Where can I get better copies of Quiet Please series other than the common 32kps files found on the internet?
When it comes to mp3s, it is my understanding that to maintain a reasonable degree of quality, a 128kps file is in most cases acceptable. But you can sacrifice and get away with going as low as 64kps to save some bandwith if your streaming audio but it's not a particularly desirable option.
But 32kps is almost as bad as it can get.
I emailed Radio Spirits, explaining that I was trying to find better copies than the ones commonly found on the internet, and since it was my understanding that it was they who owned the original tapes, I was surprised they did not list copies of the Quiet Please series available for sale, and wish to know how I might aquire the series on cd.
They replied as follows:
Dear Mr. Powers,
Thank you very much for your interest in Radio Spirits!
We do not currently carry this title. But, don't give up hope! I would recommend that you ask for some information from the good folks at the Old Time Radio Digest. They are a group of very knowledgeable OTR fans. Please find below a link to their site:
If you need further assistance please do not hesitate to call our customer service department at 203-265-8044.
Thank you,
Cheryl Radio Spirits Customer Service
I looked over their forum but did not join, it seems they specialize in only certain series, and Quiet Please is not one of them. I didn't see one mention of it in their "misc series section either, so I didn't bother.
Who has first hand knowledge on obtaining the entire series in better than these 32kps ones?
I've always found 32kbps perfect and 16kbps good enough for old radio drama, and 8kbps realaudio files were tolerable back in the day. 128kbps is for stereo music. I've never been able to hear the difference between a 32kbps and 128kbps mp3 of mono speech, but maybe somebody can.
Yes, I agree, for listening, --but as you know I'm trying to clean up some episodes, but one problem is (as you pointed out in another thread), doing so also takes away a little bit more of the quality sames as editing a jpg and saving it as a jpg again.. Each generation looses that much more data.
But lets say for example, we have two copies of the same episode, one was encoded at 32kps and the other at 128kps, and they both came from the same source.
If I edit the 128kps file and then resave it again to 128, it's going to loose some information, but will still be of higher quality than the untouched 32kps file.
OR.. If I take the edited 128kps file and downsample and save it to 32kps, it's still going to be at least equal, if not better in quality to the original untouched 32kps file.
That's why I want higher quality copies of Quite Please. Other than that, I'm with you, 32kps sounds fine.
The 32kps files may sound fine for listening to OTR programs, but it's already been stripped of a great deal of data, and leaves that much less data to work with for restoration attempts.
Most serious fans don’t like MP3s, Davis said, explaining they want either the original, analog media used to record the programs or high-quality Waveform Audio File Format (WAV) files — digital recordings, often of the original masters.
Most MP3 files in the collection are stored at the data transfer rate 32 kilobits per second (kbps) rather than the now standard 128 kbps. Davis said that’s because most OTR MP3 collections were created when dial-up modems were standard — the emphasis was on smaller files because download rates were so slow.
Now that broadband Internet connections are the norm, file sizes aren’t as much of a concern and larger, better-sounding files are becoming more common at the Internet Archive. One group that has made a high-quality set of Lum and Abner shows available through the Archive is the Pine Ridge Project — a group that mastered its collection at 128 kbps.
Davis said the MP3 files for most collections sound good even at 32 kbps.
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Comments on Where can I get better copies than 32kps??
reMember
Usergroup: Member
Joined: May 21, 2014
Location: Tybee Island GA
Total Topics: 45
Total Comments: 112
Where can I get better copies of Quiet Please series other than the common 32kps files found on the internet?
When it comes to mp3s, it is my understanding that to maintain a reasonable degree of quality, a 128kps file is in most cases acceptable.
But you can sacrifice and get away with going as low as 64kps to save some bandwith if your streaming audio but it's not a particularly desirable option.
But 32kps is almost as bad as it can get.
I emailed Radio Spirits, explaining that I was trying to find better copies than the ones commonly found on the internet, and since it was my understanding that it was they who owned the original tapes, I was surprised they did not list copies of the Quiet Please series available for sale, and wish to know how I might aquire the series on cd.
They replied as follows:
Dear Mr. Powers,
Thank you very much for your interest in Radio Spirits!
We do not currently carry this title. But, don't give up hope! I would
recommend that you ask for some information from the good folks at the
Old Time Radio Digest. They are a group of very knowledgeable OTR fans.
Please find below a link to their site:
http://lists.oldradio.net/otrdigest/
If you need further assistance please do not hesitate to call our
customer service department at 203-265-8044.
Thank you,
Cheryl
Radio Spirits Customer Service
I looked over their forum but did not join, it seems they specialize in only certain series, and Quiet Please is not one of them. I didn't see one mention of it in their "misc series section either, so I didn't bother.
Who has first hand knowledge on obtaining the entire series in better than these 32kps ones?
Senior Member
Usergroup: Webmaster
Joined: Dec 21, 2001
Location: Northern California
Total Topics: 38
Total Comments: 275
I've always found 32kbps perfect and 16kbps good enough for old radio drama, and 8kbps realaudio files were tolerable back in the day. 128kbps is for stereo music. I've never been able to hear the difference between a 32kbps and 128kbps mp3 of mono speech, but maybe somebody can.
reMember
Usergroup: Member
Joined: May 21, 2014
Location: Tybee Island GA
Total Topics: 45
Total Comments: 112
Yes, I agree, for listening, --but as you know I'm trying to clean up some episodes, but one problem is (as you pointed out in another thread), doing so also takes away a little bit more of the quality sames as editing a jpg and saving it as a jpg again..
Each generation looses that much more data.
But lets say for example, we have two copies of the same episode, one was encoded at 32kps and the other at 128kps, and they both came from the same source.
If I edit the 128kps file and then resave it again to 128, it's going to loose some information, but will still be of higher quality than the untouched 32kps file.
OR.. If I take the edited 128kps file and downsample and save it to 32kps, it's still going to be at least equal, if not better in quality to the original untouched 32kps file.
That's why I want higher quality copies of Quite Please.
Other than that, I'm with you, 32kps sounds fine.
The 32kps files may sound fine for listening to OTR programs, but it's already been stripped of a great deal of data, and leaves that much less data to work with for restoration attempts.
Just of note:
There's an interesting article concerning this at firstarkansasnews.net/2010/.../internet-archive-and-otr/
Most serious fans don’t like MP3s, Davis said, explaining they want either the original, analog media used to record the programs or high-quality Waveform Audio File Format (WAV) files — digital recordings, often of the original masters.
Most MP3 files in the collection are stored at the data transfer rate 32 kilobits per second (kbps) rather than the now standard 128 kbps. Davis said that’s because most OTR MP3 collections were created when dial-up modems were standard — the emphasis was on smaller files because download rates were so slow.
Now that broadband Internet connections are the norm, file sizes aren’t as much of a concern and larger, better-sounding files are becoming more common at the Internet Archive. One group that has made a high-quality set of Lum and Abner shows available through the Archive is the Pine Ridge Project — a group that mastered its collection at 128 kbps.
Davis said the MP3 files for most collections sound good even at 32 kbps.