly compressed format. I find listening to it intolerable, even in the high backround noise enviroment of a car. Perhaps they found this necessary in order to "fit" a large number of stations into a given bandwith, but to the extent compression is used, its not a good thing.
@@Paulmcgowanpsaudio Oh man that was my worry, that it was either something prohibitively custom, or generally unobtainable. I see it's probably both, damn, but at least my in-vane Google searches make sense now. Thanks!
Thanks Paul for Octave Radio but most of the time I listen to it in my car through bluetooth by connecting my phone. As such I can only see the website address on the car media screen and I cannot tell which song is getting played (for me to buy later). This is in contrast to the apple app which shows me the name of the artist and the song with each new song getting played. I don't know if others have addressed this problem but I cannot seem to work around finding the name of a song being played on Ocatve Radio and I cannot just go back to my phone to check the website because I'm driving ...... I personally recommend a solution to this problem as I would buy many more records from ocatve had I known the song or singer of certain songs while being played.......Thanks
In ye olde days of cassette and LP back in the early 1980s or so I had an RG Dynamics Pro-20 range expander. Really livened up some material but you had to take care not to get carried away with the settings or some breathing could result. Properly produced digital is so much better to listen to 🙂
Octave Radio obviously starts with a good, uncompressed source, namely Octave records, but what bit rate do you use to transmit it. I know most internet radio is fairly low, maybe 120 kbps, though Radio Paradise is noticeably better at around 330kbps.
Wow if you like radio paradise, try searching for High Online Radio, either their lounge, jazz or classical stations. It’s much more defined and cleaner. Lynn jazz is also very good. Both out of Europe. I don’t know if anybody else has heard of these stations.
Besides octave radio there is paradise radio They have multiple streams in different genres and bitrates also available as a flac stream All of it uncompressed and played as it should be However if the original master is higly comressed it will also appear on the station as such Nevertheless what they are playing is more compliant to what we want to hear
Someone has compared Octave Records vs Qobuz in order to evaluate sound quality of OR? I'm not sure OR sound better. PS: I know, we should use same tracks but is not possibile
It sounds good, but the issue is that you are recording music primarily for testing purposes. This niche is quite small, and it doesn't seem like you're doing anything to attract a broader audience. The music you play and record caters to an even smaller group than audiophiles. If you explore recording different genres, you could potentially attract new customers.
@0:18 "Thankfully, a non AI entity, by the name of Paul McGowan..." Barry, in Cape Town, South Africa: Some AI's will insist that they are not AI's. The best AI's make us believe that they are real -- and Paul is the best!
Tesla got rid of their free music streaming in December so I’ve been using RUclips in the car. It’s so compressed, it’s like listening through a straw.
Yeah, the basic RUclips is sub standard, but see if you can search for some of their well recorded live concerts. As if they are recorded right they can sound awesome much better than CD quality. Has anybody tried playing well recorded concerts on RUclips through a nice system and a big screen, it’s kinda like being there!
@ , I have a HiFi Rose streamer for my home system and it has high definition RoseTube. It’s a really neat feature that streams practically the same videos as RUclips but with MUCH better sound quality. The concerts are where it really shines.
@@brentcollins9727 yeah man, one of my favorite things is putting on these well recorded concerts on the system and big screen at night with a glass of whatever. I can get it cranked up to about 80 DB before the wife comes charging out of the bedroom with a hatchet!
Compressors:.. Yes, mostly agree. Used in the final stage, can kill the audiophile experience..... However, for guitar players ( Funk Players for example) they are a CRITICAL part of signal chain BEFORE the mixing console.. Country pickers ( Telecaster Masters) are the same..The compressor on the floor is an essential part of "That Sound" They don't just limit louds and boost softs...Choosing ones compressor is a never ending rabbit hole.
So Paul you've just openly admitted big time that Terry has a much better ear than you but yet you were the one that listens to components and speakers and gives them the okay? That's disappointing for PS audio fans.
@tedrubinstein2003 I'm 48...Paul is in his 70's. Put my ears against him all day. Looks like you aren't understanding where I'm coming from. If his wife has such fantastic ears....why would he be the one giving his seal of approval on components and speakers?
First time I've heard of Octave Radio. Just listened to it, EXCELLENT !!!
Octave Radio is no joke. It’s so good, you may never upgrade a system again. Shows up other source material as, well, crap. More than that, I wouldn’t actively seek out this type of content. Yet when I hear it, I love it!
I didn't know about Octave Radio, I knew about Octave Records but not the Radio station, I'll give it a listen. It also warms my heart when someone hifi has Raspberry Pis as some of the components, I use Pis for for my Volumio nodes using either USB DACs or DAC hats, and I also have a Pi NAS where I store all my flacs.
I use a Pi front ending my Denafrips Ares II DAC and its been a very stable platform. I do wonder what a dedicated streamer (like the Air Lens) could do and if I would even hear a difference.
@markdecker2112 I've never had the chance to try a high-end streamer like the PS Audio AirLens, but in my experience, a standard Raspberry Pi delivers comparable sound quality to a WiiM. One of the great advantages of using a Raspberry Pi is the flexibility it offers-you can find a wide range of parts and upgrades, including improved power supplies and re-clocking modules, to enhance its performance.
That said, by the time you’ve added all the extras, including a case for a polished finish, you could end up spending about a third of the cost of an AirLens. It’s an excellent option for those who enjoy tinkering and customizing their setup while still keeping the budget in check.
Another Capetonian here Paul, thanks for your service
Wonderful sound! If these are Octave artists could u pls include artist name along w the title so we can purchase their music?
Question is that you need to go from DSD to DXD to do any form of mixing or mastering as Paul has previously explained. So is it better to then stay with DXD or transform back to DSD which surely adds additional, unnecessary processing? So which version should I buy from Octave Records, the DSD or DXD?
Great explanation. Where compression becomes blatantly obvious is on the commercial break. All of a sudden it is shouting at you.
That's called higher gain. No different than when you're watching a show on TV and then the commercials come on. Has nothing to do with fidelity
@@ryanschipp8513 If I understand correctly I would not see it that way. Gain is volume. Compression is compression. One can be full fidelity at higher volume and the other can be reduced fidelity through lower dynamic range.
@@user-od9iz9cv1w since you used the word shouting I think anyone would decipher that you mean higher volume or louder than the program.
@@ryanschipp8513 It sounds like it is really loud and shouting. In reality they are restricted from making it much louder than the regular program so they use compression to make it sound really loud even though the dB may not be much higher.
I searched for (and found) Octave Radio on my internet tuner. I was very surprised to discover that it is an MP3 stream. Given your usual uncompromising stance on sound quality I was expecting, at the very least, CD quality. Am I missing something?
Never heard of Octave Radio? Have most of the Octave Records vinyl releases. Will have to try the "Radio".
Compression is ok for background music and keeping everything at the same level. But yes, if you are listening seriously (focusing) on the music the compression then sounds flat and pretty ordinary. Notice mainly on a lot of pop music radio stations.
Cape Town is a beautiful city. You should come for a visit.
Paul, any chance you can broadcast your Octave Radio such that Roon picks it up as a radio station? What I listen to I like, but rarely have a browser open for music streaming
Hi Paul, thank you. Often in audio reviews we can find phrases like English sound, Italian, American one. I would like to know what you think about this - is there any sense in this or is this banal gimmicks for amateurs. Thanks. Igor
SiriusXM radio is a good example of a highly compressed format. I find listening to it intolerable, even in the high backround noise enviroment of a car. Perhaps they found this necessary in order to "fit" a large number of stations into a given bandwith, but to the extent compression is used, its not a good thing.
Anyone know who makes the white audio rack holding the turntable and amps and such in the background on the right?
My son, Rob at Fin Art in Denver made that for us.
@@Paulmcgowanpsaudio Oh man that was my worry, that it was either something prohibitively custom, or generally unobtainable. I see it's probably both, damn, but at least my in-vane Google searches make sense now. Thanks!
Thanks Paul for Octave Radio but most of the time I listen to it in my car through bluetooth by connecting my phone. As such I can only see the website address on the car media screen and I cannot tell which song is getting played (for me to buy later). This is in contrast to the apple app which shows me the name of the artist and the song with each new song getting played. I don't know if others have addressed this problem but I cannot seem to work around finding the name of a song being played on Ocatve Radio and I cannot just go back to my phone to check the website because I'm driving ...... I personally recommend a solution to this problem as I would buy many more records from ocatve had I known the song or singer of certain songs while being played.......Thanks
In ye olde days of cassette and LP back in the early 1980s or so I had an RG Dynamics Pro-20 range expander. Really livened up some material but you had to take care not to get carried away with the settings or some breathing could result.
Properly produced digital is so much better to listen to 🙂
Octave Radio obviously starts with a good, uncompressed source, namely Octave records, but what bit rate do you use to transmit it. I know most internet radio is fairly low, maybe 120 kbps, though Radio Paradise is noticeably better at around 330kbps.
Wow if you like radio paradise, try searching for High Online Radio, either their lounge, jazz or classical stations. It’s much more defined and cleaner. Lynn jazz is also very good. Both out of Europe. I don’t know if anybody else has heard of these stations.
Besides octave radio there is paradise radio
They have multiple streams in different genres and bitrates also available as a flac stream
All of it uncompressed and played as it should be
However if the original master is higly comressed it will also appear on the station as such
Nevertheless what they are playing is more compliant to what we want to hear
If Paul says so, it's good.
Someone has compared Octave Records vs Qobuz in order to evaluate sound quality of OR? I'm not sure OR sound better.
PS: I know, we should use same tracks but is not possibile
I have on exactly the same tracks. OR is miles better! Only limitation is their somewhat limited but excellent catalogue.
@@daveuk1324 Hi, Dave, what are the tracks you compared?
It sounds good, but the issue is that you are recording music primarily for testing purposes. This niche is quite small, and it doesn't seem like you're doing anything to attract a broader audience. The music you play and record caters to an even smaller group than audiophiles. If you explore recording different genres, you could potentially attract new customers.
A compressor works good for talk radio.
@0:18 "Thankfully, a non AI entity, by the name of Paul McGowan..."
Barry, in Cape Town, South Africa:
Some AI's will insist that they are not AI's. The best AI's make us believe that they are real -- and Paul is the best!
I really like Octave radio, but I wish it were lossless. You could take a small subscription fee to cover the extra bandwidth.
Tesla got rid of their free music streaming in December so I’ve been using RUclips in the car. It’s so compressed, it’s like listening through a straw.
Yeah, the basic RUclips is sub standard, but see if you can search for some of their well recorded live concerts. As if they are recorded right they can sound awesome much better than CD quality.
Has anybody tried playing well recorded concerts on RUclips through a nice system and a big screen, it’s kinda like being there!
@ , I have a HiFi Rose streamer for my home system and it has high definition RoseTube. It’s a really neat feature that streams practically the same videos as RUclips but with MUCH better sound quality. The concerts are where it really shines.
@@brentcollins9727 yeah man, one of my favorite things is putting on these well recorded concerts on the system and big screen at night with a glass of whatever.
I can get it cranked up to about 80 DB before the wife comes charging out of the bedroom with a hatchet!
And it’s mp3😊
Compressors:.. Yes, mostly agree. Used in the final stage, can kill the audiophile experience..... However, for guitar players ( Funk Players for example) they are a CRITICAL part of signal chain BEFORE the mixing console.. Country pickers ( Telecaster Masters) are the same..The compressor on the floor is an essential part of "That Sound" They don't just limit louds and boost softs...Choosing ones compressor is a never ending rabbit hole.
So Paul you've just openly admitted big time that Terry has a much better ear than you but yet you were the one that listens to components and speakers and gives them the okay? That's disappointing for PS audio fans.
I’m sure Paul’s ears are way better than most of ours.
I imagine Terry just might listen every once in a while and give him her opinion😅
@tedrubinstein2003 I'm 48...Paul is in his 70's. Put my ears against him all day. Looks like you aren't understanding where I'm coming from. If his wife has such fantastic ears....why would he be the one giving his seal of approval on components and speakers?