• Songs
  • New Soundclick Limits
2018/11/10 17:22:47
bitflipper
OK, I don't know how "new" this feature is, but I just noticed it.
 
It always used to be annoying trying to squeeze an MP3 into the 10MB size limit on a free account. I'd usually have to experiment with encoding qualities to find the best bitrate that still came in under 10 MB, and long songs often had to be encoded at a noticeably poorer bitrate.
 
Plus they didn't used to support lossless formats. Because I only save FLACs to my portable player, that meant taking the extra step of creating an MP3 for SoundClick. Now you can upload FLAC, WAV, AIFF, AIF, AU and SND files to SoundClick. I can just shoot the FLAC up there and skip the MP3 step altogether. Even though the upload takes longer, that's mostly mitigated by skipping the "wait...encoding" stage.
 
Now, the size limit for MP3s on SoundClick has been upped to 25 MB, and to 100 MB for FLAC files. Yay!
 
Playback is still limited to 160 KB/s. However, the higher the quality you upload the less degradation there will be when they re-encode it to 160 KB/s for playback. Downloads are still limited to 160 KB/s on free accounts. Paid accounts allow downloads at full quality.
 
I just uploaded my first FLAC version and played it, back-to-back with the MP3 for comparison. As expected, the difference in quality is very subtle, but audible in the high frequencies and transients. 
2018/11/10 19:50:24
fwrend
Really enjoyed the song Bit! Mix was really good, even on my Surface Pro4 speakers. Nice to know about the Soundclick change!
2018/11/11 14:01:42
Grem
Listened on my phone speaker. I do understand that this is limited and not what I would normally use to make a judgement call. But just a heads up: I could hear all instruments clearly but the vocals did not stand out above the rest.

Shoegazer was a nice calming tune. No smoke needed! :)
2018/11/11 15:38:17
bitflipper
Thanks, Grem. I noticed that, too, listening to it on headphones last night.
 
It's a recent project, just "completed" a couple days ago. Note the quotes. For an amateur under no time constraints, a mix is only "done" once you've become bored with it! I'm sure this will see a few more iterations, probably after letting it sit for a month.
 
I am going to move this thread from Software over to the Songs forum, which is where I probably should have posted it to begin with. Maybe those folks will be more excited about 25 MB MP3s on SoundClick.
 
2018/11/11 16:05:58
ZincTrumpet
Thanks bit for the heads up re SoundClick and I also really enjoyed the song.
 
Sounded great on my monitors. Fantastic mix and the instruments were spot on. 
I also enjoyed the vocals although maybe slightly quiet in places as others have said.
I think I heard the OrangeTree Rick 12 but were there also some Indiginus guitars (Renegade and maybe Delta Blues)? If so then they ought to use your songs to demo their products.
 
{apologies in advance if you were playing real instruments by the way!}
 
2018/11/11 16:15:14
Wookiee
Thanks for the heads up Dave.  Nice mix here, though the vocals are bit to the back, everything else is present and correct. 
2018/11/11 16:17:10
emeraldsoul
It's a pleasure to hear one of your songs!
 
I liked all of your parts, and there are many, but by gum they all fit really well.
 
By gum?  :)
 
I liked the ritandarinios here and there. I bet the Ned Flanders band does, too.
 
At 3:00 that slide guitar stuff really caught my attention in a good way. Loved it.
 
Vocals? If I had your voice (butter smooth yet rawk) I'd sure push it louder in the mix. You have obviously gone to a great deal of effort with its processing, sounds great! Louder vocals make a song more memorable and personal. Right now, after listening to it, I'm remembering the guitars.
 
Which were excellent.
 
Soundclick, huh? I appreciated your info on their changes. Soundclick seems to lack any social commentary/feedback ecosystem a la Soundcloud. For better or worse.
 
If I pay for a Soundclick membership, does it wipe out the banner ads for those Fresh East Coast Beatz? 'cause I like my stale West Coast beats just fine, thank you, but to each their own.
 
Great tune, Bit.
 
-Tom
2018/11/11 19:03:55
Johnbee58
Nice production and mix, Bit, but I do agree the vocals need a boost.
 
John B.
2018/11/11 21:38:02
bjornpdx
Very epic sound to this. Professional production too.  Really liked the guitars and I have the same comment as above on the vocal.
I was expecting the vocal to come back in near the end but that's just me.
2018/11/11 23:09:42
bitflipper
Yeh, I have a bad habit of just drifting out to sea at the ends of songs and never circling back to the original theme. But hey, life is an evolving jam session and half the fun is not knowing where it's gonna take you next.
 
I will definitely trust the consensus and pull up the vocals. Thanks to everyone for the advice.
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