I’ve successfully added stations to my favorites. However, I’ve not found any high res stations I normally use via Roon. These include Rondo (Helsinki) and JB Radio. I only see the mp3 versions of these. Any plans to incorporate the higher res versions?
We’re limited by the catalog that our service provides. We absolutely support FLAC streams but if they aren’t in the catalog then we don’t see them.
Can you post a couple of links to the stations you’re interested in and I’ll see if we can get them added.
Rondo Klasu - http://rondo.iradio.fi:8000/klasu.flac
Rondo Klasu Pro -http://rondo.iradio.fi:8000/klasupro.flac
JB Radio 2 - http://199.189.87.9:10999/flac.m3u
And this is a relatively new one that is less “stable” in that it seems to go “offline” quite a bit:
Radio Paradise - http://audio-3.radioparadise.com:8000/flac
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Just FYI… we’re making progress here and are waiting on some catalog updates. Once that’s done we can test to be sure that the flac streams are properly chosen when the user selects a station.
I still don’t have a timeline, but we are working on it.
As an aside, I did notice that the Radio Paradise mellow mix was missing so I put in a request to have it added and that’s been done now. It’s at 320kps now, but will switch to flac when support goes live.
If anyone else has requests for flac radio stations please post them here so that I can make sure that they will work and then get them added to the list.
Thanks. I see that RP has a few new Flac stations that appear to be working under Roon.
Any news on improved iRadio features (FLAC, BBC 320kb’s…)?
I see ROON has made considerable improvements in this department in their latest release…
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Finally getting around to listening to internet radio.
Do FLAC streams still not work - particularly Radio Paradise?
If they do not I must say I am surprised
I have been banging on about available radio streams off and on for some time. My particular beef is the lack of HD versions of the 4 BBC main national stations via Mosaic here in dCS’ home country. Via Mosaic three of the four are MP3 at only 128kb/s.
I have recently been in direct contact with the radio aggregator and they seem to be in the position that they could add the requisite URLs to their catalogue if dCS supported HLS streams which they state that after enquiry dCS do not. So the ball appears to be back on dCS’ side of the net.
I was a bit surprised at the lack of HLS support as I can find one BBC national station on Mosaic that is available in HD - BBC Radio 3. I was puzzled as surely it uses the same technology as the other national stations? Indeed it does but there is an alternative non-HLS URL which I guess is what is being used.
So both radio FLAC support and HLS support for Mosaic?
Just messing around with Mosaic today. Usually just hit Roon for internet radio. Discovered that two of the FLAC stations I often tune in, Radio Paradise Mellow Mix and Rondo Klasu Pro (out of Helsinki) are both listed and playing just fine.
Seems that both of these FLAC stations sound significantly better via Mosaic than previously using Roon on my Roon Nucleus. Major differences are the data path. For Mosaic the Upsampler is getting music via Ethernet link from EtherREGEN switch connected to Eero WiFi access point in network that has a primary Eero connected to Arris cable modem. For Roon running on Nucleus it is pulling same data stream from Eero on the same switch, and though it is doing no DSP or other processing, it passes through its own hardware and software before sending it off on the same switch to the Upsampler. Also, switching to any station on Mosaic is a split second, whereas it takes a few seconds for Roon to obtain the station and begin its datastream transfer to the Upsampler.
Hi Steve, do you actually get flac streams when you play these stations via Mosaic? I tried Radio Paradise Mellow and it’s showing AAC 317.6 kbps. I tried BBC Radio 3 listed above as well and have yet to find any station that streams lossless.
Good catch. I went and compared what Mosaic appears to be using/listing for Radio Paradise and numerous other stations and comparable ones on Roon. Seems that Roon allows for selection of varying streams for each station, including FLAC 16/44 CD level. And if I play, for instance, Rondo Klasu Pro from Roon and then switch over to Mosaic it shows that I am playing 16/44. Choosing the same station from Mosaic yields a lossy 320k stream. And my confusion led me to ascribe a better presentation from Mosaic when it was likely due to differing sound level but possibly a better means by which Mosaic is handling other data stream or source problems. I guess it’s pick your poison…
Internet radio is not usually lossless. There are a handful of stations that stream FLAC but I cannot identify them offhand, I think mainly German language plus those mentioned above. However bear in mind that broadcasting is often territorial and the technical provision to one country is not necessarily available elsewhere. Further if a station is available with more than one technical presentation the aggregators who provide the Mosaic listings/links may not necessarily offer all of the “flavours”.
BBC Radio 3 did run an experimental lossless FLAC service during the Proms season three or four years ago. However you had to sign in to their experimental website to get access. So doubtful that it would have been available via Mosaic had it been around then in any case. Wonderful it was but it had practical drawbacks for live broadcasting as every small change by the balance engineers dong their job on the fly ( a lot of skill required) could be too easily heard at home. There were also copyright issues I gather so it has not been repeated so far. Radio 3 AAC @317kb/s sounds excellent though, I suspect a sophisticated use of DSP improves matters. Better than the FM feed in any case as there is less compression.
In the Mosaic listing of radio stations one selection is called " High Quality" but I think these will mostly be 320kb/sec or thereabouts.
All four Radio Paradise streams are available in a host of different resolutions; all them from FLAC lossless (with our without metadata) to mp3 and AAC 32kbps. Easily accessible from Roon - but how you choose them in Mosaic is beyond me. I think all the RP ones there are 320kbps.
Mosaic only offers the four stations in AAC circa. 320kb/s. It also offers a Dutch radio station of the same name but I don’t think related.
If the radio replay part of Mosaic is specified for FLAC ( maybe James could answer here) then if you can find the URLs of the FLAC versions you can ask airable ( the aggregator) to add them. They have a web form for this purpose.
Tested Roon playing the 16/44 FLAC stream of Radio Paradise Mellow Mix, and when changing to Mosaic it showed up as 16/44. So, it comes down to the choices dCS has made for the radio streams it is offering. Even what it lists as “high quality” do not fit what many of us consider that level. I’ve no clue what dCS considers “high quality” or what that means.
I doubt if dCS make the choices. I expect it will be airable. This is a service that dCS provides by incorporating the API into Mosaic. It is pretty similar to the way Deezer, Qobuz or Tidal works in Mosaic except the subject matter is radio stations instead of albums or tracks. So any questions about what formats are chosen to be available for given stations or how they are categorised should be addressed to them which is why I pointed out the online form. However what they provide is also based upon the formats that their clients have advised them are specified for their players. Although Mosaic obviously supports FLAC for its UPnP and streaming functions we don’t currently know if the same holds for internet radio.
If you read the full thread I raised the question of support for FLAC and HLS in regard to radio four weeks ago.
I wonder why dCS choose not to respond to these requests…? Very disappointing, especially considering how long these requests have been open for.
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Good business practice is the answer.
If a request is made for a new feature it has to take its place alongside all of the other requests for other new features. Resources that can be allocated to such things are limited and therefore priorities have to be made. These are likely to form part of a business planning process where some requests will have little support either in the business or from customers, some will be deemed to be “must haves” and some “could haves” but only if the finances, time and technology are available. Others may simply end up as " won’t haves".
Even if it is decided to go ahead with implementing a new feature it does not mean that there will be an easy, linear path to achieving it. It is therefore best not to announce it and then find that it cannot be achieved ( sometimes because third parties fail to deliver) and end up disappointing or frustrating your customers. Many of us will recall the delays in successfully implementing MQA with failures to meet pre-announced target delivery dates. I doubt that dCS want to be in that position again.
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I think for what is considered de-facto these days - high quality internet radio streaming (offered on many lesser products) and support of podcasts etc, these would be supported by now in such a high-end piece of kit? It is over 12 month’s since dCS have provided an update on this thread…?
Regarding ‘good business practice’, I think your statement is more relevant in a B2B approach. For consumers, who have invested heavily in a product, I’d expect better responsiveness to such requests.
My assumption when selecting an aggregator for such services would be that lossless was a requirement…? These are enhancement requests, not new Features as such.