Soundcloud

[Dave Rose]

Anyone using a Soundcloud Drop Box out there? Thoughts, upload/download speeds, efficiency? I'm using Sendspace at the moment, which is cheaper, but liking the interface on Soundcloud more.

[csl]

The problem I've found with receiving tracks via SC is that you often don't have a lot of info to follow up on -- no email addresses etc. A little too anonymous for my liking, especially when it comes to chasing up payment.

I find the usual delivery services like Yousendit etc. much better suited for mix/master delivery, and SC works best when the music is intended to stay on SC.

[macc]

It's proved useful - so long as there is a line of communication so you can make the connection between the file and the artist (as the above poster mentions).

[Dave Rose]

Sounds like they need to have an option to include that kind of information as it is apparently marketed at 'audio professionals'

[aof21]

there has also been a lot of downtime on the site recently. I really like the site, but I'm reluctant to pay for the Pro service because I see how much it's been down / slow recently.

[Lagerfeldt]

Dropbox - Home - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.

[loji]

OnAir Mastering in Brooklyn uses Soundcloud. You could drop a line to Julian and ask how he's liking it.

[OnlineMastering]

Originally Posted by SafeandSound

I have yet to find anything that has the speed and immediacy of the
Yousendit desktop upload application.

cheers

Yousendit Express Mac desktop application is fast, good and affordable!
Probably the same on a PC.

[Silver Sonya]

Love Soundcloud! I have a "PRO MAX" account for unlimited exchanges.

Incredibly stylish and easy to use. And they're refining the site constantly. I like it. Use it all the time for sending private tracks back and forth to clients and also collaborators in far away places.

Legitimate criticism: I do think it's very expensive for most people and that they should lower their prices significantly.

I just put up my first public track. It's a track from a theater score that Beauty Pill is working on. Free to listen/download/share. We've never scored anything before, we're figuring it out as we go along.

Work in progress. Enjoy!

- c

[Bourbaki]

can anyone tell me a site where I upload large wav files for free? Most places have a limit of 100Mb which is too small. I need to be able to upload about 650mb.

[leftright]

Agree with Holder.. Getdropbox.com is simply and powerful tool for collaborations!

Use it and like it

SoundCloud also amazing... especially to let hear to the customer the mastered work before let it be downloadable (before payment for ex. )

[Lagerfeldt]

Originally Posted by leftright

SoundCloud also amazing... especially to let hear to the customer the mastered work before let it be downloadable (before payment for ex. )

Except that Soundcloud streaming (which I believe uses Flash) adds distortion to the sound. Try testing Soundcloud with a pure sine.

[Dave Rose]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

Except that Soundcloud streaming (which I believe uses Flash) adds distortion to the sound. Try testing Soundcloud with a pure sine.

This is a bit worrying. Do many flash audio players add distortion? I was thinking of getting a friend to build me something which allows you to flick seamlessly between before and after examples on my website.

Do you know of any good players which can play 16 Bit wav and don't add distortion?

[Lagerfeldt]

I think the streaming quality is the issue, so it doesn't have to be a general issue with Flash.

[Dave Rose]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

I think the streaming quality is the issue, so it doesn't have to be a general issue with Flash.

Was it a kind of glitchy distortion due to streaming speeds, or a constant distortion to the overall sound?

[leftright]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

Except that Soundcloud streaming (which I believe uses Flash) adds distortion to the sound. Try testing Soundcloud with a pure sine.

In fact :/

[Lagerfeldt]

Originally Posted by Dave Rose

Was it a kind of glitchy distortion due to streaming speeds, or a constant distortion to the overall sound?

Constant distortion, maybe some kind of modulation noise too.

[Silver Sonya]

No mastering studio should be sharing references before getting paid.

[jdg]

not at the studio, but here is a 200hz sine tone to test it out.

jdg - TestTone 200 Hz, -10.00 dB, 10 sec - SoundCloud

[Silver Sonya]

By coincidence, today Soundcloud just announced a major update, lower fees and lots of new features.

Also, they have an iPhone app now.

I'm impressed Apple didn't block them (with the potential competition with iTunes), but the app stresses that the site is mainly used by professionals for professionals.

- c

[Ecktronic]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

Except that Soundcloud streaming (which I believe uses Flash) adds distortion to the sound. Try testing Soundcloud with a pure sine.

Yeah Soundcloud mp3 streaming is terrible.
It sounds like it converts mp3s to 96k!

Sounds nasty.

[Lagerfeldt]

I only tested Soundcloud at home on the internal speakers of an iMac, where the distortion was quite apparent.

I have no idea what's actually happening to the streamed sound, it could be much worse than that.

[miro]

did you guys notice how weird waveforms look like sometimes? often looks like real "waves" (horizontal "S" shapes) like if all tracks had some strong panning modulation effects on them...

[Shy]

I have no need for a service like that when I have a normal hosting account at a reliable hosting company with high uptime and I can use FTP and whatever php script I want to upload/download files.

[807Recordings]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

I only tested Soundcloud at home on the internal speakers of an iMac, where the distortion was quite apparent.

I have no idea what's actually happening to the streamed sound, it could be much worse than that.

Maybe part of the whole 192kbs MP3 encoder they use. At least that is what I believe I read (was tired). I notice it sort of seems to clip some stuff. Even when I hit max peaks at -3dB.

[Lagerfeldt]

I don't get how you can make a business or website named "Soundcloud" and the streaming quality sucks.

Makes no sense to me.

[LNerell]

Maybe they were going to call themselves "Soundclear" but then they changed their name after they heard the quality of their streaming software.

[oudplayer]

Originally Posted by LNerell

Maybe they were going to call themselves "Soundclear" but then they changed their name after they heard the quality of their streaming software.

By that logic, myspace should be called "SoundsFromTheSeventhLevelOfHell" instead...

[aleatoric]

Originally Posted by SafeandSound

I have yet to find anything that has the speed and immediacy of the
Yousendit desktop upload application.

cheers

Cool! Thanks for the heads up. I have been using sendspace but just downloaded the yousendit app. Upload speeds seem way quicker and its more convenient than having to open up your web browser to send a file.

[Lagerfeldt]

Originally Posted by LNerell

Maybe they were going to call themselves "Soundclear" but then they changed their name after they heard the quality of their streaming software.

Haha