Cumulus stations on IHeartRadio are a mess!

[nitnitr]

I personally don't think he-aac v1 or v2 ever sound good. Version 2 in particular is designed primarily for uses at 48kbps and less, and honestly good sound quality is never achieved with such a low bitrate. Parametric stereo just sounds so... fake.

I disagree. I think he-aac sounds better than a mp3 stream, and certainly at a lower bit rate, even if you think it sounds fake. Even at 48K, aac sounds as good as 128k mp3. My opinion, and your mileage may vary. It might be a little brighter, but overall matches up well. Remember, most people on Internet radio are listening with crummy speakers at their offices too.

Though I am an advocate for the best possible sound, regardless of codecs, I still think aac has a place, though I don't stream with it personally.

The issue with aac is not everybody can use it, on some smart phones and some tablets too.

Obviously, Winamp will work with most aac streams, but even some of the older phones and tablets, and I'm talking only a year ago, won't work with aac, Winamp or otherwise. This will change in time.

[Casey]

I don't mean to say HE-AAC sounds bad, it just doesn't sound good. It definitely sounds better than MP3 at equivalent bitrates. But services like AccuRadio still don't sound good. 128k MP3 can sound both decent and poor. I think too many people stream at it thinking it will sound "near CD" but never notice that it doesn't. I think one of the biggest problems is low quality source files. 181.fm had some of the greatest sounding 128k mp3 streams I have heard. I am assuming they still do, but I no longer listen to them much.

It does all come down to personal preference. I do most of my listening using headphones and honestly anything below 192k mp3 annoys me. Even my Rhapsody subscription tracks at 160k wma are too low without using something like BBE MP. But then again I know people who can listen to 32k mp3 over their computer speakers and not notice the lack of sound quality. I still listen to lower bitrates. I listen to plenty of streams at 64k mp3 or equivalent.

I wish more media players would use BBE MP or similar technology. It really can help improve sound quality or at least give the impression of helping. One of the few technologies I have actually like, but I have not found a media player capable of using it for internet streams.

[nitnitr]

I think one of the biggest problems is low quality source files.

This is a more likely crux of the issue. If the source file is crummy, say a 128k mp3 file, then yes, the sound on aac, mp3 or WMA will sound crummy on decent speakers, though may still sound fine on the standard computer speakers.

I'll be honest, I have some mp3 files (though at 192K or better) that don't sound anywhere as good as the more recent WAV files (last year or two for me-as I upgraded my drives for the capacity). M4A files sound better than mp3 at any bit rate, or even WMA. My opinion, and your mileage may vary. I even encode with some music to an FLAC file, which sounds almost as good as a WAV file. Source does matter is what I am saying.

When I first started my station, I ran only a 24K aac+ stream. It sounded good, but as mentioned, some people look at 128k mp3 to be the standard (or above). A 64K aac+ stream sounds good, and at 96K, is every bit as good as a 128K mp3 stream. I still think that aac+ sounds a bit bright overall, and I know the codecs, so realize the issue.

If you use decent headphones, you will hear the difference. Most Internet radio users just use crummy speakers at the office to listen, so at this time, may not be an issue for anyone but the audiophiles like you and me (and any others). This will change over time, and Internet radio operators will need to make the necessary adjustments.

I like aac+, but will not encode to it, until/unless it becomes universal, which it isn't now.

[XCountry285]

They don't even have the Cumulus stations for the Hudson Valley in there!

[Kent]

The ex-Citadel stations were the first to go on iHeartRadio because they were already on StreamTheWorld.com/Triton.  Cumulus did the rest of its streaming in house, and it needs to convert them to a format iHeartRadio can use.  My understanding is that the Cumulus stations are in the process of being migrated to Triton.  I don't know when they'll get all of them there.  Also, if they don't go to Triton all-at-once, they could either move to iHeartRadio gradually or at the same. 

As for the stations sounding like a mess, I haven't heard what I'd call a "mess," but they don't sound as good as the Clear Channel and Greater Media stations, at least not to my ears.