BBC radio streams

hi all

i got in touch with vTuner on this one, they say the link to the BBC Scotland is dead, however the BBC Scotland FM should operate correctly. However, i cant verify if the station contents are the same - never having listened to either - could you check please. if its different let me know and i shall chase down further

Trevor

According to the Radio Times there is no indicated difference between what is streamed and what is broadcast on FM. At present Off the ball is on both my tuner and being streamed to my iPad through BBC iPlayer. The only difference is that most sports, and First Minister's questions, are relegated to MW only.

Hi Trevor.

I click 'add station' and am presented with a few things to fill out but don't know where to get the info such as station url.

OK, tried the FM one and it's WMA too and just has the same old BBC guy saying it wont stream.

hi

BBC scotland link is:

http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/med...adio_scotland_fm.pls

mp3

128

trevor

i cant test at present (not at home) but according to BBC live links this should work

Thanks Trevor.  How do I copy that to put it in vtuner?

goto: http://myradio.naimaudio.com/

register with your email and mac address (this can be found by using your remote - settings (the little spanner symbol) - factory settings - system status - MAC (add into the URL above without : in the list 

then on http://myradio.naimaudio.com/ goto:add station

and fill in the information above (note all fields need to be completed for it to save

Trev

Ah, got it!  Had to open it in VLC then copy the URL from there. Thanks. 

Thanks Trevor. Worked for me. But are all my BBC radio connections going to be phased out again in a month or two?

hi all

I believe the 128K mp3 streams are planned to continue for some time, as the the exact duration i do not know

Trevor

Hi Nick, 

Yes, already done.

Keith

Is there anyone here who has been affected by the BBC's bungled changes to internet streaming? If so, please soon the petition above.

Keith

182 supporters so far!

Dave

PS I was affected for 24hrs but the Logitech Squeezebox community got it sorted.

So the BBC should remove all threats to turn off the FM transmissions. 

The petition is progressing disappointingly slowly. Much of this is due to the fact that the BBC have kept it so quiet. There is quite a lot of outrage on the Sonos forum, though. The moderator has had to step in on a couple of occasions. The reaction around here has been muted by comparison. 

Keith

I don't quite understand why I should!

I have this in vtuner:

http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/med.../bbc_radio_three.pls

My Qute shows 320kbps AAC.

I agree the change is a nuisance.

Yes, but only for Radio 3. This was was reintroduced after the initial outcry. It is due to be switched at some point, possibly after the Proms. After that your Qute will only be able to pick up MP3. This will also be turned off at some point in the near future. After this you will have to listen via your phone or computer because they have embedded the new higher quality streams in something called HLS. The BBC has refused to publish their new URLs, despite the fact that they have been widely leaked.

The bottom line is that the BBC has started a process which effectively takes their radio broadcasts off the internet, except via their own app. We have to hope that the likes of Naim find a way to retrieve the situation. However, it is possible that it won't be possible or commercially viable for some manufacturers. In the meantime, the only Internet radios that can receive the BBC at higher quality are made by Pure and owners have reported that they don't work well. All other internet radios will cease to receive BBC programs when the temporary lower quality broadcadts are switched off.

It is still not clear whether this has been done deliberately or is the the result of incompetence.

Keith

Thank you for the explanation. I have signed the petition. What with suspending Top Gear and threatening to empty chair Cameron the latter explanation is very plausible

Hi Michael,

Take a look at the BBC's Audio Factory Overview blog by Andrew Scott and then read the responses at the bottom. There is also an article on the Guardian titled "Do I need a new internet radio to listen to BBC radio?", dated 5 March.

Keith

Keith. Thank you for the links. Are the BBC using both Apple's HLS and MPEG DASH?

I have an early Qute and early Uniti.Do you know if it is even possible for Naim to introduce new firmware which would enable these receivers to be able to process the new formats without a hardware upgrade?

My Netgear Readynas Duo uses the Sparc processor so won't run MinimServer!

I have not made much use of Internet radio because it keeps cutting out because of my slow (1.5mbps) broadband connection.  I have committed to getting a much faster fttp connection. I shall not be pleased if I can't use this to receive Radio3 HD.

Hi Michael,

It's HLS at the moment, but will be DASH at some unspecified future date. Naim, Linn, Sonos, TuneIn, vTuner etc. are all grappling with the problem, hopefully!

I have a Readynas Duo too. I don't know if it can cope with Minimserver and I don't know how to tell. I'm considering putting on the Mac, but it looks a bit fiddly.

Keith

Hi Keith

I've been running MinimServer on my iMac (Late 2009, Yosemite) since I purchased a mu-so in December, and MinimStreamer since the BBC changed the streaming links to HLS in mid February. I'm listening to Radio 3 320k HLS as I write. I think it works very well. In my setup (MinimServer UPnP in the Naim IOS App) there is a single playlist at top level (alongside albums etc) and it is just two taps to get to a list of the 12 main BBC radio stations, all on HLS, all of which connect immediately. I've had very few drop outs (fewer than the older streams). For example, I listened to the Roundhouse L'Orfeo without a single glitch.

I leave my iMac on all the time anyway so MinimServer is always available. Once you get your head around it (UPnP was new to me), installation is straight forward. The MinimServer forum is a great resource, or I'll be happy to answer any questions about running it on a Mac.

If you are happy to leave a Mac running, this is an excellent stop gap until the overall situation becomes clearer (and it solves the Radio 5 Live Sports Extra issue as well).

david

You could also consider a Raspberry Pi if you want an always on, ultra low power device. I've been using one together with MinimServer/Streamer since this whole debacle kicked off. I'm not in the UK so I also have a persistent VPN connection running.