Internet radio reciever

[tjjohn1001]

Hi All,

I listen to internet radio a lot, like Nexus radio, so I can hear radio stations from around the world. My question is, is it really necessary to have a PC connected to the internet to do this? Why not have a bedside radio connected the ADSL line, to tune in? I don't want to have my PC turned on all the time to simply listen to my favorite stations.

Would be also good for travelling businessmen to tune in to their hometown stations. Why not? What's the obstacle? All it would take is a modification of radio receivers, the interface, and the internet radio provider? I'm sure there's a potential lucrative market there with globalisation.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Tim

[mjc]

Well, first off this sort of thing isn't really 'radio'.

Yes, the audio content is there, but it isn't being broadcast by using electromagnetic waves. The signal is converted to a digital format and then transmitted over a network. So a traditional radio can't do a thing with the signal...hence the use of a computer to convert the digital signal into something a little more interesting to listen to. In order to make it 'work' you would need a 'radio' that can decipher TCP/IP or UDP packets, assemble the digital audio stream from those packets and then convert it back to a usable audio signal...in other words, your 'radio' will need to be a network enabled, ADC/DAC capable computer...a laptop fits the bill for a portable system.

Now, as far as the actual requirements of a machine to do this...not very much. It needs an OS capable of running the Nexus software. So that will set the minimum requirements. It doesn't need much in the way of graphics, so an onboard video would be fine. A decent sound card would probably make it more enjoyable, but if you are going to patch it into an existing stereo/home theater system, onboard audio would be enough. So a low cost, low power computer, with minimal 'everything' should handle it.