# YouTube quality?



## BillT (Nov 3, 2013)

In response to seeing so many YouTube videos posted on these pages, I got the appropriate wiring to connect my laptop (Dell Studio 16) to my hifi. It sounds awful. (Well, it does sound better than the speakers on my laptop.)

What quality should one expect from YouTube?

Thanks,

Bill


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

IMO, you'll get much better sound quality with almost any PC-type computer with an outboard DAC. Most PC computers (perhaps not Apples) have really lousy sound otherwise. Very cheap to add, just plug into a USB port.

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCA...8&qid=1386107769&sr=8-3&keywords=external+DAC

As for YouTube, audio quality obviously varies. Well-recorded clips sound quite good on my computer (with that DAC) though I doubt the bit rate would impress somebody more fussy than I am!


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Well, usually, on Youtube videos, the dynamic range is not great. Loud is not loud and soft is not soft. So maybe it will give bad results on hifi systems.


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## BillT (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks! I'll try the DAC.


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## BillT (Nov 3, 2013)

KenOC said:


> IMO, you'll get much better sound quality with almost any PC-type computer with an outboard DAC. Most PC computers (perhaps not Apples) have really lousy sound otherwise. Very cheap to add, just plug into a USB port.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCA...8&qid=1386107769&sr=8-3&keywords=external+DAC
> 
> As for YouTube, audio quality obviously varies. Well-recorded clips sound quite good on my computer (with that DAC) though I doubt the bit rate would impress somebody more fussy than I am!


WOW! Ken, that DAC worked GREAT ! I can now listen to YouTube with sound satisfaction! Here we gooooo.....I'll be back to the world in a few days!!

- Bill


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## Copperears (Nov 10, 2013)

I'm increasingly finding it's better to listen to music on YouTube in terms of quality than anywhere else; the corporations still trying to sell music (Universal Music Group being the worst offender) are contaminating the sound so horribly with their very audible "watermarking" that you'll actually get better sound quality on YouTube.

Plus it's just the price of an Internet connection, so far.  Until Google starts to get greedy, too.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

BillT said:


> WOW! Ken, that DAC worked GREAT ! I can now listen to YouTube with sound satisfaction! Here we gooooo.....I'll be back to the world in a few days!!
> 
> - Bill


Glad it worked for you!


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

You can choose the bitrate on youtube. Dunno if that is possible for all clips and the uploaded material needs to be of good quality obviously.
For me 320 sounds fine and doesn't cause too much slowing down in the buffering.

Cheers,
Jos


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Flash video can encode audio at a variety of levels of quality, and can even use uncompressed audio, but the person making the video has to set these options manually. Unless that person specifically chose to maximize audio quality at the expense of file size/loading speed, you won't get good sound from a Flash video, at least not compared to the other options we have at our disposal for listening.
I like Youtube as a way to get a sense of what a piece sounds like, but try to avoid listening to it for pleasure.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I don't know if I'm going deaf or what, but I find that with a lot of YT videos the sound is so soft as to be virtually inaudible, and this can be a major irritation. Still, YT remains a very convenient source of free music.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

YT volume sounds normal to me. Remember that you have at least two volume controls -- one in your system tray (on a PC) and the other on the YT video itself.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

KenOC said:


> YT volume sounds normal to me. Remember that you have at least two volume controls -- one in your system tray (on a PC) and the other on the YT video itself.


Even when I turn up both to maximum, lots of YT videos remain so soft that I cannot make sense of the music. Perhaps I am following in the footsteps of Ludwig.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

brianvds said:


> Even when I turn up both to maximum, lots of YT videos remain so soft that I cannot make sense of the music. Perhaps I am following in the footsteps of Ludwig.


You need the assistance of a specialist. You *do* have insurance for this, right?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

KenOC said:


> You need the assistance of a specialist. You *do* have insurance for this, right?


Alas, I have never in my life been able to afford any kind of insurance. But if I go deaf, while I will miss my music, at least I won't have to hear the frickin' cell phone anymore. 

Edit: Upon experimentation, I think it is just my system. I experience the problem when listening with headphones. When I put the music up on speakers, the problem disappears.


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