New York, NY - Verizon - Page 26

You can transfer the format of the file, but the sound won't be better than what you started with. You will just have a bigger file. I don't know anything about adjustability of the AAC compression algorithm. I do know that mp3 compression can be adjusted from practically mud to practically lossless.

As I said, I'm new to this. I'll do a test with a CD play back compared to the other options (Mp3, AAC and Lossless) and see if I hear any discernible nuances. I'm not one of those who claim to hear the differences between various components but I know what I like.

As a guideline or point of reference to my hearing, personally, I dislike my Sirius satellite's compressed sound. I prefer CD's in my car compared to Sirius but I still enjoy the benefits and pleasures of satellite.

By the way, this fellow told me that AAC is a newer version of MP3 and is the same type of file that is used for Blue Ray. I'm not endorsing his words just reporting them.

Great to hear. I am so far, very impressed with Verizon's customer service and their knowledge of their products. Compared to my experience with TWC, it's like night and day.

I don't know much about AAC other than it's proprietary to Apple. As long as you can get to that quality / space sweet spot that you want, it's all good.

I couldn't ever imagine giving a TWCSR access to my computer.

It was a long day of headaches starting with a 9:30 Verizon appointment that never happened. I called the guy who was supposed to come over and he told me that they were going to do the upgrade this week so there was no need for him to come by. I still wanted a rep over. He sent over another guy who wasn't their best tech but he was a good guy who stuck with it. He spent 4 hours with me trying to figure the HDMI mess out.

And then later on in the day, spending a couple of hours tying to get this media thing going with a phone call to another rep who tried his best to figure it out but couldn't. He then got a high level guy to call me back at 9:30, 12 hours after my day began with them solving that issue. Very cool.


TW would have said, "unplug everything and then re-plug and then we'll send over a special signal" ....and you'll still be screwed.

FWIW, AAC is a "more modern" audio compression scheme compared to mp3. 99% Apple led. Generally speaking, most will acknowledge a 128 AAC file is similar in quality to a 192 mp3.

Not 100% sure about BD, but most all DVDs run A/C3, an encoding that supports multiple channels.

Actually, it isn't proprietary at all, it's an open standard. Yes, Apple was the first to aggressively use/promote it...

Hey RG, what's your take on a good format for storing in iTunes?

By the way, this Media Manager thing is great. It's another nice perk not found in the TW world, unless of course you create your own on a network. This thing is quite simple and fun (once we discovered that I needed smaller files for playback).

Regarding Media Manager

A couple of things I encountered that caused problems in music playback:

• Store files in smaller than Lossless
• Keep STB on pause while using Media manager

As I find more idiosyncrasies I'll post them.

. And. since the STB has to be paused, to play the music from the Media Manager, the player stops when the STB comes out of pause, another problem for them to fix.

I have a follow up call from Verizon scheduled for tomorrow night. I'll bring it up.

Why would I want Media Manager on my Mac? What am I missing by not bothering with it.

And yes, AAC is NOT an Apple proprietary standard, it is an open industry standard. But since the technical press is constantly implying otherwise, I can understand why people do not realize this.

Actually, that a very interesting question! Clearly, AAC is much the "better" format in that it can achieve "better" sound with smaller file sizes. BUT there are things that do NOT support it. So I could buy a car with an entertainment unit that can take mp3's on CD but not AAC's on CD (although there's zero chance I'll be buying a car).

So there has to be more going into the question... I use 128 bit AAC, the main reason being a one gig 2nd gen Shuffle is my primary listening device, so I want to minimize file size. AND 128 is more than adequate on the quality side as the overall level of outside sound is very high and I doubt even the goldenest of ears could really tell any difference with 192 bit files in the same environment. Not to mention that age plays a bigger factor than most people realize... I got a ring tone file that apparently school kids use for their cells as they can hear it but teachers can't. It's a 15k tone. I spread it around to everyone I know and the ONLY people who could hear it were all under 22.

Given all that, I probably should be using mp3... but I have a LOT of music already ripped... I really expected AAC to be better supported, but many CE guys still cling to mp3.

Ah, does FiOS have anything similar to the Music Choice channels TWC runs? I DO find those quite the gem nobody knows about... I DO have a loose cable to my AVR so I can easily jack my iPods into it, but mostly I tune in a Music Choice channel.

Yup, pretty much the same thing on FiOS.

Fios has the same Music Choice as TW plus there is a bunch more under another name. I forgot what they are called but they are in the sane part of the guide and basically are additional channels of similar genres. As an example there are additional Blues channels, various rock channels, etc.

URGE is the word you are looking for. That is the name of the other set of music channels.

hello can anybody tell me when verizon fios is coming to corona/jackson heights, queens area, seems like everyone has fios or getting close to getting it, i haven't heard a squeak from this part of nyc area,

Wow! I finally took a look at MSG to see the Knicks game. Holy crap that looks awful. It's like I'm watching the game on my childhood Magnovox television-- through a dirty fish tank. We need MSGHD and fast! Thankfully, there's this World Series thing on tonight.

Is there any website that is tracking when which neighborhoods actually get FiOS? My impression is that there has been almost no "expansion" in service areas since they got the franchise agreement... with a building here or there as almost exceptions. They said 60% of Manhattan would be covered by the end of 09, but my impression is it will be more like 20%.

What I also find troubling is they still seem to be pouring millions into advertising. Money that I think is FAR better spent on running fiber...

FWIW here in South Bayside/Hollis Hills Queens there are 6-7 Verizon/Altell trucks on the block. They did the main trunk wiring almost a year ago and they are now back finishing the installation. We should have FIOS in 2-3 months. There are houses on the block (including mine) that will require manual wiring from Telephone poles in back yards.
So some progress is being made.

LOL...

Larry, how did you make out with your issue?

Nothing has changed; still no HDMI and I haven't pursued any alternatives (long component cables or converters). What I was told, last week, is that as soon as the upgrade (1.7) is successful in its few test areas (Texas for one), then it will be deployed here. This should be within a week or so. I haven't called anyone since last week. I've been busy so it hasn't really bothered me too much but I will call tomorrow for updates.

It's clear the Moto box is a weak link, with a SciAtl box in the works.

So the 1.7 software download is now rumored for December. Who cares. This is basically for widgets, program guide and caller ID. It has nothing to do with the green screen HDMI incompatibility issue. I spoke to several FIOS technicians and they are aware of the issue and they do not care. There is no plans for any fix. It's component or Tivo but don't plan on using their STB with an HDMI cable because it does not function with the majority of displays.

And as far as SA boxes, that will be several months from now-- if it happens, and there is no guarantee that the issue will be resolved.

There is some buzz that 1.7c was deployed to trial users Friday and it has some hdmi fixes.

That would be great, nothing would please me more. Where did you here the buzz, DSL thread? According to the Verizon techs I spoke to, 1.7 has nothing to do with HDMI. I don't know what to believe anymore. They're blaming everything on HDMI saying it's not their issue.

I have a 40 foot component cable arriving tomorrow from Monoprice that I'll set up but this sucks. I specifically wired two rooms with HDM cables and bought a new receiver with HDMI in and out replacing a perfectly adequate non HDMI Denon. If were informed of this prior to switching over from TW, I could have saved a few of grand and done everything component. As it stands now, I got an additional 15 bucks off per month for a year from Verizon. Big deal.

dslreports.com

As best as I can tell, HDMI is a work in progress. I had it running a little while. Given my HDMI experience with TW, I went back to component on the first lockup. I just didn't want to be bothered. Was it my late 2005 Sammy display ? Maybe. I'm not going to trash my Sammy over HDMI.

I wanted FIOS guy to go straight to component. You don't want HDMI ??? asked he. It was 10:00pm after an 11 hour install. I gave up and got a free HDMI cable.

I live in Long Island NY and just made the switch to Verizon FiOS after 10+ years with cablevision. I was really looking foward to the HD picture quality with FiOS because with cable i noticed a lot of pixeliation and macro-blocking. After I made the switch I was very dissapointed to see that the HD PQ on FiOS is very similiar to cablevision. There is pixeliation and macro-blocking on a lot of channels. Especially when there is fast movement, you can clearly see large pixels flashing on the screen which is very annoying. I called FiOS and had a tech visit and he changed all the main spiltters into my home but that really didnt do anything. Anyone experience poor HD PQ on fios and have any solutions or suggestions? This is very dissapointing to say the least. I thought FiOS had the most bandwidth which produce a much more clean HD PQ. I am using a 1080p Panasonic Plasma which looks gorgeous with Blu-RAY so I know its not the TV, its FiOS. Thanks

The difference between T-W and FIOS has been like night and day. Then, I live on the 29th floor. T-W's digital run ends in my building's basement. It's all coax from there. FIOS' fiber run ends in my front closet.

How old is your inside coax ? If you have old unused splices that have been coupled, that can cause signal loss. Besides changing the splitters, did the tech follow the coax all the way from the ONT ? Test signal strength at each break / splitter ? Test signal strength at the affected TV ?