When I talk about Octave Records, I usually bring up how we record at some of the highest bit depths and sample rates in the world. We don’t compress the music. We avoid the loudness wars. We obsess over microphone placement, analog stages, DSD—you name it. All in the name of getting closer to the musical truth.
So naturally, when someone finds out that Octave Radio—our 24/7 stream of Octave music—is delivered as an MP3, they do a bit of a head scratch. “Hang on a second. I thought you said you don’t compress your music?”
And that’s a fair question. Because yes, Octave Radio is indeed compressed. But—and this is the important part—it’s data compressed, not audio compressed. There’s a huge difference.
The surprising thing? When you tune in to Octave Radio, it sounds…incredible. Not "good for an MP3 stream"—just plain good. Musical. Spacious. Natural. And that’s because of how we handle compression—and what kind of compression we use.
If you're curious, have a listen for yourself:
https://octaverecords.out.airtime.pro/octaverecords_a
In the next two posts, I’ll explain what the difference is between data compression and audio compression. One of them is surprisingly benign. The other is the reason most internet radio sounds like audio wallpaper.
It’s not just about whether the music is compressed.
It’s what kind of compression we’re talking about.
