Hear the Difference
DVD Audio Quality
JackTrip uses uncompressed, 48 kHz, 16-bit audio. Skype and Zoom, in order to provide reliable audio over the toughest of network conditions, use compressed audio at a much lower bit rate. This compression reduces sound quality enough that musicians prefer to go with uncompressed audio.
Listen to the 48 kHz 16-bit uncompressed audio sample below, and compare it to the same audio sample sent over zoom, skype, and JackTrip. It’s important to listen over headphones or through a good pair of monitor speakers, so you can get a feel for just how different the audio quality is with JackTrip.
Low Latency
Even more challenging for musicians is the very problematic side effect of latency when audio compression is applied. While crucial for sending audio over poor network conditions, compression adds additional delay between musicians, and this delay can be long enough that players cannot stay in sync with one another.
Scroll down to see the latency comparisons between the uncompressed audio from JackTrip, and the compressed audio of Zoom and Skype. The waveforms show the amount of extra time it took for the same audio sample, sent in parallel across the three different methods, to arrive via Zoom and Skype after arriving from JackTrip.
See if JackTrip is the Right Solution for You
Unlike Skype and Zoom, JackTrip doesn’t tolerate slow or jittery networks, especially wireless networks. Before you opt for a subscription to one of our JackTrip servers, you’ll want to perform a network test to your nearest server. If your results are good, we then strongly recommend you perform a second test with one of our two-user test server subscriptions. Using one of these minimum-cost servers, you’ll be able to verify if your network is capable of supporting 48 kHz, 16-bit internet audio and that your distance from the server is within the limits of audio latency that you require. Your partner musicians should also test with this same server, to make sure they also have proper network connectivity and sufficiently low latency.
Once your tests indicate that your own latency and quality results are sufficient as well as tests to the same server with your partner musicians, this would be a green signal to sign up for a server that supports either 2 musicians at a time (good for teachers), or up to 4 musicians at a time (good for small bands). If you need a server subscription that requires 5 or more simultaneous users, please contact us.
Audio Quality Comparisons
(Listen through your headphones or good quality studio monitor speakers)
These large audio files may take time to load.
Once the waveform images appear below, click the play buttons to listen.
JackTrip Latency Compared to a Video Call
JackTrip Audio arrives compared to audio on a Zoom call.
For these tests, the audio was sent in parallel across both a Zoom call
and through a JackTrip server in the San Francisco Bay Area.
