kk2002 wrote:
You can tune in to HQ round-the-clock classical broadcasts via Internet in several European countries. One of the finest and most reliable is Radio D-Dur in the Czech Republic. Try the OGG 256kB or WMA 196kB channel at
http://www.rozhlas.cz/d-dur/english
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I am currently checking out Radio D-Dur; from what I have seen thus far, it appears to be the finest classical music radio station on this planet! Unfortunately, however, I do not speak the Czech language; decrypting the programming and musical programming is not easy, even though my educational background, linguistic aptitude, and musical knowledge are proving to be very helpful. I wish that this operation would publish the musical program schedule in English, if not also the time zone translations for key cities around the world.
My continuing effort in my research with internet classical music radio is the recording of an internet stream over a time span of perhaps 5-8 hours. I then split up this large file using (to name one) an editor such as WavePad (I own the Master's edition). I include with each selection some commentary about the piece. At the very minimum, this description includes the composer, the name of the piece, and identifies the performers. Beyond this, I sometimes include other interesting information.
However, it is very difficult to do this when I do not speak the language used by the radio commentator. Although I can often recognize classical compositions simply by listening, I would much prefer to have a comprehensive programming schedule available (in English), such as is published by radio stations KUSC and the syndicated NPR network called "Classical 24," which seems to crop up in internet streams all over the USA, and with which I am not enchanted, since they are amateurs and rather inept and clumsy in their procedures and "knowledge" about classical music. So much so, in fact, that I refer to their operation as the "MPR Garbage Can" (MPR stands for Minnesota Public Radio, the source of this stuff).
I recorded the 256 kbps ogg stream for about one hour as a test, but the ogg decoder which is furnished as a plug-in by NCH does not work (at least for me), for reasons unknown. Perhaps NCH can explain this, although I doubt it. I then tried the 192 kbps WMA, which I find to be more than "satisfactory."
And finally, for anyone who may be interested in recording the internet stream (if his/her recording program can utilize the information in this form), here is the recording URL (just in case you didn't guess it) for doing this:
http://www.rozhlas.cz/audio/download/croddur-192.asx
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From Holland there's even a (mostly) classical channel in 5.1 surround sound at an amazing 384kB:
mms://livemedia.omroep.nl/concertzender-5channel
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I listened to a fair amount of this but was not impressed with the _musical content_, even though the reproduction quality is superb. So I doubt that I will do anything further with this particular source, which appears to be a showcase experiment in the capability of online music delivery. So be it.
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as well as five 2-channel classical stations (baroque, classic, contemporary, jazz and non-European) in very fine 128kB quality.
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I have not listened to any of these other stations from the Netherlands.
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HQ classical transmissions are also available from Belgium (musiq3), Austria (Radio Stephansdom), Hungary (Bartók Radio) and Norway (Alltids Klassisk),
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I listened to Musiq3 from Belgium, which is an excellent source of classical music. HOWEVER, I could not find a way to record it, short of recording the output from my computer's sound card. Although I can do this, I do not like to use this approach, since I like to record several stations simultaneously using special software which permits this and has several other desirable features, including a URL finder which gave me the recording URL for Radio D-Dur that I mentioned above. This URL finder unfortunately does not work for Musiq3. If you have a _recording URL_ for this radio station, I would be very happy to have it...
I also listened to Bartok Radio 4, which is excellent. There is a 256 kbps recording URL (actually an archive):
http://212.92.28.75/bartok4.m3u
There is also a 128 kbps recording URL (again an archive) for Bartok Radio 3:
http://212.92.28.75/bartok3.m3u
I could not find any recording URL for (Norway) Alltids Klassisk, or for (Austria) Radio Stephansdom.
Do you have something?
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all of which offer better quality sound than FM or cable radio. Reason: there's no high-frequency cut-off (FM tapers off around 12 kHz, sometimes even lower)
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I am unaware of any such "limitation" in the Frequency Modulation process. This sounds strange to me. Do you have any reliable technical reference that explains what this is about? Although I have not been involved in the design of FM systems, I have difficulty accepting this, since I can see no reason for it. Are you _sure_ that this is not an "old wive's tale"?
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and there's no need to limit the dynamic range (most FM transmitters do this to prevent distortion). Turn on a VU-meter on your computer and you'll see that on a FM broadcast, "silence" comes over at around -30dB. With online radio, the same "silence" usually clocks in at -60dB or even lower.
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I agree that limiting the dynamic range is very destructive to the quality of an audio signal. I see this regularly in internet streams from the United States that I have been researching. One classical music _recording_ internet stream (an archive) which I find to be free of this sort of thing is that from station KUAT at the University of Arizona in Tucson. This is a new URL; it changed at the beginning of the year.
http://media.azpm.org/radio/m3u/classical128.m3u
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Musikone is right (as ever):
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You noticed :-)
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anything below 128kB is less than CD quality, and doesn't really come into consideration for classical music. Also, the quality of compression varies widely. I have listed the stations that, imho, offer the best quality sound. ogg usually sounds better than mp3 (on line, at least). wma, which is much used, is good too. Real Audio is widespread (the BBC uses it exclusively, for example), but cannot compete for sound quality with the ones I have mentioned.
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I dislike Real Audio intensely, due primarily to the excessive hype and commercialism associated with it. It is a Real pain in the neck. However, I know of nothing inherently inferior about the sound quality. In fact, the best sound quality that I have found in the United States comes through Real Audio, from the web site at http://kamu.tamu.edu, with a recording URL of http://slipstream.tamu.edu:8000/listen.pls. This is an internet stream at 192 kbps and there is nothing inferior about the sound quality. Your statement seems to imply that there is something inherently inferior in the sound quality of an internet stream which is delivered via Real Audio.
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Navigating the home pages is an art in itself, but many stations offer at least an overview page in English.
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True enough. As I have explained previously, the language barrier is a serious impediment to me. I have not found an overview page in English to be of much use in ameliorating the difficulty.
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For further URLs, go to
http://delicast.com
which offers a worldwide overview of all genres of online radio and podcasts, also of online TV.
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Musiq3 from Belgium comes to the listener via Delicast, rather than being available from the station's own web site, which is what I would much prefer, along the model of the large and detailed Radio D-Dur. There is no comparison between the two. I have not yet explored Delicast (which is simply a "facilitator") sufficiently to make a judgment about it, although it provides a useful overview of what is out there.
Thank you, kk2002, for your explanatory post about European classical music radio stations.
Musikone
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