Classical Music Radio stations ONLINE

[Roger Webb]

Yes, it's very frustrating - and I object to being forced in to using the abysmal SOUNDS app.
Radio 3's stream disappeared/moved at the start of last week, R4's the week before.
It may not be help, but here's a link to the new R3 stream (up to 320kbps).

Yes AuntD it is frustrating. I had a Marantz streamer that was fine when I bought it, but it uses TuneIn for internet radio...now sold on eBay. My current Quad preamp/streamer has Playfi app. which has had criticism in the past, but now is very good. It is really useful for foreign radio stations, but lost BBC ones a while back.

For BBC, as I say above, I use an android tablet permanently plugged into the DAC of the Quad. I was using VRadio, mentioned to RF above, for BBC (and VRadio), but those streams disappeared last week.

The BBC seem to be going through the internet radio aggregators in turn and removing their streams (ie changing the URLs) to force everyone to use 'Sounds'. I have pasted in URLs to the Marantz in the past, but one after the other they become unusable.....perhaps we need to open up Bletchley Park again and have a team of people to break the code every morning.

[AuntDaisy]

Yes AuntD it is frustrating. I had a Marantz streamer that was fine when I bought it, but it uses TuneIn for internet radio...now sold on eBay. My current Quad preamp/streamer has Playfi app. which has had criticism in the past, but now is very good. It is really useful for foreign radio stations, but lost BBC ones a while back.

For BBC, as I say above, I use an android tablet permanently plugged into the DAC of the Quad. I was using VRadio, mentioned to RF above, for BBC (and VRadio), but those streams disappeared last week.

The BBC seem to be going through the internet radio aggregators in turn and removing their streams (ie changing the URLs) to force everyone to use 'Sounds'. I have pasted in URLs to the Marantz in the past, but one after the other they become unusable.....perhaps we need to open up Bletchley Park again and have a team of people to break the code every morning.

Ditto an Amazon Echo that's gathering dust because R3 won't fix SOUNDS (>4 years!!) and are forcing people to ditch "older" tech. - so much for their green credentials.

The idea of putting a Bombe under R3 management's backsides has a certain appeal...

[Maclintick]

Schubert Piano trio in Bb major D838 played by the Oistrakh Piano Trio on YLE Klassinen this morning -- complete ! Streamed from YLE website on laptop to CA streamer via Airplay. Most of the time I play YLE Klassinen from VRadio on an Android phone to a bluetooth speaker. As RFG and others have indicated the Apple VRadio app is rubbish.

[Roger Webb]

.......... Most of the time I play YLE Klassinen from VRadio on an Android phone to a bluetooth speaker. As RFG and others have indicated the Apple VRadio app is rubbish.

It's surprising that the VRadio app. is so good (except for the lack of BBC stations) on Android, but so poor for Apple devices....especially as you have to pay for it....and pay more (generally) for the hardware. My friends cannot believe I don't have Apple stuff - they are all posey media types who wouldn't be seen dead without an Apple something or other!

[Roger Webb]

Excellent Mozart playing tonight direct via BR Klassik from Herkulessaal with Simon Rattle and BRSO in the last three symphonies. The E-flat was lovely, and the G minor also....slow movt on now.

[richardfinegold]

It's surprising that the VRadio app. is so good (except for the lack of BBC stations) on Android, but so poor for Apple devices....especially as you have to pay for it....and pay more (generally) for the hardware. My friends cannot believe I don't have Apple stuff - they are all posey media types who wouldn't be seen dead without an Apple something or other!

I’m agnostic re:to Apple vs Android, having owned both types of devices. I am currently in the Apple World because my wife prefers it and it’s just easier to sync my phone with gear such as Apple TV, etc.
Regarding cost here the best Android phones and iPhones cost the same. Ditto with tablets. PCs can be cheaper but I hardly ever use a PC these days.
Regarding Apps, I’ve used Android enough in the recent past to see many Apps that worked great with Apple devices that had rudimentary Android versions, so it apparently goes both ways and is a crapshoot .
What the world actually needs is more competition in the Big Tech areas, as companies that formerly were brilliant innovators engage in classic monopolistic fashion, buying out competitors and discouraging competition

[Roger Webb]

I’m agnostic re:to Apple vs Android, having owned both types of devices. I am currently in the Apple World because my wife prefers it and it’s just easier to sync my phone with gear such as Apple TV, etc.
Regarding cost here the best Android phones and iPhones cost the same. Ditto with tablets. PCs can be cheaper but I hardly ever use a PC these days.
Regarding Apps, I’ve used Android enough in the recent past to see many Apps that worked great with Apple devices that had rudimentary Android versions, so it apparently goes both ways and is a crapshoot .
What the world actually needs is more competition in the Big Tech areas, as companies that formerly were brilliant innovators engage in classic monopolistic fashion, buying out competitors and discouraging competition

I'm sure you're right....I have no experience of Apple products, but, at least in the UK it seems that item for item, the hardware is quite a bit more expensive. I doubt that all the 'creatives' I know who use Apple would do so just as a pose....they must have some advantage over PCs.

I'm also sure you're right about big companies becoming monopolistic......except, when the BBC was a monopoly (in classical music) they 'did the right thing' - the rot started to set in when competition in the form of Classic FM came along, the race to the bottom began!

[Maclintick]

I have no experience of Apple products, but, at least in the UK it seems that item for item, the hardware is quite a bit more expensive. I doubt that all the 'creatives' I know who use Apple would do so just as a pose....they must have some advantage over PCs.

I'm also sure you're right about big companies becoming monopolistic.

One large advantage for Apple vs. the various incarnations of Windows over the years, at least for me, has been Time Machine. While Apple products post-Jobs have declined in terms of the WOW ! factor, and in connectivity options outside the Applesphere, user-friendly TM backups have remained an essential tool. I've clung onto MacBook Pros and Macminis well past their recycling dates in order to connect to elderly peripherals which I'm not inclined to replace, audio interfaces mainly.

[Roger Webb]

After posting the above I did think of an advantage (two actually) of Apple. Firstly, wanting to add Apple Music as an alternative to Qobuz, it is only feasible with an Apple device; there is no App, so far, for Android devices. And secondly, the USB output from Apple devices gives the whole bitrate - Android devices re-assign the bitstream to 48kbts...annoying when Qobuz has a 24/284k recording. I believe Android 14 onward will bypass the audio stack, as the Apple devices do.

[oddoneout]

I've just noticed on the programme summary that BR-Klassik gives a time for an advertising slot. I know what the industry argument is against that but I do wonder how valid it now is given that people 'listen' in different ways.
TV ads are at predictable times, but how many viewers bother to actively avoid all of them if watching live? Given the habit of watching phone screens at the same time as TV screens I don't count phone use in the active avoidance.

[richardfinegold]

After posting the above I did think of an advantage (two actually) of Apple. Firstly, wanting to add Apple Music as an alternative to Qobuz, it is only feasible with an Apple device; there is no App, so far, for Android devices. And secondly, the USB output from Apple devices gives the whole bitrate - Android devices re-assign the bitstream to 48kbts...annoying when Qobuz has a 24/284k recording. I believe Android 14 onward will bypass the audio stack, as the Apple devices do.

Apple Music plays on Android. I was in the Android World 2 years ago when I dropped Oobuz and switched to Apple Music. The app is free with Google Play. I was able to Chromecast Apple Music from my Samsung Tablet or LG phone to my CA streamer and it sounded excellent. The downside was that it wasn’t as seamless as playing in the all Apple universe. I would have to renter my username password occasionally and not every recording was available to be Chromecast; those I would require AirPlay. (AirPlay is far better than Bluetooth, with which it is frequently compared; a notch below CD quality but quite listenable). I still use the Android tablet occasionally for this purpose. I still primarily play physical media, or CDs that I have ripped to my NAS and downloads.
The newest wrinkle with Apple Music, at least for me, is the discovery that Apple Music will play at full resolution into an Apple TV, instead of AAC (Apple mp3). I use Apple TV in my 2 Home Theater systems and sampled a few of their High Resolution recordings (2 channel only) and it sounds vastly better than the AAC stream .
So I’m considering adding an Apple TV to my main 2 channel system. In that system I use an Oppo 105 as a disc transport into my Bryston DAC, which has HDMI inputs. The Oppo doesn’t have an app so the monitor is used for to control the Oppo. I think the Oppo has another unused HDMI input but I would need to check (I’m on vacation and this idea occurred to me 2 days ago). Another alternative would be to feed the HDMI of the ATV into an unused HDMI input of the DAC and see if it can be controlled from the ATV app of the Apple device. I’m not sure if that is possible but will investigate.

[Roger Webb]

.................. The downside was that it wasn’t as seamless as playing in the all Apple universe........

Yes, this is what I meant really, I could have Apple Music on my tablet, but I can't have it as a 'native' app. on my streamer. I use Play-fi to transfer from my tablet to my streamer via wifi, which will transfer at 24/284...much better than Airplay or Bluetooth.

For internet radio, I can either use Play-fi from my tablet at my listening position, or from the Android I keep permanently plugged into the DAC of the preamp.....I could do Apple Music from this tablet too but 1. I'd have to get out of my chair to select what I want to play.
2. The quality would be downgraded by the tablet's audio stack.

I'll stick with Qobuz, which has great sound, but poor track listing on classical titles.