Internet radio receiver.

[David Paste]

Something like a stand-alone separates unit for a Hi-Fi, or is it just best
to stick with an android tablet plugged into the amp?

Any operational gotchyas with them? All internet radio stations available
on them?

All comments and gossip gleefully accepted.

Cheers,

David Paste.
(also posted to uk.d-i-y)

[MB]

Post by David Paste
Something like a stand-alone separates unit for a Hi-Fi, or is it just best
to stick with an android tablet plugged into the amp?
Any operational gotchyas with them? All internet radio stations available
on them?
All comments and gossip gleefully accepted.

Just had a quick look and there do seem "HiFi" with Internet radio and
plenty of portable radios, some of which will have an output connection.

My Roberts DAB radio has Internet radio though I don't make much use of
it except for the "Just a Minute" channel when nothing worth listening
to on the DAB radio (increasingly frequent now) but during the day I
tend to select the USB memory stick which has most of my DVDs.

I had a couple of Pure radios but replaced them because of power supply
problems.

[MB]

Post by MB
My Roberts DAB radio has Internet radio

PS Roberts radio have an 'App' that lets you control the radio from a
mobile phone or tablet.

[Bob Latham]

Post by David Paste
Something like a stand-alone separates unit for a Hi-Fi, or is it
just best to stick with an android tablet plugged into the amp?
Any operational gotchyas with them? All internet radio stations
available on them?
All comments and gossip gleefully accepted.

There are dozens of audio player projects based on a Raspberry Pi. I
use a couple of these and built some for friends, they work very well.

https://github.com/PeteManchester/MediaPlayer

Control by tablet/phone, plays hi-res from UPnP server, gapless etc.
streaming radio, choice of output modules.

Bob.

[Scott]

On Sun, 29 Jan 2023 15:07:14 -0800 (PST), David Paste

Post by David Paste
Something like a stand-alone separates unit for a Hi-Fi, or is it just best
to stick with an android tablet plugged into the amp?
Any operational gotchyas with them? All internet radio stations available
on them?
All comments and gossip gleefully accepted.

I have a Roberts Stream 94i in the kitchen. I only listen via
Internet as the sound quality is so much better than DAB. It operates
via Wi-Fi, so no ethernet cable needed. The main stations I listen to
are on presets.

[Theo]

Post by David Paste
Something like a stand-alone separates unit for a Hi-Fi, or is it just best
to stick with an android tablet plugged into the amp?
Any operational gotchyas with them? All internet radio stations available
on them?

I have been out of the market for ~10 years, but I understand that radio
stations are sometimes very precious about where their 'product' is made
available. Translation: they want to get the revenue from the ads alongside
the audio, or they want to advertise their own stuff in that space, or they
want the juicy analytics data to understand who is listening. Or they're
pushing their own platform (BBC Sounds etc).

That means they sometimes decide to take their ball home and remove their
stream from certain players if they don't get things their way.

For example:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/recent-changes-to-bbc-sounds/tunein-changes

I'm not familiar with the current internet radio platforms, but when I had
one (reciva) it was an endless cat and mouse game: somebody would figure out
the URL for the audio streams and publish the station, then later the
broadcaster would change the stream URL and it would break. Then somebody
would figure it out and resubmit. etc etc. Maybe the big players like the
BBC have some kind of agreement with the platforms (until they change their
mind), but small independent stations in other countries are less likely to.
It was always pot luck which smaller stations would work.

So personally I'd stick with a phone or tablet. At least the stations know
they need to support iOS and Android and you can always run their
app/website if they get grumpy about third party platforms.

Theo

[MB]

Post by Theo
I have been out of the market for ~10 years, but I understand that radio
stations are sometimes very precious about where their 'product' is made
available. Translation: they want to get the revenue from the ads alongside
the audio, or they want to advertise their own stuff in that space, or they
want the juicy analytics data to understand who is listening. Or they're
pushing their own platform (BBC Sounds etc).

I remember in the early days of DAB, it was said that the US was not
interested because their commercial radio stations did not like the
concept of multiplexes where all stations in an area would have the same
coverage.

They preferred the system where the person with the most money would run
the highest power and got most coverage.

Solutions were suggested where individual services on a multiplex could
have different coverage by fiddling with the error correction (I think)
but I don't think it was used.

[Roderick Stewart]

On 30 Jan 2023 10:28:55 +0000 (GMT), Theo

Post by Theo

Post by David Paste
Something like a stand-alone separates unit for a Hi-Fi, or is it just best
to stick with an android tablet plugged into the amp?
Any operational gotchyas with them? All internet radio stations available
on them?

I have been out of the market for ~10 years, but I understand that radio
stations are sometimes very precious about where their 'product' is made
available. Translation: they want to get the revenue from the ads alongside
the audio, or they want to advertise their own stuff in that space, or they
want the juicy analytics data to understand who is listening. Or they're
pushing their own platform (BBC Sounds etc).
That means they sometimes decide to take their ball home and remove their
stream from certain players if they don't get things their way.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/recent-changes-to-bbc-sounds/tunein-changes
I'm not familiar with the current internet radio platforms, but when I had
one (reciva) it was an endless cat and mouse game: somebody would figure out
the URL for the audio streams and publish the station, then later the
broadcaster would change the stream URL and it would break. Then somebody
would figure it out and resubmit. etc etc. Maybe the big players like the
BBC have some kind of agreement with the platforms (until they change their
mind), but small independent stations in other countries are less likely to.
It was always pot luck which smaller stations would work.
So personally I'd stick with a phone or tablet. At least the stations know
they need to support iOS and Android and you can always run their
app/website if they get grumpy about third party platforms.
Theo

Maybe the "cat and mouse game" of which you speak depends on which
stations you listen to, but I've had no problems at all listening to
the ones I like on an internet radio designed for the purpose. I just
save them on the presets and they stay put. It's a Roberts 93i.

The radio sounds pretty good through its own loudspeakers (yes,
plural, in stereo) for something of its size, but could also be
connected to a hi-fi using a 3.5mm analogue stereo connector, and it
can be connected to the internet using either wi-fi or ethernet.

It's probably possible to connect a phone or a tablet to the hi-fi,
but I've never tried. I prefer to use my phone as a phone.

Rod.

[Theo]

Post by Roderick Stewart
Maybe the "cat and mouse game" of which you speak depends on which
stations you listen to, but I've had no problems at all listening to
the ones I like on an internet radio designed for the purpose. I just
save them on the presets and they stay put. It's a Roberts 93i.

It has happened even for your radio:
https://www.avforums.com/threads/roberts-stream-93i.1945133/

(BBC broke on demand audio, Roberts fixed it 15 months later, BBC broke it,
Roberts fixed it again)

If all you listen to is the internet equivalent of what you find on DAB or
FM, you'll probably be fine - live audio is simpler and the manufacturer is
incentivised to make big stations work.

Once you start going to on-demand services or less popular stations abroad,
there is less incentive to keep it working.

Some of the radios are based on global 'platforms' from the silicon vendor
(eg Frontier) - if Frontier sells a lot of radios in Spain, they might be
incentivised to make Spanish stations work nicely. But if they don't sell
many radios in Venezuela then there's not so much interest in them keeping
their local stations working.

(That's my experience from being on the now-defunct Reciva platform - other
platforms may do it better than Reciva did)

Theo

[charles]

Post by Theo

Post by Roderick Stewart
Maybe the "cat and mouse game" of which you speak depends on which
stations you listen to, but I've had no problems at all listening to
the ones I like on an internet radio designed for the purpose. I just
save them on the presets and they stay put. It's a Roberts 93i.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/roberts-stream-93i.1945133/
(BBC broke on demand audio, Roberts fixed it 15 months later, BBC broke
it, Roberts fixed it again)

More likely Roberts made radio without looking at the spec. Simply made it
work on what was being brodcast. This happened with some tv makers over
Ceefax.

[Theo]

Post by charles

Post by Theo

Post by Roderick Stewart
Maybe the "cat and mouse game" of which you speak depends on which
stations you listen to, but I've had no problems at all listening to
the ones I like on an internet radio designed for the purpose. I just
save them on the presets and they stay put. It's a Roberts 93i.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/roberts-stream-93i.1945133/
(BBC broke on demand audio, Roberts fixed it 15 months later, BBC broke
it, Roberts fixed it again)

More likely Roberts made radio without looking at the spec. Simply made it
work on what was being brodcast. This happened with some tv makers over
Ceefax.

Usually there isn't a spec - it's just whatever the broadcaster decided to
do. Services like iPlayer are not designed by some standardisation body -
it's just a website cooked up by the BBC. It is not 'radio' - the audio
streams for live radio are just some URLs on a website. BBC changes what
they do, the clients break. It is up to the radio platform to keep track of
the changes - across all the radio stations in the world. Hence cat and
mouse.

Or the broadcaster decided to cut off third party clients for commercial
reasons. Like removing services from Alexa as per the BBC link I posted
upthread.

Theo

[Roderick Stewart]

On 31 Jan 2023 11:04:27 +0000 (GMT), Theo

Post by Theo

Post by Roderick Stewart
Maybe the "cat and mouse game" of which you speak depends on which
stations you listen to, but I've had no problems at all listening to
the ones I like on an internet radio designed for the purpose. I just
save them on the presets and they stay put. It's a Roberts 93i.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/roberts-stream-93i.1945133/
(BBC broke on demand audio, Roberts fixed it 15 months later, BBC broke it,
Roberts fixed it again)
If all you listen to is the internet equivalent of what you find on DAB or
FM, you'll probably be fine - live audio is simpler and the manufacturer is
incentivised to make big stations work.
Once you start going to on-demand services or less popular stations abroad,
there is less incentive to keep it working.
Some of the radios are based on global 'platforms' from the silicon vendor
(eg Frontier) - if Frontier sells a lot of radios in Spain, they might be
incentivised to make Spanish stations work nicely. But if they don't sell
many radios in Venezuela then there's not so much interest in them keeping
their local stations working.
(That's my experience from being on the now-defunct Reciva platform - other
platforms may do it better than Reciva did)
Theo

For what it's worth, I rarely listen to anything from the BBC. I use
the Roberts as a bedside radio mostly for listening to music. A couple
of my favourites, Ancient FM and Otto's Baroque have never failed, and
are also available via radio player apps on the Nvidia Shield and
Amazon Fire TV. None of my experience with these feels like a system
that's unreliable. They're easy to use and they just work, and the
sound quality is excellent.

Rod.

[tony sayer]

Post by Roderick Stewart
On 31 Jan 2023 11:04:27 +0000 (GMT), Theo

Post by Theo

Post by Roderick Stewart
Maybe the "cat and mouse game" of which you speak depends on which
stations you listen to, but I've had no problems at all listening to
the ones I like on an internet radio designed for the purpose. I just
save them on the presets and they stay put. It's a Roberts 93i.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/roberts-stream-93i.1945133/
(BBC broke on demand audio, Roberts fixed it 15 months later, BBC broke it,
Roberts fixed it again)
If all you listen to is the internet equivalent of what you find on DAB or
FM, you'll probably be fine - live audio is simpler and the manufacturer is
incentivised to make big stations work.
Once you start going to on-demand services or less popular stations abroad,
there is less incentive to keep it working.
Some of the radios are based on global 'platforms' from the silicon vendor
(eg Frontier) - if Frontier sells a lot of radios in Spain, they might be
incentivised to make Spanish stations work nicely. But if they don't sell
many radios in Venezuela then there's not so much interest in them keeping
their local stations working.
(That's my experience from being on the now-defunct Reciva platform - other
platforms may do it better than Reciva did)
Theo

For what it's worth, I rarely listen to anything from the BBC. I use
the Roberts as a bedside radio mostly for listening to music. A couple
of my favourites, Ancient FM and Otto's Baroque have never failed, and
are also available via radio player apps on the Nvidia Shield and
Amazon Fire TV. None of my experience with these feels like a system
that's unreliable. They're easy to use and they just work, and the
sound quality is excellent.
Rod.

Thats a lovely station that:)..


https://www.ancientfm.com/

[MB]

Post by Roderick Stewart
The radio sounds pretty good through its own loudspeakers (yes,
plural, in stereo) for something of its size, but could also be
connected to a hi-fi using a 3.5mm analogue stereo connector, and it
can be connected to the internet using either wi-fi or ethernet.
It's probably possible to connect a phone or a tablet to the hi-fi,
but I've never tried. I prefer to use my phone as a phone.

The only thing that I do not like about the Roberts 94i is that I think
the Bluetooth is only an input so you cannot feed an external speaker by
BT.

[Roderick Stewart]

Post by MB

Post by Roderick Stewart
The radio sounds pretty good through its own loudspeakers (yes,
plural, in stereo) for something of its size, but could also be
connected to a hi-fi using a 3.5mm analogue stereo connector, and it
can be connected to the internet using either wi-fi or ethernet.
It's probably possible to connect a phone or a tablet to the hi-fi,
but I've never tried. I prefer to use my phone as a phone.

The only thing that I do not like about the Roberts 94i is that I think
the Bluetooth is only an input so you cannot feed an external speaker by
BT.

I have the 93i, which as far as I know is pretty much the same but
without Bluetooth. If I ever wanted to connect it to an external
loudspeaker or hi-fi system, there are 3.5mm output jacks for both an
externally amplified system, and for headphones, which would probably
drive a loudspeaker directly. There's also an input.

When I was young, we connected things together using an ancient
technology called wire. It still works.

Rod.

[David Paste]

[waffle]

Thanks to everyone for replies. I have decided that for the moment a repurposed
old phone will be a good starting point. I can then judge if something else will be
more convenient for me. Thanks again!