We always try to do these things late at night when the minimum number of listeners will be affected. In this case, though, we had to take both our Flash servers offline for about 10 minutes to install new versions of our Flash server and our Flash player software. If you are reading this after the fact, there's nothing to do except enjoy the improved performance.
This is an important maintenance upgrade with the following improvements:
AAC compatibility
We're re-encoding our entire archive of programs and albums in the newer, higher quality AAC+ format. We've begun with the most recent programs first. The 800 and 700 series are online now; the 600 series is being uploaded. The rest of the archive will be re-encoded and brought online over the coming weeks. (We'll post notices here.) You will hear a better stereo image, and much more natural resolution of solo instruments and subtle sounds. The difference for our remaining dialup users will be huge.
Fewer stream interruptions
We've improved our code so that streams won't be interrupted unless your internet connection actually drops out. This is one of many improvements to streaming stability that we're working on. We hate it when HOS stops!
Prepaid minutes are smarter
Prepaid minutes are now compatible with other Access Plans and may be combined with This Week's Show or Radio Channel subscriptions.
:: SH
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