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Review
Page: The Nirvana Real
Audio Archive
Reviewer: Robert Brooks
Date: Feb. 02, 1999
IntroductionImagine for a moment that there was no music. There were no singers, or even musical instruments. The world would be completely different. Thus, audio pages are a different than pages with content. Whether we like to think about it or not, music does have an impact on our lives.
Crashes
As in most of my reviews, I use Internet Explorer. It works fine with most of the pages. Nothing serious until now has occured. I have tried many times to get this page loaded with IE, however, the system freezes up and I must re-boot. The answer? Netscape. In a flash, the introductory page [in Netscape] loads up. More on that later.
Graphics
The secondary page seems similiar to the first. A sky-blue background, and the fonts remain practical. There is a left hand frame that has a list of the areas. First, the 'Live' area, containing the years in order. Followed by 'Studio,' which contains rare songs, as well as 'Information' about the site. The colors and background looks beautiful in Netscape. The only main complaint I have is the space it does not take up. There are also images that "bounce" around a little. Although I find this not too bad, nor good, I tend to ignore it. A lot of people may get a little uptight about it, other people will like it or some will just tend to ignore it.
The Sounds
Section # of shows included Number of files/songs Fecal Matter Fecal Matter Demo (1985) 7 1987/88 4 41 1989 5 40 1990 4 34 1991 6 80 1992 5 74 1993 7 79 1994 4 35 Rare songs Various 59 Since they are all Real Audio files, they should download rather quickly. There is just one catch however. The quality of the sounds vary. Keep in mind these shows were recorded in a manner that would not allow them to be to their full advantage, or quality. Here's an example, I downloaded 'Endless, Nameless,' from the 10/31/91 show. Now, on Live! Tonight! Sold Out! it sounds excellent because Geffen fixed it up. However on the file, while it still sounds good, you will hear a lot more distortion. But that's Nirvana for you.
Information
You can search the site. Which is indeed a neat feature. You can find the sound files you want, without having to go through all the categories. You also have the opportunity to win an award. There are some polls included on the site. Other areas include a chat room and a message board. There is also a Guestbook, Mailing List, Webring and Links. There are plenty of links, information about the mailing list advertising are in their respective areas.
Connection
About the test:
Both browsers were closed before the test.
Internet Explorer was opened and tested, Netscape was tested after.
Address for the main page, or page that consists of contents, or the page that was viewed in the screenshot was pasted in the testing browser.
Time was ended when the icon in the top right hand corner stopped.
Internet Explorer: Failed
Netscape Navigator: 21 secondsThe connection test was done on a 56k Winmodem connected at 44,000 bps. Remember download times will vary depending on your modem speed, browser, server of the page, telephone line activity, and your internet service provide (ISP). This will not guarantee that the page will download at the same rate on your computer as it does mine, this is just an estimate.
Conclusion
If you have Real Audio and your interested in buying bootlegs, but you do not want to spend the money, this is a great choice. Real Audio files offer a great advantage. However if your server is kind of bad, you might want to stick with MP3. It does offer some of the basic sections, too.
The Nirvana Real Audio Archive is authored by:nirvana@jgrass.globalnet.co.uk and is hosted by Xoom Services.
Nirvana In Nirvana © 1998-1999
