Software For Downloading Internet Radio Programmes

[Mobi]

I have been looking for some time for free software to download radio programmes, for later listening and also to burn onto disc, so that I can listen on long car journeys.

Free software seem to be thin on the ground, and the only links I have found lead nowhere.

I don't mind paying, if someone could recommend a good link.

The quality is not important as I am only looking to download old BBC comedy programmes, (speech not music).

Thanks for any suggestions or links

Mobi

[bkkmick]

Hi Mobi. Funny enough I just asked that question this week.

You can download MP3's directly from a BBC website and use something like Windows Media player to burn an audio CD from your MP3.

Personally I now prefer the response from cdnvic (I think) about using an MP3 player as you get much more play time (think that the audio CD is only about 80 mins). You can purchase online a cassette like device that your MP3 player plugs into then you stick the cassette into your car. You'll get much more play time and it's easier (for me) than burning CD's everyday.

All the best

Mick

Link for car accessories: http://www.nextag.com/mp3-car-adapter/search-html

quiksilva suggests iTunes for auto update of PosCast subscriptions (haven't used it myself but sounds reasonable)

Edited February 10, 2007 by bkkmick

[Thaddeus]

Try this one Mobi

Audacity

It's Free

[briley]

Find the flying raichu version of streambox and you can download real media files instead of just listening to them - both audio and video

[jeffrosner]

Don't be a cheapskate - buy this:

I have used it for years - it works way to well and I record and store 10 programs a day. I then decide what I want to listen to, commercial free.

Replay - Radio

[katana]

Screamer Radio can record some streams.

[jeffrosner]

Replay-Radio.com records multiple streams automatically. If you have found a better program, let me know - I use it all day and night and it automatically records radio from america - talk shows.

[chiliwasabi]

Try this one Mobi

Audacity

It's Free

I use audacity all the time at home and work. It's easy to use, also handy if you have any old cassettes or similar that you may want to digitise for use on CD, mp3 (etc) .

Edited February 10, 2007 by chiliwasabi

[Crossy]

Don't be a cheapskate - buy this:

I have used it for years - it works way to well and I record and store 10 programs a day. I then decide what I want to listen to, commercial free.

Replay - Radio

I'm most impressed

Been looking for a decent stream recorder for ages, love the facility for recording multiple streams.

Looking forward to Steve Wright in the Afternoon on the way home from work whilst sitting in standard BKK traffic :D

Replay-Radio is no longer available, but Replay-AV from the same people will also record streaming video.

[Mobi]

Thanks for all the replies and links guys.

Thaddeus, I downloaded Audacity and have found it works really well. It was just what I was looking for.

BKKMick. thanks for your post - I just wanted to download the stuff onto my PC - I already have an MP3 burner on the PC and an MP3 player in my auto.

Jeffrosner, I don't think I'm a cheapskate, and am prepared to pay if necessary. Howver I often find that when I pay, I don't get what I want, and whoever sells it to me tries to sell me their products forever more. That's why I asked for recommendations.

Crossy and others using Replay, can you set the time to record a radio stream? On Audacity I can set the time to stop recording but not to start it, so I can't have it starting to record when I'm not there.

Anyway thanks again - this is absolutely the best forum for getting really good advice and help.

Edited February 11, 2007 by Mobi D'Ark

[Veazer]

...I downloaded Audacity and have found it works really well. It was just what I was looking for...

Audacity will work, but it is less than ideal. Audacity can record what is being played on the soundcard, but this means the resulting file will be either:

1) an uncompressed wav file taking up much more space that the original stream

or

2) Re-compressed and thus slightly lower quality. Even using high-quality settings, re-compressing previously compressed audio will always result in a loss of quality. How much the audio is degraded will depend on the compression used.

Also, audio recorded using audacity or similar programs is passed through the sound card which can add some background noise, depending on the quality of your soundcard.

A better solution is to use a program which records the incoming data stream directly to disk, such as Replay Radio that jeffrosner recommended. I haven't used Replay Radio, but it looks good.

I personally use "StreamDown" for windows media and realaudio streams, and "StreamRipper" for mp3 streams. A cool feature of StreamRipper is that it actually breaks the stream into separate files and tags and names them based using the artist and song title info passed from the server. You can record a station (or multiple stations) overnight and wake up with a folder full of neatly organized music.

Another advantage of recording the data stream rather than actual audio is you can get perfect quality files on less than perfect internet connections when recording non-live streams such as pre-recorded news programs. The program will trick the server into thinking the connection was lost and restart the stream in order to get missing bits of data. Note that StreamDown also works for video, so you can download video streams intended for higher bandwidth internet connections using this technique.

[jeffrosner]

Replay-Radio records 10 shows from across the world. It doesn't record Michael Savage on the weekend because it knows it is a weekly show. It starts, stops and does everything all the others do but does it in one software program.

Did you even look at the website?

[Crossy]

Crossy and others using Replay, can you set the time to record a radio stream? On Audacity I can set the time to stop recording but not to start it, so I can't have it starting to record when I'm not there.

Yep, you can schedule everything, it recorde multiple streams simultaneously too, so no problems with two or more shows on together. Record up to 10 streams at once, subject to available bandwidth of course.

Quality is unimpared by the soundcard as the data is recorded direct to your hard drive

Value for money 10/10

[Mobi]

Crossy and others using Replay, can you set the time to record a radio stream? On Audacity I can set the time to stop recording but not to start it, so I can't have it starting to record when I'm not there.

Yep, you can schedule everything, it recorde multiple streams simultaneously too, so no problems with two or more shows on together. Record up to 10 streams at once, subject to available bandwidth of course.

Quality is unimpared by the soundcard as the data is recorded direct to your hard drive

Value for money 10/10

Thanks for that Crossy, you've got me quite interested.

Please be gentle with me because I'm not too bright on computer stuff.

Can you tell me if Replay downloads onto the PC hard drive in MP3 format? If it is Wav format, I can't burn onto a MP3 disc, at least not with my software. Audacity will download and export onto the hard drive in MP3 format for me so that I can burn onto a disc later.

With Replay, How would I download directly onto disc? I have dvd/mp3/cd recording software (Nero)and a record drive on my pc but downloading directly to disc is beyond my aging grey matter. Do I need a special set up to do this?

Also, being out tin the wilds of Pong, with a unreliable IPstar connection, I'm not too sure about multiple streaming.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

[Crossy]

Thanks for that Crossy, you've got me quite interested.

Please be gentle with me because I'm not too bright on computer stuff.

Can you tell me if Replay downloads onto the PC hard drive in MP3 format? If it is Wav format, I can't burn onto a MP3 disc, at least not with my software. Audacity will download and export onto the hard drive in MP3 format for me so that I can burn onto a disc later.

With Replay, How would I download directly onto disc? I have dvd/mp3/cd recording software (Nero)and a record drive on my pc but downloading directly to disc is beyond my aging grey matter. Do I need a special set up to do this?

Also, being out tin the wilds of Pong, with a unreliable IPstar connection, I'm not too sure about multiple streaming.

By default Replay stores the stream in whatever format it was transmitted, Flash, mp3, wma, RealMedia etc. It comes with a converter to put your material in the format you want including mp3. It can be told to perform the conversion automatically when the stream terminates

Once you have the files on your hard disc, use Nero to burn a CD. Don't even think about recording directly to a CD, too much pain (and many coasters) lies down this route.

EDIT Why not download the trial version of Replay, it's limited to 5 minutes recording but you can see how well it works. If you decide to buy it, you don't need to download again, it's a key entry job

EDIT 2 Apparently if you are recording a non-live stream and your connection drops out Replay does quite a good job of re-syncing and patching up the iffy bit. Not tried this yet though.

Edited February 12, 2007 by Crossy

[Veazer]

Replay-Radio records 10 shows from across the world. It doesn't record Michael Savage on the weekend because it knows it is a weekly show. It starts, stops and does everything all the others do but does it in one software program.

Did you even look at the website?

Yes, I did. That's why I said it looks good. Did you even read my post? -->

...A better solution is to use a program which records the incoming data stream directly to disk, such as Replay Radio that jeffrosner recommended. I haven't used Replay Radio, but it looks good...

[crabstix]

Replay-Radio.com records multiple streams automatically. If you have found a better program, let me know - I use it all day and night and it automatically records radio from america - talk shows.

Thanks

I managed to use this software. It's great to be able to listen to my old favourites again. The only problem is that I can't seem to get it to record in Stereo. When I put in my headphones into my mp3 player sound only comes out of from the right earphone. How do I get it to record in Stereo?