 Send questions, suggestions and online music events info to kilgore@infi.net |
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What you need to Listen to music events:
A Pentium PC (or PowerMac Equivalent) Last time I checked, streaming audio sounded like crap Ahh, not anymore, kemosabe. True, in the not so distant past, streaming web audio made two dixie cups and a string sound cutting edge, but all that has changed. Last fall, Progressive Networks, Audioactive and Shockwave stood the Internet on its ear by delivering streaming stereo sound at 28.8, and near-CD quality audio at ISDN and above. But I have RealAudio 3.0 and it still sounds like crap If you're listening to the broadcasts without external speakers then -- hmm, how can I put this delicately -- DUHH. Of course the show sounds bad through a 2" tweeter. You can pick up a nice pair of multimedia speakers for less than $50 or a set of speakers with subwoofers for about $100. But if your pockets aren't that deep, what I reccommend is a decent pair of headphones ($10 or more). With heaphones, even some 28.8 mono concerts will sound pretty good. Don't want to buy headphones either? (cheap bastard) O.K., there's one last option: Run a line from your computer and into your stereo input jacks and - voila! You're getting an Internet broadcast on your stereo, which, in most cases, happens to have an equalizer and a handy record button (but you didn't here that from me). Tech-guru types may pooh-pooh this MacGyvered approach, but I haven't had a problem with it. O.K. I've got all the hardware, I'm at Live Online, now what? Now all you do is check out our calendar and pick whatever floats your boat. Pictures, reviews of the bands, and often sound clips, are listed. And you'll find links to the software you'll need for the broadcasts. Live Online is fairly intuitive and easy to navigate, but according to some of the e-mail I get, ("When is Pat Boone playing Cleveland?" or "Where's a good club for me to belly dance"), I might need to further explain how it works. Here goes: 1. Live Online is a guide to events that take place on the web. I don't have any idea what bands may be doing in the real world, but sites such as Pollstar are good places to find out. 2. For the most part, files of webcast concerts, live or otherwise, aren't actually served by Live Online. We did mirror Second Coming's web site for the recent U2 press conference, but usually, Live Online is merely a conduit, a vessel if you will, through which the musically faithful are led into the kindom of melodious manna. So if you experience technical problems with a broadcast, for quick results its best to address them to the site hosting the event. |