It can be overwhelming trying to pick songs from more than 16 million choices waiting online. Far easier, some say, is to opt for internet radio and let others put together the right mix.
Internet radio has something for everyone. There are stations and streams from every part of the world, with multiple programmes and a wide variety of music.
”You can get web radio easily via your internet browser, with your PC, a stationary wi-fi radio or all mobile end devices like smartphones and tablets,” explains Bernhard Bahners of the net radio platform Radio.de.
A lot of carmakers are also integrating internet radio into their entertainment systems.
It’s also usually easy to figure out.
”Online, I either call the streams up directly from the broadcaster, or I use portals, which look up accessible streams on the entire web and sort them by genres or origin,” explains Andreas Hentschel of German magazine Chip.
A computer’s browser can directly stream the broadcast. But it’s also possible to download players like Foobar 2000 or VLC Media Player to do the job.
The music usually sounds better if the computer gets hooked up to a proper stereo system.
”Even better are wi-fi devices like Apple’s Airport Express, which you just leave plugged into the stereo system,” says Hentschel. After that, music can be played on the stereo from all wi-fi-capable devices, like notebooks, smartphones or tablets.
Another option is a Bluetooth adapter for wirelessly transmitting music, although this option has less range than wi-fi.
Smartphones and tablets can be perfect streaming clients for music.
They can be connected quickly to a stereo with a cable if necessary.
There are a variety of free internet radio apps for iOS and Android, such as Shoutcast Radio (iOS), Winamp (Android) or TuneIn Radio (both).
Anyone who wants to listen to music while on the road where wi-fi is not available should keep an eye on data volumes and what this costs under their phone plan.
”Radio streaming isn’t extremely data intensive, but if you listen to mid-level quality for an hour, you’ve used up about 60 to 70 megabytes,” says Hentschel. ”If you’ve only got 200 or 300 megabytes a month, then you use up the volume quickly.”
That’s why a lot of net radio stations offer streams with lower bit rates.
Don’t forget to pick up a receiver for use at home. Wi-fi radios have pros and cons. Internet radio expert Bahners says they don’t come with enough functions and often aren’t terribly user-friendly.
”We’ve discovered that a lot of our users prefer the combination of a smartphone or tablet with a docking station,” he says.
Hentschel points out that a wi-fi radio uses less electricity than a computer or notebook running for hours and hours only to pick up a radio stream. Portable devices have the disadvantage of having to be plugged in every time. Otherwise their batteries soon run down.
”A smartphone or a tablet will be dried up pretty quickly, which makes a radio receiver, hooked up with a LAN cable to the router, the most thrifty version and perhaps the one with the best reception,” he said. (Thomas Schoerner, dpa)
