Can anyone recommend a mini/micro-system with wifi internet radio, DAB and a CD player?
Doesn't have to be what you audiophiles would class as 'hi-fi' (ie. nothing too expensive), but something half-decent would be nice. Could be a single unit, or small system with speakers.
Some examples of the sort of thing we've been looking at:
www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-MCi298-05-Wireless-System/dp/B003J36FSG
www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-MCi730-05-Wireless-Compontent/dp/B003J36FT0
Last edited by: Focus on Sun 12 Jun 11 at 20:29
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This sort of combination has never been very popular, only one I can think of is the Roberts Stream 63i which is ££££s.
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>> is the Roberts Stream 63i which is ££££s.
Thanks sc - yes, I was aware of that, but as you say it is quite expensive (~£350) and doesn't get that good reviews for the price:
www.amazon.co.uk/Roberts-STREAM63I-BLACK-Wi-Fi-Internet-Player/dp/B004EEU4QS/
Seems a pity that for example Pure don't just do their Avanti Flow with a CD player; you wouldn't have thought it would cost that much extra:
www.amazon.co.uk/AVANTI-Table-top-Digital-Music-System/dp/B001RTS582
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Perhaps the best bet is to find a cheap-ish basic internet radio (no CD) which we can plug into the aux-in of a decent internet-less micro/mini-system.
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From personal experience PURE + CD player isn't a good combination, mine lasted about 18 months, now using a 1990 vintage Sony CD player via the aux in on my DMX-50 system. The other aux in is fed from a cheap internet radio, so my lash-up does meet your spec. in a clunky way.
If you can forgo the CD player then something like a magicbox clarus plus would do the job, although they're difficult to get new now.
The omnipresent iPod dock seems to have taken over from CD as the music source of choice on most of these units now.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Mon 13 Jun 11 at 14:30
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If there isn't one unit that will do everything, you could look for one that does radio and CD with an iPod dock and access Internet radio using an iPod Touch or an iPhone. (You'll want to check that the unit can charge an iPhone, however, as not all of them do.). That way you can have live Internet radio through the Reciva app (about £4 from iTunes and offering the same portal access as the Reciva guts in my Roberts WM-201) and have access through the BBC iPlayer to all its On-Demand content. You also get full pause-FF-rewind control, which is missing from most Frontier Silicon radios.
In fact, equipped with this combination, I'm not sure you'd have any need for DAB, practically all of whose content is duplicated on the Internet anyway, usually at higher bit rates - but that's another argument. I have lots of radios but no DABs.
I love the Roberts but wish it had FM too. If I do decide to change, I'll be looking at a Vita R2i, whose big sister the R4i also has a CD player. It's worth spending at least a couple of hundred, not least because a kitchen is a noisy place and a unit that's fine in a bedroom might struggle to make itself heard.
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>> If there isn't one unit that will do everything, you could look for one that
>> does radio and CD with an iPod dock and access Internet radio using an iPod
>> Touch or an iPhone. (You'll want to check that the unit can charge an iPhone,
>> however, as not all of them do.). That way you can have live Internet radio
>> through the Reciva app (about £4 from iTunes and offering the same portal access as
>> the Reciva guts in my Roberts WM-201) and have access through the BBC iPlayer to
>> all its On-Demand content. You also get full pause-FF-rewind control, which is missing from most
>> Frontier Silicon radios.
>>
Yeah, it did occur to me after I'd hit the send button that you may as well take advantage of the proliferation of iPod docks. However don't some of these docks treat the iPod as a storage drive and read the music files that way, i.e. digitally? If so then I don't think the Reciva app would work, you would need something that accesses the iPod's analogue audio output I reckon. while you're at it you could then forget the CD bit and 'just' use a uPnP client/server approach.
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That's possible, Spammers - I just don't know. There are certainly some expensive iPod docks that use their own converter rather than the iPod's (Arcam and Pure spring to mind as examples) but I can play the Reciva app well enough through my simple portable Logitech speaker dock, so I guess it's a case of try-before-you-buy.
The Roberts has a uPnP option, which I use when I can instead of an iPod Classic through the Aux input. Trouble is, it's the Roberts that seems to regard it as optional, and I never know quite when it'll work. My new BT Home Hub 3 seems to have helped, so maybe the technology is improving. Either way, I don't risk getting jam on my CDs by taking them into the kitchen.
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>> I guess it's a case of try-before-you-buy.
>>
Agreed, if anything I reckon the cheaper units are more likely to have an analogue iPod connection.
>> The Roberts has a uPnP option, which I use when I can instead of an
>> iPod Classic through the Aux input. Trouble is, it's the Roberts that seems to regard
>> it as optional, and I never know quite when it'll work.
>>
uPnP does still seem a bit flaky; my Reciva based radios are generally OK streaming music from a PC running TVersity, but not so good running from a NAS using Twonky. A PC running Win 7/WMP as a uPnP server sort of works but I can't find a way of browsing by artist - album with that configuration that actually puts the artists in alphabetical order.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Mon 13 Jun 11 at 17:48
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Thanks for the iPod/iPhone suggestions, although unfortunately neither me nor Mrs F have one.
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Get with the groove
Get one.
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You could do the same with any Android phone with wifi provided you use a mini system with an analogue aux in.:-
www.androidtapp.com/tag/internet-radio-stations/
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>> You could do the same with any Android phone with wifi provided you use a
>> mini system with an analogue aux in.:-
>>
>> www.androidtapp.com/tag/internet-radio-stations/
Great - Mrs F does have an HTC Desire so that looks promising.
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I had an internet radio app. running fine on my Wildfire with android 2.2, darned if I can remember which one it was though.
If there's only a few station you want to listen to may be easier to download specific stations apps, a fair few stations these days have Android apps. alongside the inevitable iPhone ones.
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I have two on the Iphone.,
Hi Def radio, and "the radio" which is UK centric.
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I was groping in vain yesterday for the name but if you have a radio-CD system you're happy with you can feed it Internet radio from a Revo Mundo, a little Reciva-based 'tuner' that plugs into an Aux input.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend Revo products; I have their Pico Internet radio, which looks and feels nice but sounds very ordinary and is an ergonomic pile of poo. The company, on the other hand, is trying to do its own thing, without being an imitation of Pure or Roberts, and its support people do seem willing to stand by their products.
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>> Revo Mundo, a little Reciva-based 'tuner' that plugs into an Aux input.
Thanks - www.amazon.co.uk/Revo-Mondo-Wi-fi-Internet-Adapter/dp/B000WBN5EK
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 14 Jun 11 at 14:55
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Yes, Mondo - pardon my typing. I almost managed a perfect C4P post: "The answer's Mond[e]o, now what's the question?"
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Focus,
TEAC (CR-H500) do one that ticks all but one of your boxes. I am looking to get one, it even has an attachment for docking an iPod if you so wish, the only problem for you will be it's size as it is not really a midi system, when I last checked it was about £400.
Failing that if you can live without the CD, I have one in my kitchen, DAB/FM/Internet and you can stream to it, so you could stream from the CD (wireless needed of course) player on your PC ? I bought it about 3yrs ago now, nothing fancy at all size of a small radio. The reason I bought it was I got fed up with the wife listening to French radio via AM due to the quality so she now listens via the web, great and cost about £60, made by Binaton under the name of "Tranciva". Not sure if you can still get hold of it though ?
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Thanks bp - I had spotted that one (there isn't a lot to choose from is there), but it is probably a tad too expensive (£390 on Amazon), especially as you have to add speakers.
Had a look for the Tranciva - google gives a link to something on Amazon but that doesn't have internet, and if you search on Amazon itself it doesn't come up with anything. However I think we're ok if we either drop the CD (Pure Avanti Flow) or go for a half-decent micro/mini-system with a separate internet receiver (Revo Mondo).
Got another 2 or 3 weeks (or more) of plastic cups and frozen ready meals before kitchen is in a fit state to accept new electrical goods, so we'll continue to ponder on it.
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Did you not plan ceiling speakers and structured cabling network points in your new kitchen?
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I suspect the Mondo is the best of the relatively cheap internet radios, although eBuyer have this weird little thing, don't think it's much cop for TV but as an internet radio only maybe worth a punt:-
www.ebuyer.com/product/227440
The Teacs get mixed reviews on Amazon particularly for internet radio usability, not something I'd be happy with given the cost.
Basically I think standalone internet radios/systems are still a niche, most people presumably just use a PC. I wouldn't be without mine though.
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Internet radio/CD system for kitchen - spamcan61
