Player's documentation states that you need at least a 66 MHz or better to use Sound VQ

Estimates:
11 kHz mono -- 33 MHz or better
             stereo -- 33 MHz or better
22 kHz mono -- 66 MHz DX2
             stereo -- 132 MHz DX4 or Pentium 90 MHz
44 kHz mono -- 132 MHz DX4 or Pentium 90 MHz
             stereo --Pentium 120+ MHz


 

Software Needed for test formats Where to download Software
Mp3 player (for the mp3 files) Audioactive 
Winamp
Netshow (will give you the msn codec and many others Netshow Player 
Realmedia Player (for the realaudio) Real Player
For the tests I will compare the top 4 (In my impression) streamable formats available at this time, Real Audio, Mpeg layer 3, MSN audio, and Twin VQ.  I will compare audio quality for streaming over 14.4, 28.8, 33.6, 56 kbs modems and format's best quality; encoding time; processor requirements; and characteristics of each format.  Most will be in mono because this allows for the highest sample rate which sounds better than a sample at half the sample rate at stereo.

--When using a sample for streaming, you generally leave a little bandwith free so it can stream better in traffic areas and when people want to browse while they listen.  Since some of these samples can only be streamed at the modem's top speed, they are not recommended to be used when using the format for streaming.  You will have to cut back on the data rate of some of them so you have that free bandwith and that would result in a slight loss of quality.  

--I only list all FREE formats (where apply)

--All samples are from the same song, so comparing quality should be very easy.

Key:
+--recommended format to use when streaming the audio sample
(x)--x=number of formats between or at the rates specified
*****=no new formats gained from the previous data rate to the new data rate
Real Audio 3.0-5.0
Mpeg Layer 3
MSN audio
Twin VQ
Requirements--> Available rates; Test sample of best rate over given modem speed; Best rate Requires: Real Audio player 5.0 Requires: a mp3 player such as Audioactive Requires: MSN Audio Codec from Microsoft Netshow player Requires: Yamaha's Sound VQ player
14.4 kbs 5, 6.5, 8, 8.5, 12 kbs 8 (3) kbs 8.2-13.782 (13) kbs 8, 10, 12 kbs
Test sample 12 kbs mono 8 kbs mono 13.782 kbs mono 12 kbs mono
28.8 kbs 15.2, 16 (4), 20 kbs 16 (4), 18 (6), 20 (6), 24 (6) kbs 14.609-27.563 (9) kbs 16, 20 (2), 24 kbs
Test sample +16 kbs mono 
20 kbs stereo		 24 kbs mono 
24 kbs stereo 
+20 kbs mono		 27.563 kbs mono 
+17.916 kbs mon		 24 kbs mono 
20 kbs stereo 
+20 kbs mono
33.6 kbs 32 (2) kbs 32 (7) kbs 29.217-35.832 (5) kbs *****
Test sample +32 kbs mono 
32 kbs stereo		 +32 kbs mono 
32 kbs stereo		 35.832 kbs mono 
+30.870 kbs mon		 +24 kbs mono 
20 kbs stereo
56 kbs 40 (2) kbs 48 (3), 56 (3) kbs 45.203-55.125 (4) kbs 40 (2), 48 (2) kbs
Test sample +40 kbs mono 
40 kbs stereo		 56 kbs mono 
56 kbs stereo 
+48 kbs stereo		 55.125 kbs mono 
+35.832 kbs mon		 48 kbs mono 
+48 kbs stereo
+56 kbs/Highest Rate 80 (2) kbs 112 (2) kbs 58.433-71.663 (5) kbs 80, 96 kbs
Test sample 80 kbs mono 
+80 kbs stereo		 +112 kbs stereo +71.663 kbs mon +96 kbs stereo
Characteristics Widely used, can incorporate video, streams very well, requires the highest amount of processing power out of the group to play, very good low bit rate voice formats: 5, 6.5 kbs voice (no other format can do that) Better quality than RA at same rates, Not quite as widely used as RA but gaining popularity, some of the low rates available are worthless do to poor quality (8kbs) Very flexible in data rate, sound quality is comparible to RA, not widely used to stream audio, only compressible in mono, a good format to use with video/audio streams because of its flexible data rate and low processer usage for decompression, quickest compression too. Not widely used, best sound quality out of this group, highest compression ratios out of this group, requires the 2nd highest amount of processing power out of this group to decompress, talkes the longest time to compress.

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