If you are one of the tens of thousands of people who listen to RNZ’s radio stations live on the internet each week, you can now hear us better.
What RNZ listeners look like if you only use stock photos. Photo: PD Pixabay
New technology has substantially increased the sound quality on the live feeds of our radio stations when you listen via the RNZ website and apps.
Listen Live to hear the difference by clicking on the station of your choice: RNZ National, RNZ Concert, RNZ Pacific, and the New Zealand Parliament live stream, when the House is sitting.
Behind the scenes
This week we switched on new internet audio streaming encoders.
This software is better at converting the sound that comes out of our broadcast studios into the MP3 and AAC audio formats we offer for website listening.
It’s similar to the old system, but with algorithms which are 15 years newer and better.
The resulting audio has far fewer noticeable artifacts - errors - which can sound like glitches, ‘bubbling’, or dropouts.
We’ve now retired the 13-year-old PC that has provided RNZ’s streams since we first started offering this service.
The new encoders are running on virtual machines in both Wellington and Auckland, meaning RNZ’s streams are much better protected against things going *bang* in the middle of the night.
IT staff are already sleeping better, and there are further sound improvements to come.
Click here to find out about all the ways you can listen to RNZ's radio stations
Happy listening!
From the RNZ technology team.
What the old computer might have looked like, and what the new rack does look like. Photo: PD / RNZ
