Internet Radio - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

nfotiu · 05-31-2006, 12:49 PM

Anyone know any good internet radio stations? I'm looking for something that plays indie music similar to Sirius's Left of Center, and has good sound quality. Sirius's sound quality (via satellite or internet) isn't really good enough to listen to through the home system. Just looking for something that plays new semi-obscure, but not so obscure that they suck, bands.

Looger · 05-31-2006, 01:11 PM

http://1077theend.com/

not really my style but there's some really neat stuff here and there.

troutman · 05-31-2006, 01:14 PM

www.woxy.com

www.3wk.com

www.cjsw.com

http://radio3.cbc.ca/

http://www.wdst.com/

ken0042 · 05-31-2006, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Sirius's sound quality (via satellite or internet) isn't really good enough to listen to through the home system.

While I agree with you on the Sirius sound quality, is internet radio any better? It's been a while since I listened to internet radio, but last time I did it wasn't very good.

Bobblehead · 05-31-2006, 01:23 PM

What bitrate do the sat-providers use?

How does it compare to the SC/EVU music stations?

troutman · 05-31-2006, 01:23 PM

Some of the stations I linked have CD quality sound, but you have to pay for the premium service. Free streams are available.

BTW, internet radio stations are in grave danger:

http://www.3wk.com/funddrive.php

The major label music industry and their lobbying cohort, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), haven't quite figured out how to use the Internet to make money yet. So far their response has been to screw the consumer with high-priced cds and to fight music downloads by suing 14 year-old kids and college students. Not quite in the black from those "consumer-friendly" practices, their next ploy is to break the back of internet radio with ridiculously high copyright fees. They are now demanding that internet radio stations like 3WK pay them 30% of our revenue just so we can play the music you want to hear. We don't have anything against artists getting paid for their music - but when you consider the amount of free marketing we give them through airplay and "buy it now" buttons, we feel that we're more than giving them fair consideration for their product. We've tried negotiating with the RIAA for lower rates, but they're not even speaking to us now. So to bring the fight to the RIAA, we, along with several other independent webcasters, are arguing our side in front of the US Copyright Royalty Board. This requires a lawyer and filing papers, which requires money.

Looger · 05-31-2006, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

While I agree with you on the Sirius sound quality, is internet radio any better? It's been a while since I listened to internet radio, but last time I did it wasn't very good.

it varies greatly.

icebergradio.com seems to be decent quality, but cuts out a lot on the higher-demand channels.

some places offer 16-bit streams for subscription, and 8-bit streams for free as well.

nfotiu · 05-31-2006, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

While I agree with you on the Sirius sound quality, is internet radio any better? It's been a while since I listened to internet radio, but last time I did it wasn't very good.

I'm kind of curious myself. I know the bitrates on a lot of the internet stations are a lot higher than Sirius's. Sirius is about 40-50 kps. Although their compression may be better than other codec's, I'd have to think a 128kps mp3 or WMA would sound better. I was looking at getting a device like this, http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_overview.html mostly for streaming digital music from my pc or a NAS. I was curious what the state of internet music was right now, and if there are any stations streaming quality that even approaches CD quality.

I notice the first 2 that troutman posted advertise CD quality. Can anyone attest to that? I'll have to check them out when I get home.

I wonder if you could get those stations that require logins and/or subscriptions to work on a squeezebox.

Reggie Dunlop · 05-31-2006, 01:36 PM

http://www.radioparadise.com/

nfotiu · 05-31-2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

What bitrate do the sat-providers use?

How does it compare to the SC/EVU music stations?

In the 40s, I believe, using AAC. It is pretty comparable to the Satellite/Digital cable stations like music choice, etc. Maybe even slightly worse.

Bobblehead · 05-31-2006, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I was looking at getting a device like this, http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_overview.html mostly for streaming digital music from my pc or a NAS.

If the music you want to listen to is on your PC, then this is a great option. Actually, anyone can install the server software (it is free/open source) and then log on to you home PC from anywhere and listen to your collection, using most media players (I've used Foobar200, Media Player Classic and tested with Windows Media Player). It allows you to set the bitrate of the stream (it uses LAME if any transcoding is required). For free, you can't beat the price.

Buff · 05-31-2006, 03:29 PM

I listen to XRM radio through shoutcast on Winamp.

flamingchina · 05-31-2006, 03:44 PM

http://di.fm
http://www.somafm.com/
http://monkeyradio.org/?section=news
mostly electronica stuff (huge range though)

troutman · 05-31-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buff

I listen to XRM radio through shoutcast on Winamp.

Velvet Revolver, Nickelback, Matchbox 20, Linkin Park, Korn, Stone Temple Pilots etc are considered "alternative"? Ewwww. Sometime in the mid-90s "alternative" rock got stolen from us. Bob Mould wrote a song about it, "I Hate Alternative Rock":

I knew you when you had something to say . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock

By the mid-90s, alternative was synonymous with grunge in the eyes of the mass media and the general public, and a supposed "alternative culture" was being marketed to the mainstream in much the same way as the hippiecounterculture had in the 1960s (the existence of any such culture is debatable, and is often seen by some fans of the music to have been a creation of the media). Thus, many wildly popular post-grunge bands such as Third Eye Blind and Matchbox Twenty were labeled as "alternative" rock. Nevertheless, alternative bands who were leery of broad commercial success developed indie rock, a genre that espoused a return to the original ethos of alternative music

Buff · 05-31-2006, 04:02 PM

Whatever category it is supposed to fall into, I like most of the stuff they play. I first found them when they played only stuff from the mid 90's. There wasn't any Linkin Park, Korn or newer bands than made it in the 2000's. They have a small amount of songs that got overplayed on the local rock station in Lethbridge... otherwise, I like what I hear from XRM.

DuffMan · 05-31-2006, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

http://www.radioparadise.com/

X2. I've been listening to RP for over a year, and still like it a lot.

troutman · 05-31-2006, 04:16 PM

All Ween, all the time:

http://www.weenradio.com/

WeenRadio is now broadcasting in HiFi: 128 Kbs Stereo Stream

Bobblehead · 05-31-2006, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troutman

Velvet Revolver, Nickelback, Matchbox 20, Linkin Park, Korn, Stone Temple Pilots etc are considered "alternative"? Ewwww.

That brings up something I've wondered about for a while. If an alternative band stays true to their sound, but then later becomes popular, are they no longer 'alternative'?

I've wondered about bands like R.E.M., bands who have a unique sound and are on the fringe of the music scene for a while, and then become popular. You often hear them called sellouts, but if they haven't changed their sound to seek the market, are they sellouts? (And I'm not pointing at you Troutman, your post just made me think about this again)

Reggie Dunlop · 05-31-2006, 04:56 PM

http://www.live365.com/index.live

lots of selection here...

nuckles · 05-31-2006, 07:06 PM

XM Radio