I recently bought an internet radio from Acoustic Energy. The idea is to have a stand alone device that can connect to the internet to listen to your favourite radios. In this world where DRM is such a pain for users - though it might be on its way out - the explosion of radios on the internet has been a great event. There are two types of internet radios, one that is actually simply an IP stream of whatever you have on your FM band (e.g. Virgin Radio, CBS FM,...), the other is a new breed of radio only available online managed by independent owners or large groups (e.g. Ministry Of Sound).

There were however two big issues so far with internet radio. First, there was no real and friendly aggregator to get all your radios from one place and it was quite a pain to go to each website and open the Real or WMV stream. Second, you had to use your PC.... This is where the internet radio from AE is a great improvement. You can use a very easy browsing system to choose among thousands of radio (by country or genre), similar to what you would get on a regular RDS-ed radio set - thanks actually to Reciva that finally managed a proper radio aggregator. Also, the device directly connects to the internet, so no need for the PC. You can use the radio wherever you want - in the kitchen in my case. In terms of sound quality, you depend from whatever bitrate the radio is being streamed at. On average it is around 64Kbps, which is perfect for talk shows and OK for music. You also need to compare to alternatives, as FM radio sound quality has never been outstanding, nor is actually DAB's in the UK given the bandwidth limitations.

Thanks to such a device you really have the best of both worlds: (a) you can get all the local radios that you would get from your FM antenna, plus (b) all the internet-only radios meeting specific tastes and last but not least (c) all the FM radios from any country around the world ! This is something I particularly enjoy as I can go back to stations I used to listen when I was living in France, Portugal or the US. People who grew up with France Info will understand ! As we are now in the middle of the French presidential elections, it has become even more valuable !

The AE device stands out from the competition as its sound quality is particularly good - AE is after all a HiFi specialist. Also the setup was particularly easy and the wifi connection to the router a breeze. Finally it can also work as a media extender and stream the music you have stored on your PC, for the days you are fine having it switched on....