RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Is there a reason anyone would want an Internet radio? Philips have just released one , with access to more than 30,000 Internet stations . Costs approx £120. They seem so expensive too. Please could somebody explain ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 (edited) I can see the appeal IF you want more than 30,000 radio stations. I do not, myself. Radio Four is enough for me and it should be enough for anyone. Edited March 11, 2016 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Seems like a good idea for somebody that would like to access internet based radio stations but for some reason doesn't or can't use a computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1457704387' post='3001142'] Radio Four is enough for me and it should be enough for anyone. [/quote] Radio 2 is acceptable while Thought for the Day or interviews with any front bench politician of any stripe are on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoo Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 I don't know about the Philips one, but I got a Sonos Play:1 for similar money (£150ish) and get plenty of use out of it. DAB signal is patchy at ours so station choice is very limited. With the Sonos I can have my alarm clock set to play ABC Disco/Funk All my music media library is stored on a network attached hard drive so I can listen to whatever I like wherever, without having to leave the PC on. Surprisingly decent sound & volume for such a dinky box. It's all controlled from PC/phone/tablet so it doesn't need to be placed anywhere particularly easy to get to - which given how cluttered my place is, is a big benefit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 Dab - very overrated IMHO . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 The problem with DAB is that in order to maximise revenue Ofcom have opted to cram many more stations than originally intended into the bandwidth meaning that the broadcast bitrate is severely compromised over what was original intended. IIRC the best way to listen to DAB is via a cable set-top box, because that gets a much higher bitrate than the signal that is broadcast to air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1457704387' post='3001142']Radio Four is enough for me and it should be enough for anyone. [/quote] Radio 4 was the main reason I bought an internet radio some 7 years ago. On-demand and fast-forward/rewind within programmes was a great convenience. Unfortunately things have changed at the BBC's end and I have to keep a tablet by my bed to get the same functionality. For live streaming only, I don't think internet radios offer any advantage. Mine uses the Reciva portal. Things may be different on other systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 I have a Roberts internet radio. I've found it great when we're booked to do a gig in some far off place, say Athens for example, and the promoter is telling us that such and such a radio station is helping promote and wants to interview etc....rather than taking his word for it I can check to find out if he's BSing or not by having said radio station streaming into the kitchen/office all day... Promoters can't get away with jack anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_the_bass Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 My living room amp is Internet and network linked. I can control it via my phone or tablet and I get to listen to US/Canadian rock radio stations with excellent sound quality. I also use it to tune in to whichever "unsigned" show is playing my bands music. The DAB reception in my house used to be quite good (I was an early adopter of that particular tech) but these days it's none existent. So, in summary, Internet radio as a stand alone unit; I probably wouldn't buy. Internet radio bundled in to some other device that you plan on buying anyway; definitely preferable to an app or having to have a pc running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4stringslow Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1457708973' post='3001198'] The problem with DAB is that in order to maximise revenue Ofcom have opted to cram many more stations than originally intended into the bandwidth meaning that the broadcast bitrate is severely compromised over what was original intended. [/quote] Yes, I've read about this as well. When being launched, DAB promotion focused on its quality improvement over standard broadcasting, and very good it was too. But, as you say, in practice they've wound up the compression to lower the bit rate to cram more stations into the available bandwidth and wrecked the quality, which I've read is no better than FM - indeed I recall reading an article where BBC R3 classical music fans were complaining it is actually for worse than the R3 FM transmissions. Imagine CDs being hailed as a big leap forward in music quality but when launched they were actually recorded as 128k MP3s! Having said that, I'm a fan of DAB and have a couple of DAB radios, but then I never listen to anything other than BBC R4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 I can see the point. A lot of people listen to the radio in places where running a computer wouldn't work. I have the radio on in the shed at home and the workshop at work, lots of tradesmen listen to the radio on site. We're not all within reach of a computer all day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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