I see that you can now buy radios that will connect to internet radio sites
via a home network, wired or wi-fi.

Does anyone have any experience of these?

--
Michael Chare

Michael Chare wrote:
Before you consider buying one take a look here and check out how much of
your usage wouod bve taken up using it.

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail...roadbandusage/

Peter Crosland

g6jns@yahoo.co.uk

On 07/04/2008 in message <4JGdnR39fenVGGTanZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@pipex.net>
Michael Chare wrote:

Yes, but not good. It's a bit like listening to Radio Luxembourg under the
blankets.

--
Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK
I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day.
Tomorrow, isn't looking good either.

Michael Chare wrote:
Yes.



Some of them work reasonably well. Some are vastly overpriced in my
opinion. All seem to have glitches and bugs which suggest the products are
not totally stable.


The most common in the UK are based on a Reciva chipset and software. Reciva
license their designs to brand names who then make and market radios (from
Dixons group to Roberts Radio and numerous others). Reciva is the main
(only?) supplier which offers "Real Audio" within their hardware, which is
currently necessary(*) to access BBC "Listen Again" services.
One common alternative maker is the "Slim Devices" receiver which uses a PC
based plug-in to decode Real Audio (so your PC must be switched on to work
the plug-in), but its an expensive product.


The Reciva devices seem to suffer from buffering problems from some services
(notably the BBC). The cause has not been identified, though I suspect its a
combination of: poor buffer control in Radio compared to PC client players,
congestion at ISP, congestion to BBC servers. The ISP can be controlled by
swapping ISP, but the radio is dependent on the maker.



My Radio is a Logik IR-100 (Dixons own brand) bought during one of their
regular sales when the price drops to circa £40. I've added a few hardware
and software hacks to upgrade it and fix faults. For £40 its a good useful
item. I am less sure about its full price (it has hardware issues), though
its official software is now reasonably up to date.


I would suggest that a small laptop might be a better buy than the more
expensive models; an Asus EEE PC costs under £200 in its most basic version
and looks to me to be more capable than a £200 "radio", less likely to be
out of date, etc..



(* the BBC has said that it will start to offer other codecs, such as MP3 or
ACC during the course of 2008 for Listen Again, which will start to remove
the Real Audio monopoly on BBC Listen Again output).


- Nigel


--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Nigel Cliffe wrote:
That setup is only if you are into listening to real audio streams like
from the BBC. Most of decent internet radio is thankfully _not_ real
audio, and the squeezebox can work happily standalone replaying very
high quality content from these stations. Of course, it's with a server
that the whole system excels. Oh, and an "unlimited" internet use account.

It is not cheap; Logitech have released some quite expensive toys
recently for the dedicated, moving onto a handheld touch screen
controller that can do wonders - but then so can my iPod touch connected
to the same slimserver system (via www.pengiunlovesmusic.de)

Sound quality from foreign broadcasters way outstrips the abilities of
broadcasters in this country. Seems here we are frightened to broadcast
any live signal of decent quality incase someone records it and then
doesn't go and buy the corresponding CD...

--
Adrian C

"Peter Crosland" <g6jns@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:G6OdnXAUYOvcXGTanZ2dnUVZ8vWdnZ2d@plusnet...

Food for thought! Certainly according to that the network usage is
surprisingly high, but they don't say what speed they are using in their
calculations. I .


--
Michael Chare

"Nigel Cliffe" <me@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:ftcltf$c32$1@news.albasani.net...
I came across the Roberts WM202, which does FM and DAB as well as Internet.

I did not know that there are such things and assumed that I was just not
keeping up with modern technology, but it turns out that this is a new
product. It mentions http://www.wifiradio-frontier.com in the user manual
which I assume is different from https://www.reciva.com/. The radio clearly
depends on an internet database of stations so I would hope that it uses a
standards based technology, and that it is possible to change the database
that it uses.


The WM202 is not so much cheaper!


--
Michael Chare

"Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
news:65u6ejF2gftrmU1@mid.individual.net...
Would you be thinking of Bayern Klassik? Also good on satellite as they
have more bandwidth than any of the BBC stations.


Trouble is that we end up with quantity rather that quality. American
country and western stations are even worse!


--
Michael Chare

"Michael Chare" <MunderscoreNEWS@chareDOTorg.uk> wrote in message
news:2d-dnY_K6s0_hGfanZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@pipex.net...
What has speed got to do with it? If you transfer 20 megabytes in 5
minutes, or 20 megabytes in 20 minutes, its still 20 megabytes....

"Michael Chare" <MunderscoreNEWS@chareDOTorg.uk> wrote in message
news:4JGdnR39fenVGGTanZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@pipex.net...
Another option would be to leave the PC on and use a wireless transmitter
(ipod type) attached to the audio output of the PC to transmit the stereo
signal to a standard FM radio. Less faffy in my opinion and more flexible
regarding the types of streams you might want to listen to, unless of
course, you dont want to leave a PC on. This way you can tune in anyhere in
the house using any existing FM radio tuners (listen in two rooms if you
want to, by using two FM radios). Another alternative would be to buy a
pair of wireless headphones and connect them to the PC's audio output. This
would allow you to listen to your favourite stations from the internet
anywhere you go around the house or garden using the wireless headphone. Of
course apart from internet radio, you can alos use this setup to listen to
any other audio generated from your PC, so you can also hear your favourite
albums etc.... You can even buy a unit that runs on a USB port, with built
in sound card and FM stereo transmitter (all in one) to do the job. A much
more flexiible option.

Michael Chare wrote:
The figure is probably an average for the kind of usage. You also need to
consider if your WI-FI network can handle the continuous throughout whilst
allowing other usage at the same time. Consider a set that has a network
socket as well.

Peter Crosland

g6jns@yahoo.co.uk

"John" <nospam46547@nospam.org> wrote in message
news:65up01F2hsq2tU1@mid.individual.net...

If you listen live for say 1 hour then clearly you will receive more bytes
from a station that transmits at a higher bit rate than you would from a
station that uses a low bit rate.


--
Michael Chare

Peter Crosland wrote:

The WiFi network is seriously congested, or running at the limits of its
range, if a radio stream can clog it up. Video is a different matter.


However, as a general rule, any device which is wired will have fewer
networking problems than a wireless one, so the advice to at least look for
network socket is sound. For those into hackery, the Dixons group models
can be opened up and a network socket added.



- Nigel


--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Michael Chare wrote:

Correct, Frontier Silicon based radios are not the same as Reciva based
ones. If considering the Roberts WM202 and wanting BBC listen-again (the
main use I make of the radio - for live I use FM; cheap, simple and higher
quality), check carefully that it is supported. I suspect it is not, at
least not until the BBC complete their move to offer more than Real Audio.


Like the Reciva based radios, Frontier Silicon is also a closed system, so
you are stuck with what they offer. I know little about Frontier Silicon's
system as the website requires a radio serial number to register (ie. you
need to spend £200 first). I did get a quick peek from a friendly user who
shared their credentials; it appeared inferior to the Reciva system.


The Reciva system has been partially opened up by enthusiasts (google for
Sharpfin). The aims are multiple; install own applications, change
configurations, change firmware at will, and ultimately have option to
function in absence of Reciva's systems. But much of that is scary
hacker-dom, not easy to use domestic radios.



Exactly.



- Nigel



--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Jeff Gaines wrote:
Actually the quality is a lot better now they're on line.......

Yes Radio Luxembourge is back as a online radio station

"kraftee" <Kraftee@b&e-cottee.me.uk> wrote in message
news:77OdnRxYZZSe9WfanZ2dnUVZ8tyqnZ2d@bt.com...
....and Keynsham.


--
Graham

%Profound_observation%

"Michael Chare" <MunderscoreNEWS@chareDOTorg.uk> wrote in message
news:6ZqdnUXSY4FU2WfanZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@pipex.net...
Yes, but you didn't say bytes/bitrate, you said speed. I understand what
you mean now. : )
I agree with you now that you have clarified the situation.

John

Nigel Cliffe <me@invalid.invalid> wrote:
I have a few buffering glitches, but no more than I get with the same sites
on a PC or voice over IP.

Is there any software to do internet radio functions? The main advantage
for a standalone device for me is that the interface is simple: I hit one
button to change presets (I can do it by feel in the morning when I'm half
asleep). Podcasts/Listen Again is available my a simple menu (select
station, select programme, select episode). All the stations are available
on the menu, so if I feel like listening to Radio Ulanbataar I select
Stations->Location->Mongolia->Radio Ulanbataar (if such a station existed).

I don't have to poke through lots of websites to find the station or
programme I want and then struggle with the site's own stream controls -
it's just there, it just works.

The main downside I find with the Reciva units is the station database is
poor - people have put in the same station by different names, and the
classification is a mess (there's no classification by language, and the
same station could be listed in all of 'pop', 'varied' and 'top 40'). What
would be much better is a wiki-style database, but sadly the units are tied
to Reciva's proprietary database (even with Sharpfin, since AFAIK there's no
comparable free stream database out there).

One neat feature I discovered today: an NTP synchronised alarm clock. I
tried the alarm for the first time today and at the appointed hour heard a
beeping sound. It wasn't the alarm, it was the pips before the news. It
was rather odd to have the radio turn on precisely on the hour.

Theo

"Graham." <me@privacy.com> wrote in message
news:ftdq2i$lf2$1@registered.motzarella.org...
Good grief. Shades of "H Samuel EverRight Watches" and "Horace Bachelor".
I think my time locks have slipped.
--
Keith Willcocks
(If you can't laugh at life, it ain't worth living!)

Peter Crosland wrote:

For a 128 kbps radio station, one hour's worth of audio consumes:

128k x 3600 / 2^23 = 55 MB per hour

or 19 hours per GB downloaded.

For a 64 kbps station, you get 38 hours per GB downloaded.

Do ISPs still do broadband with download allowances so low that you need to
think about how much Internet radio you've listened to?



--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/da...ion_of_dab.htm