Internet radio

[Bill]

OK, so we have donated our good stereo system to one of the sons, and now the cheap old mini or micro system that "she" listens to her CD's on in the lounge skips on a regular basis. It is very old, and attempting to clean the laser hasn't worked. There are other faults as well, so I've been looking for something to replace it in time for Christmas. I've found something affordable that provides the 2 separate speakers, plus a box that plays CD's, tablet sources etc via bluetooth, and FM, DAB and wifi internet radio.

I listen to internet radio quite a bit on computers, and usually find stations via IP addresses or resolving the name. On an Android phone, there are offerings, but many seem to be offered via combining services with added adverts and lesser quality.

How does this work on an "internet radio" radio? Am I correct in guessing that the radio is locked to one (of several?) database service that translates each station name into the correct parameters for reception and this is then stored in the radio's memory associated with a specific preset button?

[Martin Brown]

Do listen to whatever you buy first - some of them are annoyingly boxy.

That is pretty much how it works and mine shows a menu list so you can search by genre, country or bitrate. Minor irritation is that it doesn't always decode the name of the piece being played on some stations.

I think mine harvests URLs from more than one database. I got a dedicated internet radio tuner instead of DAB since the sound quality of the latter is inadequate for anything other than in car reception.

One of my DAB radios also spends all its time on the internet feed since it sounds better that way. DAB inevitably dissolves into boiling mud.

[Brian Gaff]

Suggestion get something with an aux in and get the amazon Echo dot. You will not regret it Internet radio controlled by your voice and much more. Brian

[Clive Arthur]

Lubricate the spindle bearing. The data from the laser is buffered and decoded. If the CD runs slow, the buffers won't fill as quickly as they empty and the sound will skip.

I have that T-shirt.

Cheers

[Andy Burns]

Have you tried "UK radio Player" android app? It doesn't seem to give adverts, thought it's one of those apps I don't allow to upgrade itself in case it starts getting daft ideas like adverts ...

[Cursitor Doom]

BBC radio has become totally 'unlistenable' to due to their unceasing attempts at socially-engineering and brainwashing their audience. So

*thank God* for internet radio! Huge range of stations catering for all sorts of listeners, so goodbye & FOAD BBC. I like getting a fresh perspective on the news from Sputnik and Breitbart and the amazing range of classic rock from Zenith - all lovely and bullshit & advert-free!

[Andy Burns]

UKRadioPlayer doesn't just do BBC, it does Global, Bauer and maybe another group I've forgotten about ...

[Michael Chare]

My Roberts radio uses

I have other equipment that uses vtuner.com

I think both let you add your own favourites.

[pamela]

That explains a lot. :)

[Bill]

On play store I found lots of apps with the words UK Radio Player in various order. I assume you mean the one "In association with the BBC"?

I have tended to listen to various stations from around the world. Today's request from my daughter was to revisit Cajun Radio in Lafayette as she had met a construction lawyer at a dinner who played cajun accordion. In the past when I tried that it was one of the stations that sounded better direct from the website as opposed to listening via a conglomerated website. It was a year or so ago, but I'm fairly sure that was TuneIn.

I had the impression that these services take in the streams from the stations and re-stream them, often at poorer quality and in the free versions with added adverts. Not sure how this would work with an internet radio rather than an Android device.

[Andy Burns]

Yes, searching for UK Radio Player it's first one on the list for me, I believe it's a JV between the groups whose stations it features.

If you want wide-ranging sources then the above isn't the app you want, on Linux I use Gradio, which is a bit more eclectic

I think I used that years ago, but it seemed to go the advert way, I seem to think even in the purchased version, so I stopped using it.

[Cursitor Doom]

Join the hoards not paying their licence fee, then. Fuck 'em.