I probably shouldn't tell you this, but if you're a Pandora (customizable internet radio...lets you design personal "stations" that ONLY play songs you like), and are frustrated at the lack of support for Pandora on portable devices, there IS a way to listen on your PocketPC, Smart Phone, or "internet pad" (whatever those things from Nokia are called). In fact, it's possible to re-encode ANY audio playing on your home computer in a format that will play on a portable device. Yes, I'm aware of services like Orb. These DO NOT allow you to reformat streaming audio from stations that are incompatible with portable devices. But YOU can do it. Here's how.
Download the free Windows Media Encoder from Microsoft available here http://www.download.com/Windows-Media-Encoder/3000-2140_4-10211788.html?tag=lst-0-2
In XP double-click on the speaker icon in the system tray (or go to "programs/accessories/entertainment/volume control", couble click, and open the system mixer...er, volume control. Click "options", "properties", and "recording". Under "show the following volume controls", choose "stereo mix". A second box will open with "stereo mix". Click the box in it as well. Then click "properties", and "exit".
Now open the Windows Media Encoder. Under "New Session" choose "broadcast a live event". Click "ok". In the next screen, choose "audio" only, no video. By your audio device, select "configure", and in the next screen, under "pin line" select "stereo mix". Click "next".
In the next screen choose "pull from encoder". and click "next".
Open your word processor. Copy and paste the URL for "internet connection", and "lan connection" too if you want to also connect just on your lan, but not on the internet. Save these urls into a word document (or whatever word processor you use. The "notepad" in Windows will work fine).
Back in Windows Media Encoder, choose "next". By "audio" choose "cd quality audio", which will show "70kbps". Make sure that's checked (these settings can be changed later if you want to bump up the bitrate). Click "finish".
You can now simply click "start encoding", or if you want to adjust bitrate you can click on "properties", then "compression". Click "edit".
In the next screen, click the "70kbps" tab, and in the drop-down by "audio format", select the bitrate and sample rate you want. Bump it up for better quality, down if you have trouble streaming on your device (some supposedly "broadband" connections on portable devices can't support a sutatined bitrate of 70 kbps (64kbps actually). 48kbps still sounds good with Windows Media, and 32kbps isn't terrible. Hint...if dropping down to a lower bitrate, also choose a lower sample rate. This will prevent the codec from wasting precious bits encoding the least audible octave...the one between 10khz and 20khz. For slower connections, I'd recommend 32kbps, 22khz (22.05khz, actually). With lossy codecs, especially at really low bitrates (below 48kbps), every time you drop the bitrate, also drop the sample rate, and you'll help minimize audible artifacts. Click "ok", then "apply", then click the "x" on the top of the "system properties" box, to go to the main screen.
Click "start encoding". Stat the source you wish to stream to your portable device (such as Pandora). Nothing much will happen. Relax, remember you chose "pull from encoder"? Nothing is happening, because no devices are connected. Open "Windows Media Player", and copy and paste the internet URL you saved in your word processor under "open" and "open URL". BANG! You're streaming. Now save that stream as a "playlist" file. Choose the "m3u" extension, because it's more widely supported than the "wpl" extension. Save the playlist in a place that's easy to find...like your desktop.
Close Windows Media Player, but leave everything else running. Open the Volume control in Windows again, and adjust the "wave" slider until the meters in Windows Media Encoder aren't going into the red. This will give you clean audio, with no distortion.
Now transfer that playlist file to your portable device (PDA, Smartphone, etc). Use whatever removable media is available. If your device has no removable media slots, e-mail the playlist file to an account you can open on the portable device (it's a tiny file, don't worry), and download it to your device. Open your media player on the device (connected to the 'net, of course), and open the playlist file. SHE-BAM! You're streaming Pandora (or your chosen audio from your home 'puter) to your portable device, anywhere in the world. You can even share the URL with a friend or two, but not MANY friends. Broadband download speeds may be as high as several megabits per second, but UPLOAD speeds are usually on the order of 256kbps, or 512kbps. Not a big problem, as the free version of the Windows Media Encoder will only allow five simultaneous connections anyway.
When finished, SAVE THE "session" before exiting Windows Media Encoder. Then you won't have to to through all those setup setps next time.
I know, it sounds complex, but once you've done it a couple of times, it'll be as easy as tying your shoes, and YOU get to decide what you want to hear (or see with a tuner card) on your portable device!
By the way, you can also use this method to stream ANY audio (or video, with tuner card) device connected to your computer. Perhaps there's an FM, AM, or HD radio channel you can't receive where you'll be traveling. Connect it to your computer's "line in" jack (with appropriate adapter cable), and select the "line input" in the Windows Mixer (Volume Control). Follow the above instructions for level adjustment, etc. ANY audio source you can get into your computer can be streamed. Like to listen to a scanner or shortwave? STREAM IT from home!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Something to listen to
HD Radio is great. Vastly improved sound quality (on fm, anyway), and more important...more VARIETY (with "multicasting"...allowing a single station to simultaneously broadcast multiple programs...known as "channels", or "streams"). But if none of those extra channels interest you, it's just so much background noise.
I often tell my wife that there's not much on radio that I enjoy listening to (despite 33 years in the business). I enjoy soft music, primarily instrumental. Go ahead, use the "New Age" label if you like. That's cool, as Windham Hill has stayed in business the last few decades largly due to my contributions "to the cause". Last night I discovered something on the radio in my area that I really love. WFAE Charlotte (90.7 FM) has a Sunday evening show called "Nightscapes"...three hours of instrumental, "new age" music. I freakin' love it! Perfect music to soothe the soul! It's even in HD, and sounds very good. Not perfect, because WFAE has THREE HD streams, and consequently divides their data-stream three ways. Still it was bright, crisp, "full" soundinding...clearly better than analog fm, and the music was GREAT. I'll be listening next Sunday, and on the Sundays that follow! If you're ever in Charlotte (or HIckory...where it's simulcast on 90.3 WFHE), check it out!
This joins "The Shuffle Channel" on WLYT (Charlotte, 102.9) as my co-favorite HD offering to-date.
I often tell my wife that there's not much on radio that I enjoy listening to (despite 33 years in the business). I enjoy soft music, primarily instrumental. Go ahead, use the "New Age" label if you like. That's cool, as Windham Hill has stayed in business the last few decades largly due to my contributions "to the cause". Last night I discovered something on the radio in my area that I really love. WFAE Charlotte (90.7 FM) has a Sunday evening show called "Nightscapes"...three hours of instrumental, "new age" music. I freakin' love it! Perfect music to soothe the soul! It's even in HD, and sounds very good. Not perfect, because WFAE has THREE HD streams, and consequently divides their data-stream three ways. Still it was bright, crisp, "full" soundinding...clearly better than analog fm, and the music was GREAT. I'll be listening next Sunday, and on the Sundays that follow! If you're ever in Charlotte (or HIckory...where it's simulcast on 90.3 WFHE), check it out!
This joins "The Shuffle Channel" on WLYT (Charlotte, 102.9) as my co-favorite HD offering to-date.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
A processing artifact that puzzles me
I was listening to WLYT (Charlotte) HD2 this morning ("The Shuffle Channel" http://www.theproductionroom.net/shuffle.wma), and heard something that truly puzzled me.
If you're familiar with the Bangles song "Eternal Flame", you know it's a lovely ballad in 4/4 time. At the first of the song, and at various points throughout, the fourth beat in each measure is punctuated with a "ding" on a bell. "Close your eyes...'ding'...give me your hand, (ding on the start of the word) Darlin', can you feel my (ding on first of word) heart beating....."
I've heard that song a million times. So imagine my shock and confusion when, listening this morning through headphones to this 48kbps HD2 stream, the "dings" were completely gone. THEY WERE NOT THERE! They were replaced with a very slight high frequency transient, which I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't know what belonged there.
Now I have commented earlier that the processing (audio compression and limiting) are too damn aggressive on "The Shuffle Channel". What I wonder is if this is the work of a Neural pre-processor, or similar device, tweaking the signal to minimize (data) compression artifacts. I know that all limiting softens transients. Cymbal crashes never have the SPLASH after going through the old Optimod (insert favorite processor here). But I have NEVER, in 33 years in radio, heard instruments DISAPPEAR from a mix. Anybody else ever noticed anything like this?
If you're familiar with the Bangles song "Eternal Flame", you know it's a lovely ballad in 4/4 time. At the first of the song, and at various points throughout, the fourth beat in each measure is punctuated with a "ding" on a bell. "Close your eyes...'ding'...give me your hand, (ding on the start of the word) Darlin', can you feel my (ding on first of word) heart beating....."
I've heard that song a million times. So imagine my shock and confusion when, listening this morning through headphones to this 48kbps HD2 stream, the "dings" were completely gone. THEY WERE NOT THERE! They were replaced with a very slight high frequency transient, which I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't know what belonged there.
Now I have commented earlier that the processing (audio compression and limiting) are too damn aggressive on "The Shuffle Channel". What I wonder is if this is the work of a Neural pre-processor, or similar device, tweaking the signal to minimize (data) compression artifacts. I know that all limiting softens transients. Cymbal crashes never have the SPLASH after going through the old Optimod (insert favorite processor here). But I have NEVER, in 33 years in radio, heard instruments DISAPPEAR from a mix. Anybody else ever noticed anything like this?
Headphone followup
Thanks for the comments so far, first of all. I've owned many headphones through the years. I have the Sony MDR-V6, and MDR-7506 (consumer and pro versions of the same damn thing). I've owned many Sennheisers...some I loved (HD-400s I owned in the 70s), some I came to be lukewarm about (HD-580). I've also owned Grado SR-60s, and SR-80s.
I came to tire of the overly aggressive "brightly lit" sound of the Sonys and Grados. Great for production and mixing (I know you're not supposed to mix through headphones. It's just that I produce much better mixes when I do!), but for just listening to music, I don't want to be beaten over the head with detail. I just want everything there, in it's place. So I've moved to a preference for a much "warmer" sound than what used to be the norm for me.
By the way...just because you've tried more expensive Sennheisers, don't think that means you have a handle on what the HD-435 sounds like. Sennheiser's "family sound" is turned on it's ear in these (and many of their newer 'phones). Bass is FULL, and very extended. Mids and highs are BACK WHERE THEY BELONG, not up front and 'in your face". If the MRD-7506 and Grado are "solid state" sounding, the HD-435 sounds more "like tubes". I know that's a lame analogy, but there's some truth to it. Though perhaps not as strictly accurate, the 435, to these tired old ears, is quite a bit more "musical".
I came to tire of the overly aggressive "brightly lit" sound of the Sonys and Grados. Great for production and mixing (I know you're not supposed to mix through headphones. It's just that I produce much better mixes when I do!), but for just listening to music, I don't want to be beaten over the head with detail. I just want everything there, in it's place. So I've moved to a preference for a much "warmer" sound than what used to be the norm for me.
By the way...just because you've tried more expensive Sennheisers, don't think that means you have a handle on what the HD-435 sounds like. Sennheiser's "family sound" is turned on it's ear in these (and many of their newer 'phones). Bass is FULL, and very extended. Mids and highs are BACK WHERE THEY BELONG, not up front and 'in your face". If the MRD-7506 and Grado are "solid state" sounding, the HD-435 sounds more "like tubes". I know that's a lame analogy, but there's some truth to it. Though perhaps not as strictly accurate, the 435, to these tired old ears, is quite a bit more "musical".
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I'm a junkie, Man (Sennheiser HD435 review)
Many of us have addictive personalities. I'm one of them, I'm afraid. Some are addicted to drugs, others to alcohol, still others to sex. For me it's none of these. I'm a junkie alright, but the drug of choice is HEADPHONES!
When I was about 10 years old, my parents bought a huge Zenith console stereo. It was glorious! 12" 3 way speakers, three speed record changer, auxiliary input for a tape deck, external speaker outputs (more on that later), and AM/FM STEREO!
By my 12th birthday, the audio and radio bugs had bitten, and I bought an adapter cable at Radio Shack so I could plug headphones into the RCA speaker jacks. A pair of el-cheapo headphones from Brendles in Elkin NC later, and I had a near-religious experience. Stereo through headphones was MAGNIFICENT! EZ-104 (WEZC Charlotte...104.1) and WBT-FM (107.9 also of Charlotte) broadcast beautiful music in glorious stereo. Then WKBC FM (97.3 in North Wilkesboro NC) went stereo. WOW! I listened through headphones for HOURS. I was hooked. And I still am.
Through the years I've bought MANY pairs of headphones (I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many I own). My collection includes some of the "big guns"...Sennheiser HD580, Sony MDR-7506, Beyerdynamic DT-990 PRO, Koss A250, among others. But they mostly sit unused, because these days my favorite "cans" are the cheap (about 60 bucks...cheaper if you shop around) and outrageously good Sennheiser HD-435 http://www.headphone.com/products/headphones/all-headphones/sennheiser-hd-435.php
Their bass is solid to the "bassment" (20hz and below), the response is smooth octave to octave, and the deviate from neutral on the "warm, full" side. The bass is slightly elevated in level, but this is perfect for the way I listen...mostly at night to soft music (cd, mp3, HD Radio, XM, internet radio). They're comfortable...and I'm talking about more than just their fit. The SOUND is comfortable...you can slip it on like an old pair of slippers. And unlike "analytical" 'phones such as the MDR-7506/MDR-V6, they don't emphasize what's wrong with a signal. You may hear things like artifacts in low bitrate digital streams, or slight distortion in recordings or broadcasts. But when there are problems, the 435s just make you aware of it, rather than BEATING YOU OVER THE FREAKIN' HEAD WITH' EM!
They're great 'phones for the real world, if not for "audiophools" (those who care more about gear than music). REAL recordings, those with musical merit are enjoyable, even if the recordings aren't perfect. What more can one ask?
Buy them. They're FANTASTIC!
When I was about 10 years old, my parents bought a huge Zenith console stereo. It was glorious! 12" 3 way speakers, three speed record changer, auxiliary input for a tape deck, external speaker outputs (more on that later), and AM/FM STEREO!
By my 12th birthday, the audio and radio bugs had bitten, and I bought an adapter cable at Radio Shack so I could plug headphones into the RCA speaker jacks. A pair of el-cheapo headphones from Brendles in Elkin NC later, and I had a near-religious experience. Stereo through headphones was MAGNIFICENT! EZ-104 (WEZC Charlotte...104.1) and WBT-FM (107.9 also of Charlotte) broadcast beautiful music in glorious stereo. Then WKBC FM (97.3 in North Wilkesboro NC) went stereo. WOW! I listened through headphones for HOURS. I was hooked. And I still am.
Through the years I've bought MANY pairs of headphones (I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many I own). My collection includes some of the "big guns"...Sennheiser HD580, Sony MDR-7506, Beyerdynamic DT-990 PRO, Koss A250, among others. But they mostly sit unused, because these days my favorite "cans" are the cheap (about 60 bucks...cheaper if you shop around) and outrageously good Sennheiser HD-435 http://www.headphone.com/products/headphones/all-headphones/sennheiser-hd-435.php
Their bass is solid to the "bassment" (20hz and below), the response is smooth octave to octave, and the deviate from neutral on the "warm, full" side. The bass is slightly elevated in level, but this is perfect for the way I listen...mostly at night to soft music (cd, mp3, HD Radio, XM, internet radio). They're comfortable...and I'm talking about more than just their fit. The SOUND is comfortable...you can slip it on like an old pair of slippers. And unlike "analytical" 'phones such as the MDR-7506/MDR-V6, they don't emphasize what's wrong with a signal. You may hear things like artifacts in low bitrate digital streams, or slight distortion in recordings or broadcasts. But when there are problems, the 435s just make you aware of it, rather than BEATING YOU OVER THE FREAKIN' HEAD WITH' EM!
They're great 'phones for the real world, if not for "audiophools" (those who care more about gear than music). REAL recordings, those with musical merit are enjoyable, even if the recordings aren't perfect. What more can one ask?
Buy them. They're FANTASTIC!
A Prarie Home Comanion AT LAST!
At last my favorite radio program on Earth is available noise-free at my rural locale. XM has added "A Prarie Home Companion" to their "XM Public Radio" channel. I know XM can sometimes suffer from audible artifacts, but NOT THIS CHANNEL. The engineering is excellent, and the audio quality superb. If you're an XM subscriber, check it out...Saturdays at 6pm EDT. Garrison has never sounded better!
Now if he'd just write a sequel to "WLT...A Radio Romance"! THAT was a fun read!
Now if he'd just write a sequel to "WLT...A Radio Romance"! THAT was a fun read!
NO BS, just the facts, and my views on digital radio, audio, video, and multimedia
Welcome to my new blog. On it, I will bring you the latest news about radio...particularly digital radio (HD, satellite, and internet), audio, video, and multimedia (as in computer-based entertainment).
I look forward to this opportunity. But a word to the wise (and not so wise). This is MY blog...it's about my opinions, not a place to air your own. FRIENDLY dissent is welcome, but unreasonable, even hostile dissent will be edited and/or deleted at MY discretion. After all...you can assault, er...bless us with YOUR views on your own blog!
I've been in radio since August of 1974...33 years and counting. Read more about me in my bio, but I'll assert time and again that I LOVE RADIO. Voices through the air at the speed of light...it's MAGIC. And the new digital modes, the improved audio quality and extra services they provide, ARE THE FUTURE. If you disagree, you won't feel very welcome here. And if you disagree in terms I find offensive, you'll be edited and/or deleted.
Ok...there's a brief summary of what to expect. First out of the gate...I am very excited by HD Radio (read more at http://www.hdradio.com the official HD Radio website). In November of '06 I purchased what was the least expensive HD radio available...the Accurian table radio from Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2460834&cp). I have quite literally never used it as a table radio. The headphone output is actually ideal as a line output, and I have used it as a component tuner in my bedroom system, pulling in a great number of HD stations from Charlotte, Greensboro, Hickory, and Black Mountain (Asheville) NC...up to 100 miles away, with an INDOOR antenna (the Magnum Dynalab SR-100 (http://70.47.97.204/prodinfo.asp?number=MDSR100). While it has served me shockingly well for an indoor antenna (mounted on the top shelf of my closet, in my home in Boomer NC...Wilkes County, in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains), today I step up to the "big leagues". Today my "new baby" is being installed...a top of the line Antennacraft roof antenna with Channelmaster rotor, and Winegard preamp. It will serve not only my HD Radio needs, but also HDTV (when my Vizio 32" tv arrives on July 7th), and analog radio and tv on my Media Center PC.
Here are some recordings I've made with my rig...examples of what HD Radio sounds like from great distances, with an INDOOR antenna
http://www.theproductionroom.net/hd.wma
http://www.theproductionroom.net/shuffle.wma
The second is the "Shuffle Channel" an HD2 stream from WLYT (102.9) in Charlotte NC.
Here's a link to a recording of WFAN (660 AM) in New York, demonstrating the quality of AM HD Radio
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wfanhd.wma
And here are some examples of analog reception...some of it pretty impressive in it's own right. First a recording I made with my Grundig S350 (Wide Bandwidth, Center-tuned) of WKSK (580AM) West Jefferson NC...about 35 miles from my home. WKSK has a brand spankin' new transmitter and tower, and state of the art (all digital) studio gear...a real 'class act' of a small market station still SERVING THEIR COMMUNITY. They even feature performances from live musicians on Saturday mornings...sometimes from the station, sometimes from the Ashe Civic Center, so listeners can participate.
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wksk.wma
Finally, a demo of analog AM stereo...which most new HD Radios support. This is WNMB AM in North Myrtle Beach South Carolina...also recorded from an Accurian HD Radio
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wnmb.mp3
I'd LOVE to receive other recordings of HD radio reception. PLEASE send them to me at RadioGiant@aol.com and I'll gladly host them at my site. If you have REAL recordings of interference caused by HD stations, I'd welcome those as well.
Thanks, and enjoy! Your opinions are welcome. Mine, of course, are the undisputed truth (KIDDING!)
I look forward to this opportunity. But a word to the wise (and not so wise). This is MY blog...it's about my opinions, not a place to air your own. FRIENDLY dissent is welcome, but unreasonable, even hostile dissent will be edited and/or deleted at MY discretion. After all...you can assault, er...bless us with YOUR views on your own blog!
I've been in radio since August of 1974...33 years and counting. Read more about me in my bio, but I'll assert time and again that I LOVE RADIO. Voices through the air at the speed of light...it's MAGIC. And the new digital modes, the improved audio quality and extra services they provide, ARE THE FUTURE. If you disagree, you won't feel very welcome here. And if you disagree in terms I find offensive, you'll be edited and/or deleted.
Ok...there's a brief summary of what to expect. First out of the gate...I am very excited by HD Radio (read more at http://www.hdradio.com the official HD Radio website). In November of '06 I purchased what was the least expensive HD radio available...the Accurian table radio from Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2460834&cp). I have quite literally never used it as a table radio. The headphone output is actually ideal as a line output, and I have used it as a component tuner in my bedroom system, pulling in a great number of HD stations from Charlotte, Greensboro, Hickory, and Black Mountain (Asheville) NC...up to 100 miles away, with an INDOOR antenna (the Magnum Dynalab SR-100 (http://70.47.97.204/prodinfo.asp?number=MDSR100). While it has served me shockingly well for an indoor antenna (mounted on the top shelf of my closet, in my home in Boomer NC...Wilkes County, in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains), today I step up to the "big leagues". Today my "new baby" is being installed...a top of the line Antennacraft roof antenna with Channelmaster rotor, and Winegard preamp. It will serve not only my HD Radio needs, but also HDTV (when my Vizio 32" tv arrives on July 7th), and analog radio and tv on my Media Center PC.
Here are some recordings I've made with my rig...examples of what HD Radio sounds like from great distances, with an INDOOR antenna
http://www.theproductionroom.net/hd.wma
http://www.theproductionroom.net/shuffle.wma
The second is the "Shuffle Channel" an HD2 stream from WLYT (102.9) in Charlotte NC.
Here's a link to a recording of WFAN (660 AM) in New York, demonstrating the quality of AM HD Radio
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wfanhd.wma
And here are some examples of analog reception...some of it pretty impressive in it's own right. First a recording I made with my Grundig S350 (Wide Bandwidth, Center-tuned) of WKSK (580AM) West Jefferson NC...about 35 miles from my home. WKSK has a brand spankin' new transmitter and tower, and state of the art (all digital) studio gear...a real 'class act' of a small market station still SERVING THEIR COMMUNITY. They even feature performances from live musicians on Saturday mornings...sometimes from the station, sometimes from the Ashe Civic Center, so listeners can participate.
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wksk.wma
Finally, a demo of analog AM stereo...which most new HD Radios support. This is WNMB AM in North Myrtle Beach South Carolina...also recorded from an Accurian HD Radio
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wnmb.mp3
I'd LOVE to receive other recordings of HD radio reception. PLEASE send them to me at RadioGiant@aol.com and I'll gladly host them at my site. If you have REAL recordings of interference caused by HD stations, I'd welcome those as well.
Thanks, and enjoy! Your opinions are welcome. Mine, of course, are the undisputed truth (KIDDING!)
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