Cheapest way into digital radio?

[montesquieu]

Just wondered if people had views on the cheapest way into digital radio?

I had a Squeezebox for a bit but didn't get along with with for music files at all (metadata arrangements are extremely poor for classical music without hands-on editing), it was also pretty poor in terms of wireless reception, but when it was working I enjoyed access to foreign radio channels (some amazing German & American ones in particular, specialising in baroque or classical chamber music). I sold mine a while back but saw a s/h one today make £149 plus postage on ebay which would be plain silly just for radio.

I've seen £30 appliances from the likes of netgear but no idea how user-friendly they are for radio, or what the digital out (if any) is like - I would want to use it with my DAC.

I don't mind controlling the thing from my Macbook if need be though obviously better if the main functions could be done from a front panel. I do have an reasonable Lenovo laptop going spare (Vista model) but don't really want the fan noise or hassle of having to boot up a PC just to listen. I usually have my Macbook running in the study if a device needs a server running of some kind.

Anyone with experience of these smaller devices (for example this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-MP101-Wireless-Digital-Player/dp/B00022V2BC ) or any other thoughts or advice? If it could be done for £30 I'd be a very happy bunny.

Ta much!

--------

Tom

[dave2010]

Your question is slightly odd, and might refer to localised digital streaming units. However, for DAB radio you could use a USB stick radio - mentioned here - http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/dab-pcradios.html They've not seen any for a while though, and neither have I, but keep looking. You could try a DVB-T USB stick which would pull in TV and digital radio via terrestrial digital TV - http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=225561&C=Froogle&U=225561&T=Module Some of these gadgets work quite well, though you may need a good aerial.

I don't particularly like cheap DAB radios - they tend (IMO) not to give good results, though I do have a really good one which I got years ago for £50 - RED from Sainsburys - excellent, but NLA - and I think so good they discontinued it. Some of the current PURE models costing £100+ are probably quite good but you seem to want to go cheaper than that.

I've seen earlier models of the PURE DAB tuners available on eBay recently for under £50 - could be a good buy. These were discontinued several years ago.

[montesquieu]

Thanks for the reply - no I really don't like DAB, doesn't work in my part of Berkshire, and anyway it's a complete technological dead end. Apologies for my post which with hindsight is not clear at all!

I'm talking about something that will stream internet radio from any radio station via my wireless router (or via some server software running on a computer in my study). Preferably with a digital output.

I'm only interested in radio, I really don't care about playing back music files as whatever spotty youth created the metadata schema for the iPod clearly hadn't a clue about the requirements of classical music, and even years on it remains a complete mess - life's too short to spend your life ripping disks then keying in missing data or fixing bad or inconsistent database entries. I'll stick to CD where I can read the sleeve notes as well (again, vital for the classical music experience, not so important for a download of Lady Gaga's latest single).

Radio is a different matter though - for example Austrian radio do regular broadcasts of chamber music and lieder from the Schubertiade music festivals in Hoehenems and Schwartzenberg. My old Logitech Squeezebox did the job when it was working but was flaky at wifi reception - I tried some 'through the mains' ethernet connectors but they caused terrible RFI problems. Surely there has to be an appliance out there that allows me to stream digital radio stations cheaply?

[Labarum]

I agree. Tagging Classical Music is not so easy.

But see

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/Beginners_Guide_To_Classical

If, however, all you want to do is play a compilation (a disc) there is no problem: you flip through the database by Album and click play. In some softwares you can simply click on the Album Art, which is how you recognise a CD when looking along the shelf or in the CD cabinet.

If you want a particular track in a compilation you have to remember which CD it is on if you are going the spin the disc, at least if the CD is ripped you have sort sort of electronic search, even if it is not ideal.

Internet Radio? Yes some fabulous stations out there. There are many ways to access them. Squeezebox does it silently, and without a fuss.

You could buy an Apple Airport Express (£80?) and run iTunes on the MacBook. You would need some sort of remote control. If you had an iPhone that could control iTunes on the study MacBook.

Whatever you use the quality is determined by the DAC - the one in the Airport Express is not great, but it has an optical out, if you are running another DAC.

[dave2010]

Tom

I'm surprised you have had problems with a Squeezebox. I have an SB3, and more recently a Squeezebox Boom, and both seem to work fine for me. Perhaps it's the way I use them though. I tend to configure things on my laptop first, so maybe your issue is trying to use the interface on the devices. I don't have major problems with the wireless interface either, and also part of my system goes through a wired link across the mains to a hard drive. For information, I currently use 3 routers - two are Zyxel with the mains link capability (85 Mbps) - and I know that according to the manufacturer I've got a non-standard set up, but I do get the routers to talk to each other via the mains. The third router is a Buffalo unit which is attached to hard drives. I configured the wireless LAN to all use the same SSID, but on different channels, but with the same password. This allows us to move seamlessly around the house, and even to the back of the garden. I know it works, because if I turn the nearest router off, streaming collapses within 30 seconds. If your Squeezebox is far from your wireless access point, or your environment presents problems, then that would explain some of your problems. That indeed is why I developed my two router (now 3 - because I got the Buffalo router really cheap - £15) solution, as one of our rooms functioned as a black hole regarding wireless.

I also have a Philips SLA5520 (NLA) which also does streaming as you suggest, though not as good quality as the Logitech unit. However it was pretty good for some channels. See here - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Philips-SLA5520-Stremium-Wireless-Music-Adapter-/140437123297?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20b2b470e1

I fancied the Netgear units you were interested in, but I never bought one. I read that there were some problems. You might still be able to get them though - not sure if I'm still tempted myself - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Netgear-MP-101-MP3-Player-/180539604285?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_PortableAudio_MP3Players&hash=item2a08ffbd3d

[dave2010]

Tom

You might still be able to get them though - not sure if I'm still tempted myself - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Netgear-MP-101-MP3-Player-/180539604285?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_PortableAudio_MP3Players&hash=item2a08ffbd3dMissed it - forgot to look again. It (the Netgear MP 101) went for under £20 including postage. As I recall though it is only an MP3 unit (maybe WMA as well), and doesn't have digital outputs. It's a pity that the Logitech units seem to have changed a bit, as the SB3 was very good at its price point. I believe the Touch is very good, but it costs more than the SB3 ever did. The Radio and the Boom serve different purposes. You can still get the Classic SB3 model used from ebay - and there are several coming up - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Slim-Devices-Squeezebox-SB3-wired-music-player-/190426096765?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c5647a47d Despite comments regarding your previous experiences, I suspect that these are still the best value for money if you can get a good one, and it should be possible to tame the software/interface.

[Nick_G]

The good thing about the SB Touch is native playback from the high quality iPlayer BBC radio streams. I'm not sure whether this is possible on units from other manufacturers.

I'm planning to get one before the end of the year so I can listen to internet radio on my hi-fi system.

[lovejoy]

I have a Netgear MP-10. I paid about £30 for mine. It makes a rather expensive doorstop.

In all seriousness if you want to listen to internet radio, only want MP3 streams and can use a wired ethernet connection then it's fine. I had dreadful problems with wireless reception dropping constantly (in a room where 2 other wireless devices never dropped connection). I remember finding a mod for the box that would improve wireless performance, which made it slightly better, but not good enough still.

These days if I want internet radio around the house, I just plug the iPhone into some PC speakers which works a treat.