Teamspeak vS Ventrilo?

So I did some looking around, some searching etc, and they didn't seem to answer my questions. So, aside from invoking thread necromancy, I decided against my better judgment to start a new thread.

Both appear to be free, as long as you agree to Vent's private server use agreement. I have quite a bit of experience using *NIX and administrating my own boxes, thus I am not worried about degree of difficulty in setup and use.

• So, what it boils down to, is there limitations to amount of users by program/per daemon?
  
• Which has the best quality to CPU/MEM usage ratio?

Any thoughts/help is greatly appreciated.

In my experience Vent. works great. I have heard people say that they have ping and audio problems with teamspeak. I have never had my own server though so my experience is pretty limited.

I have used both programs as a user only. I had some problems with Vent disconnecting me at will that I have not had with TS. Could have been the server...not sure. I have been using TS for a couple years now with very little problems or downtime.

When I was looking to pay for one or the other, TS was a better deal and I was told by someone that knows more about computers than I do that Vent slowed your computer down where TS did not. I can't say if that is true, just what I was told.

It's a year since I tried them, but back then Teamspeak used extremely heavy lossy compression, so sound quality was too low and very distorted (to the point one often could not recognize who was talking), while Ventrilo used less hard compression with acceptable sound quality.
Ventrilo transfers more data and so uses more bandwidth, and that might be a problem, but we've not notice any ping/lag issues with it.

We also tried Skype. The audio quality was extremely good, and it was the easiest to set up and use, but it did cause ping/lag issues.

My alliance not only rents a Ventrilo server, we also host our own as a backup. The reason we don't solely use the backup is due to the restrictions with 2.3.0 Server only allowing 8 users at any one time. This may have changed with 3.0.2 Server, but I haven't had the opportunity to check.

I experience no noticable lag or drop in performance through using Ventrilo, but I can't use Teamspeak due to the complexity of my hardware setup. Any time I've used it (for listening, as my mic seems either too loud or too quiet at random), the sound quality of others is much poorer than on Ventrilo.

I have used both user and server, and hands down Vent rocks TS world in sound quality, Vent can be tricky if you do not understand how the custom options work (like the auto kick/ban/move to channel/anti spam) same for TS but the quality all depends if the other person is talking into a headset and mic or a mic and desk top speakers. Which one should never use Desk top speaker+mic=the worst echo on the planet.

I would highly recomend Vent over TS.

Vent and TS have 2 forms of the program one is a user/client and the other is a Admin/Server (Only the User/client version is Free do download and use)

Read on to learn more about the server options.

As for the player limit on these programs. Vent and TS are programs that require a server both have free versions that require them to be run on a isolated computer with only the program running but these free ones have a limited number of people vent's is 8 I think same for TS have not used the free version in ages.

As for wanting more space you will have to pay out of pocket and find a server provider or spend the money to make your own (this way will cost way to much it is easier to just find a server provider)

Both programs will slow your computer down if your computer is more then a year out of date. A HT cpu or dual core or quad core and at least 1 GB of ram and a decent sound card will handle them with no problems. But yes if you have a slow computer and low ram with a crapy sound card both programs will work and sound like crap.

Sorry, but that's not my experience at all. Both TeamSpeak and Vent performed flawlessly on my 1.6GHz, , AMD XP 1800 (non dualcore), 512MB, machine. They used only a few percent of the available CPU.
Teamspeak did have atrocious sound quality, but that's because it compresses the data so hard, like JPEG compressing an image too hard lowers image quality. The sound quality of Ventrilo was about the same as that of a telephone, and the the sound quality of Skype was flawless, as if recorded & played back on stereo equipment. Skype did cause ping/lag issues, but due to its bandwidth requirements, not its CPU requirements.

Are you going to be running the vent or teamspeak server on the same connection that you play guild wars on? If so, I am asking you if you enjoy lag and disconnecting. You will disconnect a lot with either. You will also experience lag spikes a lot.

TS has lower sound quality, but it takes up less bandwidth. TS is better if you are using a game/setup that requires you to have... say 30 people in one channel (like I have with the game FreeWorlds).

I've used both in the past and both work well for me. However I would lean slightly toward vent as being better.

Ventrilo is the ideal combination between TS and Skype.

TS is lowest resource/lowerping/lowest voice quality
Ventrilo is medium
Skype is higher.

Thanks for all of the feedback. To answer a few questions, yes the same internet connection would be used, however I have upwards of 6mb down 512k up cable connections. However, on the weekends there are 4 accounts playing GW at the same time, would that be cause for interruptions if the Ventrillo or Teamspeak were running as well?

It would also appear that after further investigation, free Vent. allows 8 connections and Team Speak 1000. I suppose I'll have to run TS first, and see just how bad the sound is, and then migrate to Vent. and test it as well. Thanks again for the advice, and if anyone has anymore to add, please, feel free to.

I've been using TS for 3 years and have had no problems with it at all. The quality is good too.

OFT I agree totally. As a user of both over the years Vent just seems better quality and more reliable. I would definately rent a host service too. Centralized server much better. Only like 6 dollars a month for a 25 slot server.

I've been using TS for 2-3 years and never had a problem. The sound quality is fine and it doesn't add any perceptable lag. We've had 15 - 20 people on our server on a couple of occasions and TS handled it with ease.

I've tried vent, but I couldn't get the damn thing to work (atter many talk-throughs, re-insalls, etc.)

I've used both for 5 years or so, have been on dozens of different hosts, and used to rent a commercial Ventrilo host for my guild. I'd recommend trying both programs (free versions) and experiment with different audio codec & compression settings until you find what works best for you & your group. With both set up properly and a decent comp & connection on your end, neither one is noticeably superior in audio quality or bandwidth usage - the only noticeable difference then will be the user interface.

yan's got it.

plus TS lags the sound alot and has terrible hardware support.

I use both and couldn't care less which I use.

I use Teamspeak atm its working fine so see no need to change.

Tried most of the voice programs over the years, the one I liked best was teamsound, mainly because I could understand the setup instructions and creating servers and channels was easy.
Keystrokes to change channels again was simple to understand, and the general feel of the program was good.

Teamspeak is a little geeky to me its obviously written by someone who didnt realise idiots like me would have to use it.

Ventrillo well that was written by a programmer somewhere who hasn't spoken to a real person for 20 years and has lost all concept of user friendlyness.


imho 2 things are clear
1 the ideal voice program has yet to be written

2 everyone will push for the one they use in the hope it becomes the only one available and we can all think of using voice more in games confident we use the same software.