Soundset Xtras: MP3 preview

csquared · Post by **csquared** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:20 pm

It occurred to me, while creating preview MP3 samples of a few of my soundsets, that they mostly fit under the 250k limit for preview images (once compressed down to mono, 64kbps, and 22.05kHz). Right now, I'm just hosting my MP3 samples on my own server, and I don't have a problem doing that. Might it be beneficial for other soundset authors, though, if they could post preview MP3s hosted on the Xtras site? Or is that just opening up a can of worms the devs/admins would rather not deal with?

smashbrosfan · Post by **smashbrosfan** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:31 pm

Since the audio files are so small, why preview them at all? Most people just install, and delete if they don't like them.

csquared · Post by **csquared** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:22 pm

Since I started posting the links to soundset previews, not only have my downloads increased, but so have ratings (the rate of ratings, not the ratings themselves). This is just based on casual observation; I don't have hard scientific numbers for this.

I do think that even though soundsets are relatively small and download quickly, the lack of a preview acts as a deterrent to downloading and rating. The download rate for Xtras with image previews is much higher than the download rate for soundsets (excepting a few legacy soundsets that have been around for years). And I can't tell you how many Dock Icons, Message Styles, and Emoticons I've rated without even downloading just because the preview image was available. (I still make a point of downloading, just to be fair—sometimes you'll come across a corrupted zip file, which is obviously no good at all.)

smashbrosfan · Post by **smashbrosfan** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:08 am

While I can see the general point you're making, dock icons, message styles, and emotions have previews because they are visual in nature. NOBODY would download a picture if they didn't have some clue as to what it was of.

A sound, on the other hand, has no such benefit. All the pictures do for the soundset is give off a sense of polish. But as far as audio previews go, I've talked to numerous people who say they'd rather just download the whole thing and manage it with the xtras manager.

Post by **Catfish_Man** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:31 am

I think it makes sense to have previews. I'm way more likely to do a one click thing than install, go to event prefs, try, risk needing to uninstall.

Post by **zac** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:15 pm

This is something I wouldn't mind implementing sometime, I'll put it on my "eventual TODO" list.