Something to chat about
La Cieca’s chat returns Monday night to welcome in the new Met season. Topic of discussion: the evening’s prima of the new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, as broadcast on SIRIUS Internet Radio. Please check back on this site after 5:00 pm Monday for a link to the room, which will open at 6:15 pm for the 6:30 start of the opening night performance.
Note that any of you who do not have a current subscription to Sirius can get a trial 3-day pass in time for the Opening Night chat. The event is also broadcast on RealNetworks.
Are any of you cher public attending this Lucia at one of the outdoor simulcasts? If you are, why not bring a laptop along and chat along with the rest of us? It’s easy, now that the Lincoln Center plaza has WiFi!
Popp Fanatic,
When you get Sirius on your PC, your get “Primium” automatically. No other choice is offered, and the quality of sound is excellent.
I have no idea about recording, or if you can download the broadcast on your harddrive. If you have already the Sirius radio, then there is a $3 charge per momth for upgrading.
I’m with Taminosboyfriend. I took a gamble and signed up with Sirius for a year plus I bought a Sirius receiver. This way I can tape the broadcasts without mp3 compression, etc. The main problem is that they are broadcasting many old performances and I’m now accumulating piles and piles of CDs of historic value but I wonder how many I’ll ever get to listen again. Scheduling becomes a chore.
Actually, Sirius Internet subscribers have the option between Standard and Premium quality. If you clear your cookies, it defaults back to Standard (I learned the hard way) -so be careful before capturing a broadcast.
Also, make sure you have a pop-up blocker on, or your connection will be cut off after 90 minutes (that applies to subscribers too).
The beta release of the latest Audacity incarnation is programmable like an old-school VCR (that is, only one scheduling job – but what an improvement over previous versions).
During capture, it is best to leave the computer alone; try not to launch applications or navigate the web because of the risk of dropouts.
My on line connection to Sirius stays always on “Premium” sound- “Premium” is always highlighted-even after deleting cookies.
just cancelled my sirius subscription … they stream at 128k for the premium which DOES cost extra but the signal is full of static and dropouts..also the waveform looks like a crew cut…NO dynamic range at all…customer service could care less…better to get the analogue signal via dish network…more reliable…the RealNetworks stream is 96K but MUCH more reliable than Sirius i.e. fewer dropouts and no ‘ticks’… problem not with my computer can get many other streams with no problems seems sirius doesn’t have enough bandwidth to support all their channels..noe maybe if we all called sirius to ask for 256k or higher for the MET channel….I’ve already written to Peter gelb last year
ITDG-
If you’re worried about fidning the time to listen to them, why not send them to me and I’ll listen to them for you!
PAC,
I’m curious, were you listening Sirius on a radio or on your PC? I just finished listening to Romeo and Julliette on my PC. The sound, as always, was fantastic and full with no drops or interruptions. With two speakers and a subwoofer I get digital surround sound, like when I play my CDs on my harddrive. My PC is a digital HP Media Center, and maybe that has something to do with the quality of sound. On my screen, the sign “Premium” sound is always highlighted.
Constantine…Thank you for your reply…I have a custom built computer especially geared for music with audioengine5 self powered monitor speakers (fantastic!) and an extremely fast cable modem …the digital signal is also streamed via rg6 quad shielded cable to my main 9.1 surround system with legacy audio signature IIIs (modified ribbon tweeters and all the latest upgrades) as the main front channels…a 128k stream Constantine is about 15% of the bandwidth found on a commercial cd…yup 15%!!!!!.. check out MusicGiants.com for a good review of this..BUT the sound via sirius for opera is hideous..I have 1/2 track reels from the 50′s that sound incrdible compared to the stream on sirius…sorry to be so long winded and appreciate your reply..please let me know if you’d like any further info thanks Paul
PAC,
Thanks for your response. I’m not an electronics experts, but still I don’t undestand why I get such a fantastic sound out of Sirius on my standard PC and you cannot on your custom-built system. The sound on my PC is almost as good as it is on my component-built McIntosh audio system.