"It's Like TiVo For Your Radio"

[Brad Adrian]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.replay-radio.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.replay-radio.com/</a><br /><br /></div>Do you have a favorite radio station or show you like to listen to, but aren't always near a radio when it airs? If so, Applian Technologies has got a product for you: Replay Radio.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/replayradio.jpg" /><br /><br />This program, which the developer calls "TiVo-like," uses your PC to record any kind of Internet streaming audio, like that from an Internet radio site. It then converts the audio to MP3 format, which can be downloaded to your Pocket PC or burned to a CD.<br /><br />Here are some details:<br /><br />• Schedule days to record, and start and end times, just like a VCR. <br />• Record ANYTHING that plays on your PC speakers. <br />• Record directly from a radio or other audio source by connecting it to your PC's sound card. <br />• Compression technology requires as little as 7Mb/hour. <br />• Automatically burn Audio CDs. <br />• Eliminate Dead Air option removes shows/sources with frequent periods of silence.<br /><br />I know that Replay Radio has been around for a while, but I'm excited about giving this a try. There are several radio shows that I never get to listen to because of the times they air. So, with a little luck, by this time next week I'll be using my Pocket PC to listen to the weekend airings of:<br /><br />• Car Talk<br />• Prairie Home Companion<br />• Rick Dee's Top 40

[langleyt]

Neat idea. 8) Anyone know if it lives up to the promise :?:

[piperpilot]

I use it every day. It works great, and it doesn't chew up a lot of memory in operation, so I can play a game and listen to my shows at the same time on my iPAQ 5455. In fact, I'm listening right now to a show that I taped yesterday.

Some drawbacks:

1. One hour of radio recorded at the "FM" quality level will use about 24MB, so you have to use it with a CF or SD card. You can record at the "AM" quality level, but the quality of the recording really suffers--everything sounds like it's in an echo chamber. I use a 256 MB SD card to record three hours of radio shows per day, and still have plenty of room left for about 30 MP3 songs, some photos of my pets and my iPAQ Back Up file.

2. The program ain't cheap because you have to buy two programs in order to listen to the recorded shows on your PDA--You have to buy Replay Radio for your desktop to record the shows (about $20), then you have to buy Replay Player for your PDA to listen to the shows (about $20). This put a crimp in my wallet, BUT I have to say that it ends up being a bargain, because I use the program every day, unlike some of the $20 games that I've bought that are too complicated to play and end up never being played.

3. It takes about 45 minutes to transfer each hour of radio show via serial port to my iPAQ. It doesn't take nearly that long using the USB connection; but unfortunately for me, the USB port on my computer at work is not working right now. :cry:

Overall, however, I really recommend Replay Radio/Replay Player for radio addicts like me. It's great for long commutes, etc, and you never have to miss your favorite radio shows! :rock on dude!:

[rlobrecht]

2. The program ain't cheap because you have to buy two programs in order to listen to the recorded shows on your PDA--You have to buy Replay Radio for your desktop to record the shows (about $20), then you have to buy Replay Player for your PDA to listen to the shows (about $20). This put a crimp in my wallet, BUT I have to say that it ends up being a bargain, because I use the program every day, unlike some of the $20 games that I've bought that are too complicated to play and end up never being played.

Are the MP3s that it makes DRM encrypted or something? Why couldn't you just play them in your MP3 player of choice?

[piperpilot]

Are the MP3s that it makes DRM encrypted or something? Why couldn't you just play them in your MP3 player of choice?

You can listen to them through WMP, but the ReplayPlayer has a feature that allows you to skip through commercials. I like to be as efficient as possible with my time and the skip through function allows me to cut out the ads quickly and easily, which is a big plus when you're listening in the car with your iPAQ in your lap.

[ricksfiona]

I've been wanting something like this for a while. I'm there!

[bradolson]

This looks like it will work with XM radio as well. Sound interesting.

[Solarix]

• Rick Dee's Top 40

*Hurls* WTF? You gotta be kidding me that anyone in their right mind listens to that P.O.S. radio show? Thier are only two radio shows I listen to. Loveline (With Adam Corrola & Dr. Drew) and HardDriveRadio

[Lday]

How about a link to the program?

[Janak Parekh]

How about a link to the program?
Minor technicality! ;)

(It's there now.)

--janak

[jt3]

3. It takes about 45 minutes to transfer each hour of radio show via serial port to my iPAQ. It doesn't take nearly that long using the USB connection; but unfortunately for me, the USB port on my computer at work is not working right now. :cry:

I agree with PiperPilot that this program is awesome. I also use it everyday to tape those radio shows that I used to miss. The cool thing about the program is its ability to record any internet stream. It even comes with a long list of shows, complete with schedules, so if your show is on the list, recording it is as easy as selecting the show from the list. Keep in mind, though, that many shows require subscriptions, and the links won't work unless you have the subscription. However, I simply leave my radio on, and connected to my computer, and tape the shows that way (luckily, all the shows I listen to are on the same station).

As for the quote above, my suggestion would be to get a pen drive, or other reader, that supports SD cards. For example, the one I have is the Lexar JumpDrive Trio. It uses either memory stick or SD media, so I simply pop the SD card in there, copy the MP3 over, then move the SD card to the iPAQ. The reason this is faster is because the JumpDrive Trio is a USB 2.0 device, while the iPAQ is USB 1.1. I can transfer a three-hour radio show at FM quality (about 87MB) in about 20-30 seconds. Another such device is the SanDisk Cruzer, but keep in mind that it's only USB 1.1, so it won't be any faster than a USB connection to your iPAQ. Still, if all you have is Serial to the iPAQ, that's not a bad solution either. (And... yes, I know PiperPilot said his USB port wasn't working... I was talking about a solution for everyone, not PP in particular.)

Oh, by the way, the JumpDrive Trio doesn't come with memory, so it's cheap. I think I paid about $17 for it. Just use your SD card in your iPAQ and go!

[piperpilot]

my suggestion would be to get a pen drive, or other reader, that supports SD cards. For example, the one I have is the Lexar JumpDrive Trio. It uses either memory stick or SD media, so I simply pop the SD card in there, copy the MP3 over, then move the SD card to the iPAQ. The reason this is faster is because the JumpDrive Trio is a USB 2.0 device, while the iPAQ is USB 1.1. I can transfer a three-hour radio show at FM quality (about 87MB) in about 20-30 seconds.

Wow, that sounds great . . . and cheap. Where can I get one?

[Forget It]

If all you wanna do is record Internet radio streams for
(time-shifting purposes) you can already use Total Recorder from
hicriteria.com - it has a scheduler of sorts.

[jt3]

Wow, that sounds great . . . and cheap. Where can I get one?
Well... I got mine at CompUSA. I haven't seen it anywhere else yet, but if you can't find it at any of your local retailers, you can follow this link (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=704174&ut=c72ec8ea73c5131d&found=2&search=jumpdrive%20trio) to do a search on PriceGrabber.

[shahed]

[quote="piperpilot
You can listen to them through WMP, but the ReplayPlayer has a feature that allows you to skip through commercials.[/quote]

There's a freeware mp3/wav/ogg music player that can do the same thing (+/- 10sec quickskips) -- you can even assign hardware buttons to do the quick skips so you can leave the screen off and just use the h/w buttons to do all the controls.

Very cool software - it's called GSPlayer.
Did I mention it's freeware?

The web site is http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA032810/gsp.htm
It's in Japanese. Here's babelfish's translation:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?tt=url&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhp.vector.co.jp%2Fauthors%2FVA032810%2Fgsp.htm&lp=ja_en

[Golfer]

I was very very close to buying this a month ago as I wanted to record US radio stations to listen to in the car. I am based in the UK so recording of the internet through windows media player worked well. Then one last test before I bought, and then the US radio stations disappeared off the net :cry: . Probably some ruling on royalty payments or something. But Replay Radio worked well.

[Brad Adrian]

How about a link to the program?
Minor technicality! ;)

(It's there now.)

--janak
I SWEAR it was there when I posted this. It was. Really.

Sorry.

[Will T Smith]

All of those NPR programs are available from www.npr.org. There is no need for a recording application. Though, with the streaming it is necessary to be online while listening.

[bbell98]

If all you wanna do is record Internet radio streams for
(time-shifting purposes) you can already use Total Recorder from
hicriteria.com - it has a scheduler of sorts.

actually it's http://www.highcriteria.com/ - for anyone who is interested :)

-bob

[JLittle2]

Someone else has already mentioned it, but I want to let everyone know that TotalRecorder is a very good recorder as well. Just looking at the screenshots of ReplayRadio it looks like TotalRecorder (TR) has more flexibility. The interface is a little complicated but it is worth spending time to figure out. TotalRecorder can record from any hardware sound device (i.e. voice modems, usb headsets and sound cards), and it also can record directly from software (i.e. RealPlayer and Msft MediaPlayer). TR has editing capabilities to remove commercials and a scheduler. It does not have a built in MP3 encoder but it integrates to several free encoders. TR has links to tell you where to get the free encoders. www.highcriteria.com.

Disclaimer: I'm only a happy user (of TotalRecorder and PPCThoughts), I do not have anything to gain by my endorsement.

[jimr18]

How do TotalRecorder and Replay Radio compare? It seems that TotalRecorder is pretty slow, even on 'quick record', if comparing against FTPing the file. It downloaded 15 min audio in over 7 minutes, as opposed to about 1 minute using ftp... How's sound quality.. I plan on listening to it in WMP (especially since I can get a 'remote' for the Maestro, so that I can stop/play without picking up the PPC while I'm driving)... I currently am manually downloading RA files.. and using the RealOne player...

I currently own the TotalRecorder Standard -- but would need to buy the Pro version for scheduling recording from external apps/websites, which is what I need... at that point, ReplayRadio is under $5 more....

[Brad Adrian]

All of those NPR programs are available from www.npr.org.
Thanks, Will. I hadn't seen those.

[TheDuk]

Unfortunately, none of these software based "tivo-like" radio solutions work for radio shows that don't allow for internet re-broadcasting of their programming. Howard Stern is a clear example of this, which unfortunately makes this software mostly useless (for me).

[applian]

Unfortunately, none of these software based "tivo-like" radio solutions work for radio shows that don't allow for internet re-broadcasting of their programming. Howard Stern is a clear example of this, which unfortunately makes this software mostly useless (for me).
Actually, Replay Radio also lets you record directly from a redio attached to your PC's sound card. So, if Howard is in your area, you're in luck!

[bbell98]

I've used Total Recorder a few times now to record some streaming content and then save as MP3. I'm really happy with the program - especially considering it was only $11 or $12! Now if PPC software were only so cheap...! :)

-Bob

[disconnected]

Is there anything like this for video streams? My nephew is graduating from Boston University tomorrow, and apparently we will be able to watch it on the web with RealPlayer. I'd love to be able to record it.