When Absolute Radio’s new online player launches in early December, it will have a UK option of streaming the station’s audio in higher quality sound, 192 kbps rather than 128 kbps.
Ahead of the launch of the player, Absolute Radio will make an even higher definition version, 1,410 kbps, of tonight's Elton John gig at The Union Chapel in Islington, London available to stream at from Monday (29 November) at 7pm.
The BBC is set to trial "HD sound" audio quality in December, but a spokesman for Absolute Radio said it would not be full HD, like the Elton John gig, as the audio was compressed so an amount of quality was still lost in the transmission.
A spokesman for Absolute Radio said it would be the first time a radio station had made a gig available to stream on-demand in high definition audio.
John said: "For every artist sound quality is so important and, when recording a live gig, I don’t want to lose any quality at all. I want Absolute Radio listeners to feel like they are actually watching me perform live – full HD is definitely the way forward."
Absolute Radio has been giving away tickets for the Elton John gig on air. Clive Dickens, chief operating officer of Absolute Radio, said: "Listeners who were not lucky enough to win tickets will be able to listen to Elton playing in the ethereal surroundings, and it will sound like they’re actually on the front row."
Also from December, Absolute Radio will start streaming content from its live stations, including Absolute Radio and Absolute 80s, via its mobile apps at 128 kbps, rather than 32 kbps.
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