Pandora and Slacker not equal?

[screaminz2002]

So I have had slacker premium for a several months. At 10.00 a month I thought I might try Pandora for 40.00 a year and the new radio I am getting for the truck is optimized for Pandora. I signed up for the 24 hour free trial and had it streaming through Sync in the Mustang the same as I had been doing for slacker. I was surprised that it had to buffer after EVERY skip.. Slacker never did this and once it got started I would have to skip multiple songs in a row for it to buffer. Slacker was also extremely fast (3-5 seconds tops) to start playing. Pandora was 20-30 seconds between songs. At one point it went up to about a minute so I just turned it off at that point. Is this normal for Pandora? I couldn't find a setting except for high and normal setting which mine was set to normal. I guess it could have been my data connection but in all the time with slacker it had never done this. The entire 40 minute drive home is in town through 4G. Thoughts?

 

[movieman999]

I've used Pandora free a lot, and never had it take anywhere near a full minute to start playing; it usually starts within seconds like Slacker. Personally, I'd definitely purchase Pandora over Slacker, but to each his own. If Pandora isn't providing a satisfactory experience for you, stick with Slacker.

 

[Droid-Xer]

Yep I use Pandora all the time in flaky 4G areas over an hour a day. Most it takes is 3-5 seconds after skipping a song. Maybe try uninstalling and reinstalling.

 

[patriot95]

Never have I seen it take that long... but Slacker definitely loads much faster (instantly) for me.

 

[FunN4Lo]

I play a ton of free Pandora. At home or cross country no skips or long load times

 

[jzglinicki]

screaminz2002, I've used the free versions of both Slacker and Pandora for a while now and, yes, there's a noticeable difference between the two. I've liked Pandora in general, but I see the same delays that you're seeing, whereas Slacker playback is consistently smooth, even when I skip songs. I've been comparing the two for a while now before supporting one of them with a subscription. I've noticed a couple other differences that aren't related to streaming smoothness, like Pandora replaying a lot of the same material over and over which I don't like, and playing a lot of less common material like live recordings and cover songs by other bands, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I also don't like the more mature ads on Pandora, like for dating services and such, without some way to request something more appropriate with family in the car. It's possible that the pay versions are more closely in line, but I intend to pay only for one.

 

[fireman00]

I subscribe to both and have found that Slacker takes much longer to load when first starting, buffers much more often than Pandora and does not handle interruptions from text messages, email downloads (when Push/ Pull works) or jumping from 3G to 4G and back. That being said, I like the selections and the different ways I can customise music selections which that Slacker offers.

 

[KeepItReal]

You also have to compare music library sizes. I believe Slacker's library is larger than Pandora's.

 

[KylePD]

I subscribe to both and have found that Slacker takes much longer to load when first starting, buffers much more often than Pandora and does not handle interruptions from text messages, email downloads (when Push/ Pull works) or jumping from 3G to 4G and back. That being said, I like the selections and the different ways I can customise music selections which that Slacker offers.

I'm only using Pandora so I can't compare, but I've had no load/interruption issues. Am a paid annual subscriber - no ads ;-)

BTW, there's a Pandora Radio forum at PandoraForum.net - looks like they're just getting off the ground.

 

[jmcdonald]

I subscribe to Slacker - mostly for the playlist and customizing features. There are no ads and never had a problem with it buffering, playback in seconds, and handles notifications just fine. Even goes right back to where it left off when I get a phone call. Been very happy with Slacker. Don't use Pandora so I can't speak to that side of it.

 

[ChevyNexus]

I like listening to stand up and Pandora didn't seem to have a station for me. Slacker Radio on the other hand has a great stand up selection and i love the short almost non existent load time.

 

[fireman00]

All the issues i had earlier with Slacker seem to have been resolved after they updated their app. Its been such an improvement that i dropped my subscription to Pandora.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[UrbanBounca]

I'm on the Slacker bandwagon.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[microscope]

A bit off topic here.
Can I fast forward songs in Slacker?
If yes, how?
If no, are there any others that allow FF?

Thanks!

 

[fireman00]

You can skip songs in both; however, with the free versions I'd both you're limited to the number of skips per hour.

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