Can't Download: The Infinite Monkey Cage: Series 13 - Invisible

[James Scholes]

Vangelis forthnet wrote:
> The version marked as "other" looks as if
> it's identical to "original", judging purely by
> estimated duration, however separate streams
> do exist for both of them with slightly different
> file sizes for the same radiomode...

Programmes uploaded to the iPlayer before they've aired on radio are
usually designated the version "Other".  In this case, it looks like the
broadcast version has the right start and end times, but often, if you
find that your radio downloads have extra content at the start or
beginning, the "Other" version won't have such a problem because it was
never actually aired on the radio.  And of course, if you want to use
GiP to download something seven days earlier than it is broadcast,
version "Other" it has to be.

I would argue (and this is purely subjective mind you) that not having
gone through the standard broadcast chain, "Other" versions might have
cleaner audio than broadcast ones, or at the least, they're probably the
closest we'll get to unprocessed audio from the BBC.  I downloaded
Tumanbay every Wednesday seven days in advance, and the "Other" versions
are definitely quieter than the broadcast ones.  Not that quieter
necessarily means better, and generally I have no complaints about the
iPlayer's audio quality.  But if you want the best possible results,
downloading pre-broadcast content might be good for you.
-- 
James Scholes
http://twitter.com/JamesScholes