New Frontiers in Decentralized Audio
Last week and just a few days ago, I began using DSound for the first time, an interface for decentralized audio created by @prc. As an amateur podcaster myself with dreams of bigger audiences and better reach, I knew that I would have to try out the sweet tech. Today’s post will go through my preliminary observations.
Initial Exploration
Having used my Soundcloud channel as my primary way of uploading content and connecting to major outlets like Stitcher and iTunes, it was wonderful seeing such a similar and intuitive interface on dsound.audio. As with most Steem-based dApps, you sign in with you posting key which automatically links your Steemit account and information. Similar to dTube, upvotes on Steemit show up as ‘hearts’ on DSound and comments appear on both interfaces.
Uploading was quick and what’s actually nicer about the interface over Soundcloud is the explicit option to allow the audience to download the file for free. All my content is free to download and making it so on centralized websites requires a few more steps.
Adding the image option on here is clutch as integrating an image on iTunes or another desktop application can be annoying.
One very notable aspect is the well structured drop-down menu which links you to the more critical elements of your Steemit profile (i.e. wallet, account blog) without cluttering the interface on DSound itself. I don’t know if this will be a permanent feature of the website but I somewhat enjoyed not being distracted by the dozens of other features that are ever-present on the Steemit interface including wallet, trending lists, etc.
One major gripe is not retaining the audio file’s name when downloaded to the desktop or any device. It does allow you to custom name the file upon download but the default option should at least host some parts of the original or DSound uploaded name.
Final Thoughts and Looking Forward
Overall, I’m really impressed by the efficiency of the platform and I’m definitely sold on uploading all future podcast episodes to the site. I’d love to see more features offered by other audio platforms integrated into DSound such as playlists, more comprehensive searches, and media embedding in other platforms (even if it’s just Steemit for now). These would make it all very easy to make use of DSound in blog posts and other developments/archiving.
Soundcloud currently takes a premium of $89 or $99 per year for serious podcasters on their website, obviously creating a bit of a barrier for many people. If DSound can become a viable alternative with more integrated features, I’m all for it!
Let me know what you think below and as always, Steem on!
