WiFi 04a : Sangean WFR-20 - Streaming

Okay. I sorted the local streaming thing.

Of course, it was really a case of RTFMS!!! Oh well ...

The problem was I couldn't link the Sangean to my wlan SHOUTcast broadcast. The Noxon radio has its own configurable webpage on the device to facilitate this.

The Sangean stores its stations and streams on the Reciva server. So you need to register the radio with Reciva.com - the radio's configuration menu tells you a unique registration number. You will then have your own login and a number of tools including "My Streams".

Give your stream a name if it doesn't already have one and its local address which will be something like http://192.168.xxx.xxx:8000/listen.pls.

You then have to force a station update on the Sangean by unplugging it from the mains for a few seconds and switching back on. Your stream will then appear on the menu at Radio Stations >>> Genre >>> My Stuff.

After all that, it works very well.

The .ogg thing has yet to be sorted. However, all audio files are transcoded to +AAC format on the stream so at least I can hear them that way.

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*See my hifi index here.

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WiFi 02 : Streaming

There are a couple of choices when it comes to using your WiFi internet radio to play your music collection; running a music server and streaming audio. The Noxon iRadio can do either.

I use streaming to play a random selection of my music library across our home wifi network. It's possible to listen to the stream via a computer on the wlan as well as a device such as a wifi radio.

Probably the easiest way of doing this is to use WinAmp and its associated SHOUTcast software.

Installing WinAmp is straight forward enough. There are possibly better music and media players, but WinAmp is reasonably easy to set up as a streaming application.

In addition you need the SHOUTCast DSP plugin for WinAmp and SHOUTcast Server. Both come with instructions on how to associate with WinAmp. The plugin is activated from WinAmp's options menu, but the server requires a little setting up via a .txt file. The settings are all fully explained in the file, but do require careful reading.

The advantage of streaming in this way is that you can play any music file format you like - or at least have the WinAmp codec for - despite the fact that the iRadio will only play a limited number of formats. For example, the iRadio will not play .flac or .ape files, but WinAmp/SHOUTcast transcodes the stream into an .mp3, or in my case, AAC+/48kbps format for the iRadio to play.

The disadvantage of streaming is that it is not possible to effect a choice of what's played through the iRadio. The music is directed by WinAmp's playlist. However, it does mean that from time to time you rediscover the little gems hidden away in your music collection.

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*See my hifi index here.

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WiFi 01 : Noxon iRadio

I remember when I was a lad ... Eeeeeee ... you were lucky, mate!!!

Under the bed-clothes with a short-wave radio listening to the cqs from around the globe. I wasn't nearly as keen as some of my friends who had qsl cards printed and sent them off around the world and in turn received cards from scores of exotic locations.

Well, in a way internet radio lets you do this too. And the Noxon iRadio has turned out to be one of the best gadgets I have ever had the fortune to have used with a computer. Well, I say computer, but actually all the iRadio requires is an internet connection. In my case, a wifi connection. It really doesn't need a computer at all!

Now, I have no idea if the iRadio is the best ever device in this genre. There may well be better devices. There are certainly more specialised devices such as the SqueezeBox which is more of a HiFi device and which may well fit into my future plans.

But it is actually quite hard to find this type of device in the USA. They do exist, but are around double the price at least. Certainly nothing in this price range!!!

Maybe the encroachment of satellite radio here mitigates against it, but you can't help wondering if a device which enables you to connect to virtually anything that interests you for free compared to a satellite subscription, might meet some resistance in the US retail market.

Anyway, my iRadio enables me to listen to maybe around 6000 radio stations around the world, many of them in quality stereo.

I just need to give a plug for BBC 5Live International, SomaFM and Lounge-Radio in particular. And just to say it is also great for listening to podcasts, especially Mark Kermode's film reviews.

But the radio connection is just one aspect of the iRadio's talents. Next WiFi articles will explain how to stream your music collection over your domestic wifi network and how to us the iRadio with a music server.

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*See my hifi / media index here.

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