Aage said:
The CBC has links on their website for their two networks, Radio 1 and Radio 2. (
www.cbc.ca) What I like is that I can choose which affiliate to listen to. Some of the shows I like originate from CBC Montreal, for example.
I only listen to it occasionally, because I really can't stand a radio on while I work.
Fidelity? Dunno, my little Koss computer speakers don't do anything that sounds like bass, but when it's just for the news, they are perfect.
You're absolutely correct about stock computer speakers. The ones that came with my computer don't sound all that great either. I don't see how they can sound anywhere nearly as good as true hi-fi speakers, as most computer speaker systems (even the fancy-dancy amplified ones) have only one speaker in each enclosure, which must handle all frequencies. If you use a media player with an equalizer (as Winamp and most other players have), you can adjust the individual frequencies until the sound suits you. However, as to bass, you're right. Those small speakers (which are not more than five inches in diameter, and most are smaller) do well with higher frequencies, but are so-so or worse at handling midrange and bass. Case in point: I have a Midland FM/weather radio with a three-inch speaker that works well enough for the weather broadcast, but FM broadcasts sound so tinny and harsh I can't stand listening to the thing for more than a few seconds at a time. Listening to the weather broadcast doesn't bother me; it's the tinny FM sound that gets me. If you have one of these radios, I'd keep it set on the weather channels, as the FM broadcast sound quality is worse than even a cheap transistor radio. I tried using the weather radio with my Sony MDR-24 stereo headphones, however, and the FM sounds much better. Must be that poor excuse for a speaker that's making such a shambles of the FM audio, as the radio obviously has a good audio stage if the sound is better through phones. I suppose if one were to connect a good external speaker to the audio output jack on the back of the radio, an improvement in sound quality would be realized on FM and even the weather band.
I don't know where you're listening to your computer, but if you're at home and have a reasonably good stereo system, I'd try feeding the output of the sound card into one of the aux inputs (almost all true stereo systems have these jacks, including the better bookshelf systems). Get a cable with a plug at one end to fit the speaker output jack on your computer and two RCA plugs on the other, plug it into the computer and your stereo, select the aux input on the system, find your favorite Internet radio station, and just listen. I think you will be pleased with the results (your music will sound much better going through the amplifier and speakers of your stereo than it ever did coming from the computer's own speakers). I have an Aiwa 200-total-watt digital bookshelf stereo system with my computer and cable box hooked up to it; the audio fidelity is, IMHO, fantastic, much better than the speakers that came with the computer. I also use the Winamp 5.13 media player to listen to my CDs and Internet radio (I ripped most of my favorite CDs into the computer about six months ago and am adding more songs all the time, as I have quite a large collection of CDs and cassettes--mostly oldies, soft rock, instrumentals, etc). Another benefit of listening to Internet radio, at least here in the United States (don't know if what I am about to say holds true on the CBC networks) : No commercials! :yes:! Not to mention no more worries about scratches, ticks, pops, etc. in your music, as CDs are impervious to these (up to a point) and, if you rip your CDs into your computer using a media player, you won't have to worry about loading different CDs into a player every couple hours (almost all media players, including Winamp, allow the user to create playlists of virtually unlimited length, so you can have individual playlists for every kind of music you like, or you can merge them all into one large playlist and use Winamp's "shuffle" feature to have the player select a different song at random as they end--you may never hear the same song twice if you have a long playlist). Much better than the vinyl phonograph records which preceded them, although I know some of our members here at AK are still partial to vinyl, which can provide excellent fidelity if the turntable or changer is maintained properly. The only thing I can see wrong with vinyl is the fact that you have to replace the stylus in the cartridge at varying intervals (depending entirely on how much you listen to your records). If you have a good record changer, though (such as the old Magnavox Micromatics used in the company's fabulous three-way entertainment centers of the '60s-'70s, which had very light stylus tracking force, or a good turntable or changer in a stereo component system), your records should last years or decades, if you change the stylus at regular intervals.
It will be quite a while yet, IMHO, before vinyl is completely extinct, so finding a new stylus for your turntable/changer shouldn't be too much of a problem if you do a little looking (try a Google search if you have trouble locating a stylus locally).