Radio Paradise - Awesome!

Posted by: Lewis on 31 March 2015

I am sure you know this already, but how good is RP?

 

I got my Qute 2 a while ago now and have been introduced to the world of iradio - previously I was on an olive set up and snubbed this modern technology   However, since getting the Qute I find myself listening to the radio a lot, and pretty much always RP.  I sometimes even turn on the system with the express purpose of listening to an album on the hard drive or whatever, then just end up leaving RP on as they always seem to be playing a great track.

 

Even better, the wife absently mindedly asked me what the station was and what it was about a few weeks ago, then ended up looking it up online as she liked it so much, and we discovered it's run by two just people - impressed.  When they say ''listener supported'', I am guessing they mean it's funded by listeners too? 

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by Pev

Yep, no ads so they rely on listener donations. It's pretty much the soundtrack to my life so I'm happy to send them $5 a month. As an old hippie myself, I love their business model - altruism rules!

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by badlyread

Welcome to the party!

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by Mike-B

+1 & 100% for the best iradio station - period

I support them with a regular donation & also linking from them to Amazon,  it gives a % of the sale.  

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by Hal
They are good. They are not dissimilar to Soma FM that I donate to from time to time. Thing is SQ of RP is well behind those of Naim and Linn, IME. I have been recently listening to Pinguin on my Mac and it is on par with RP, they have nicely selected playlists too.
Posted on: 31 March 2015 by Dave***t
Originally Posted by Hal:

       
Thing is SQ of RP is well behind those of Naim and Linn, IME.

       


I've had issues with compression (or at least that's what it sounds like to me - studio compressors, not mp3 etc.) when listening to Naim radio. Whereas RP's slight bass boost sounds rather nice.

Horses for courses, I spose.
Posted on: 31 March 2015 by Stevee_S

Absolutely right, perhaps the best radio station out there generally playing the music I like and helping me discover so much new music. How do the two of them manage to do it 24/7/365 ?

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by southern man

Agreed - one of the best discoveries of my later years!

Superb selection for my 60+ tastes, all sorts of soft rock/pop, from 1950s right up to date. Occasionally earlier, very occasionally classical.

Biggest problem I find is that I now spend a fortune on CDs every time I listen - just bought 2 Indigo Girls and an Oliver Mtukudzi from the other day's listening session. Probably 80% of all CDs I buy now are due to RP - but I'm happy ......

BTW, similarly excellent classical internet radio station is AVRO de Klassiek, output like Classic FM UK but NO ads ever

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by California Jim
Originally Posted by southern man:

Agreed - one of the best discoveries of my later years!

Superb selection for my 60+ tastes, all sorts of soft rock/pop, from 1950s right up to date. Occasionally earlier, very occasionally classical.

Biggest problem I find is that I now spend a fortune on CDs every time I listen - just bought 2 Indigo Girls and an Oliver Mtukudzi from the other day's listening session. Probably 80% of all CDs I buy now are due to RP - but I'm happy ......

BTW, similarly excellent classical internet radio station is AVRO de Klassiek, output like Classic FM UK but NO ads ever

+1

Califonia Jim

Posted on: 31 March 2015 by Justin9960

I agree with your sentiments Lewis, it's amazing with the streaming devices how they open you up to so much more variety of music. If I hear something I like, I make a note of it, and it generally allows me to find albums I wouldn't have even considered before.

 

A brilliant source. 

Posted on: 01 April 2015 by Jota

+1 for Radio Paradise and Pinguin Radio.

 

I've found loads of bands through those two stations.

Posted on: 01 April 2015 by phil. S

Jukebox Radio on Shoutcast at 320 bps is also well worth a listen. Excellent musical selections and no adverts/weather etc.

http://jbradio.eu/

Posted on: 02 April 2015 by Justin9960

Thanks Phil, just tuned into the muso, Stevie Wonder, sounds good so far!!

Posted on: 02 April 2015 by ChrisSU

I find Radio Paradise to be one of the very few compressed audio sources I enjoy listening to. Spotify doesn't really do it for me despite the excellent implementation, and neither do MP3s etc from an iPod. 

 

It would be nice if the RP playlist was visible on the app, as it is on the RP website.

Posted on: 02 April 2015 by GregW

The 320kbps RP stream is AAC I think. I have nothing empirical to offer but I have generally found AAC to sound more open and transparent when compared to 320kbps MP3. At 256kbps I find the difference even more noticeable.

Posted on: 03 April 2015 by Pev
Originally Posted by ChrisSU:

I find Radio Paradise to be one of the very few compressed audio sources I enjoy listening to. Spotify doesn't really do it for me despite the excellent implementation, and neither do MP3s etc from an iPod. 

 

It would be nice if the RP playlist was visible on the app, as it is on the RP website.

+1

I couldn't get on at all with Spotify - RP is enjoyable even though  full fat Qobuz is clearly better. I always found Spotify faintly annoying, much as I wanted to like it.

Posted on: 05 April 2015 by southern man
Originally Posted by ChrisSU

It would be nice if the RP playlist was visible on the app, as it is on the RP website.

The Naim Android app shows the current track.

The RP Android app shows the playlist, lyrics etc