Fast Streaming (also called proxy playback) makes your player start playing almost instantly, even for large lossless files.
How it works:
- When you upload audio, SoundToggle automatically generates a lightweight proxy version of each file. For WAV and AIFF uploads it also prepares a verified lossless FLAC delivery copy — the FLAC is only used after an automatic checksum proves it decodes to the exact same audio, bit for bit, as your original. Your uploaded files are never modified, and downloads always give you the original.
- When a listener presses play, the small proxy is already loaded — playback starts near-instantly.
- The full-quality file (the verified FLAC where one exists, otherwise your original) starts loading when playback starts — never before, so pages with your players stay light for visitors who are just browsing.
- Once it's ready, playback seamlessly upgrades to full quality — no interruption, no re-buffering. The result is bit-identical to your upload.
- A quality badge shows the current state: Fast Streaming · Full quality on play (ready; nothing downloads until someone presses play), Fast Streaming · Loading full quality (playing while the upgrade loads), and Full Quality (lossless active). If the full-quality file can't be loaded, the badge settles on Fast Streaming and playback simply continues.
Turning Fast Streaming off opts a project out of both transcodes: listeners download your original untouched files in full before playback begins. That guarantees nothing but your exact files are ever served — at the cost of a much slower start and much heavier pages for your visitors (large masters can mean tens of megabytes before any sound).
Global default: Fast Streaming is enabled by default for all new accounts. You can toggle it on or off in Settings → Player Defaults → Playback → Fast Streaming Playback. This sets the default for all projects.
Per-project control: You can override the global default for any individual project in the Edit Project page under Labels & Behavior → Fast Streaming Playback. Three options:
- Use Default — follows your global setting
- Always On — enables fast streaming for this project regardless of the global setting
- Always Off — disables fast streaming for this project (lossless-only playback)
If you're not sure which to pick, leave it on Use Default — this means the project will follow whatever you have set globally in Settings, so you only need to manage it in one place.
Proxy status panel: In the Edit Project page, below the Fast Streaming setting, you'll see a status panel showing which audio files have proxies ready, which are processing, and options to generate or delete proxies manually.
Storage: Proxy files are small (typically 5–10% of the original file size) and count toward your storage quota. You can delete proxies per-project to reclaim space.
Quality badge: When fast streaming is active, listeners see a subtle badge in the player that shows which version they're hearing: ready before playback, streaming while the lossless file loads, then full quality. Its dot only pulses while something is actually loading. This gives transparency about audio quality without interrupting the listening experience.