Setting session parameters - Bitrate

This article is part of the Source-Connect Pro and Pro X 3.9 User Guide

These settings affect the audio stream that you will be sending. Note that you cannot change these settings while you are connected to a remote user. To change your settings you must first disconnect, make your changes, and then reconnect.

IMPORTANT: With sessions at 48khz, sending bitrates below 64kbps mono and 128kbps stereo will require sample-rate conversion as we cannot transfer the lower bitrates at the native sample-rate. If you are working with RTS or Restore or Replace and your session is at 48khz sample-rate you must work with at least 64kbps mono or 128kbps stereo minimum.

Source-Connect Pro bitrates

• Mono: AAC 32, 48, 56, 64, 56, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192 kbps 
• Stereo: AAC 64, 56, 112, 128, 192, 224, 256, 320 kbps 

The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality of the stream at sending side. However, higher bit rates require more resources as they increase the network load. For example, using a bitrate of 64 kbps (kilobits) will require approximately 20 KB (KiloBytes) of data per second on your actual network, which corresponds to about 200k in required network speed. 

In an ideal world, you should be able to achieve a rate equal to your purchased speed (divided by 8 (to get bytes), less 10% (TCP/IP and general Internet overhead). It is unlikely you will ever see that speed however, due to issues including network congestion or overloading on your local network, ISP level, or backbone, and extended hop counts. Generally, therefore, we recommend a minimum of 300 kbps up and down to achieve a reasonable stream at 64 kbps. 

For higher bitrate transfers you will need more resources - with business cable (1.5mb up/down) or a T1 you may find you are able to transfer multiple streams of 320kbps stereo!