FM vs Internet radio

[shenzi]

Last weekend I happened to be listening to

 

http://mronline.radio.hu/BARTOK.HTM

 

and realised that it was broadcasting the relay of opera from the New York Met. By coincidence, BBC Radio 3 was broadcasting the same opera on FM. It was interesting running the two together to compare (Bartok runs at 320k) and an indication of how good internet radio streams can be.

 

UK readers can try the experiment again this Saturday (28 March) when I believe they're both relaying Wagner from the Met.

 

(Don't try comparing to the BBC R3 internet stream, which is seriously hobbled to around 80k.)

 

[BobH]

Good link and good gen - not come across that station before, it looks very interesting. And you're so right about the BBC, which is a real shame - they should be at the forefront of this sort of thing, but they do seem to be more interested in quantity over quality.

 

 

[shenzi]

seems to have a bizarre double standard regarding the web. They spend millions for their online presence, developing the BBC iPlayer (which, incidentally, neatly allows us Brits to get round paying a TV license fee), trailing their 7-day listening service on the web and then put out very low bitrate streams. The suspicion has been voiced that they don't want us to abandon DAB for the internet.

 

[BobH]

Been reading Steven Green from HiFi World by any chance? Now there's a guy on a mission if ever I met one!

 

When it comes to quality streams though, the BBC needs to listen to people like him. Your link and observations are a prime example of what we will do when we discover a better source elsewhere! I'll keep my DAB for Planet Rock but much prefer to listen to Mike Harding's folk show on FM, even on my DAB radio with it's 'deliberately' (?) weak FM reception!