SI-teX Ltd. Software for small business and home
        iRadioNet
 
 
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On-Line Help

  Supported protocols and formats
  Overview of recording functionality
  Options Dialog
  Recording options
  How to record on-line music
  How to start with parameters
  How to add a new online station
  How to add a new local audio file or a playlist
  Volume control
  Seek control
  Scan control
  Channels control
  Stations control
  System tray popup menu
  Keybord commands
  Backup previous installation
 
 Supported protocols and formats Top
The following transport protocols are used to manage the high-level exchange of data when streaming audio-based content:
  • HTTP
  • MMS
  • RTSP

    iRadioNet can play and record the following available on-line stream file types (formats):
  • MP3 audio file mp3
  • Windows Media Audio file wma
  • Windows Media file asf

    Moreover, iRadioNet can play the following available local audio formats:
  • Audio file mp2/mp1/wav/cda/ogg/mod
  • MP3 audio file mp3
  • Windows Media Audio file wma
  • Windows Media file asf

    NB.  Please be aware that:
    • To play Windows Media/Audio stream you must have either Windows Media Player or
      Windows Media Format module (3.9 Mb)
      installed on your PC.
  •  Overview of recording functionality Top
    iRadioNet supports recording for main stream formats - direct mp3 and encoded Windows Media/Audio - depending on stream format provided by on-line stations.

    For direct mp3, the stream will be saved as mp3 file without any encoding and transformation and will have the same bitrate as the source.
    For Windows Media/Audio, the source stream will be encoded to mp3 format firstly and then will be saved. In this case bitrate of the file depends on selected recording quality option in the Options Dialog.

    There are two modes of recording - Meta and Non-Meta - for direct mp3 stream.
    If iRadioNet is in the meta mode it can record and save the whole song even if you start recording in the middle of the song.
    In the non-meta mode the application will start recording exactly after pressing the Record button and stop it when you press the button again.

    NB.  Please be aware that:
    • Record service is restricted for unregistered copy:
      only 2 records per the application launching in meta mode or 10 minutes in non-meta.
    • Record service is available only for on-line music. It is desabled if you are playing a music file from a local hard drive or CD-ROM
    • Record service will be switched off and the recorded file will be saved automatically if you change an on-line station or close the application
    • In the meta mode record service will be switched off and the recorded file will be saved automatically if the selected on-line song is ended up
    • Unfortunately not all on-line radio stations provide correct meta data during broadcasting. In this case meta mode for record service is not available.
    • If a radio station can support the meta mode iRadioNet places the "M" indicator opposite the station name on the main screen.
    • If a radio station provides music in Windows Media/Audio format iRadioNet places the "E" indicator opposite the station name on the main screen.

     Options Dialog Top
    Source List Info section allows you to change different files with music source list (see below).

    In Source List Info section you can
  • change the time-out parameter for connection with an on-line radio station
       (recomended to increase it if you have time-out error message);
  • increase/decrease the size of playing buffer;
  • change the timer interval for scan control (see below);
  • switch on/off displaying hints for basic buttons;

    Record Info section allows you to
  • switch the program in meta or non-meta recording mode (see above);
  • enable/disable continious recording - if you set this option on
       the program will continue to record the next song after finishing
       the previous one (only in meta mode);
  • change the folder where to keep recorded files;
  • change the default name for recorded files (for non-meta mode);
  • set the option to add the date sub-folder to save path;
  • switch on/off deleting existed file with the same name before saving
       the new one;
  • run Wizard to congigure recordable input device;
  • set recording options and level;

    NB.  Please be aware that:
    • iRadioNet uses non-standard hints.
      If some button hint is popup up you should wait until it disappears and only then you will be able to press this button.
    • File Num field is used to make default file name different for recorded files in non-meta mode. Its value will be increased automatically after saving the current file.

  •   Recording options Top
    iRadioNet applies encoding to transform the digital audio data into a highly compressed form called bitstream. The result is not the same file as the source, but it will sound the same - more or less, depending on how much compression had been performed on it - the lower the compression ratio achieved, the better the sound quality will be in the end.
    Because compression ratio is a somewhat unwieldy measure, experts use the term bitrate when speaking of the strength of compression. Bitrate denotes the average number of bits that one second of audio data will take up in your compressed bitstream. Usually the units used will be kbps, which is kbits/sec.

    iRadioNet uses two main encoding modes:
  • Constant Bitrate, in which the fixed bitrate will be the same for the whole
       file, so the quality of your mp3 is variable;
  • Variable Bitrate, in which the encoder tries to maintain the given quality
       in the whole file by choosing the optimal number of bits to spend for each
       part of your music. The resulting bitrate range is variable according
       to music complexity, but the quality of your mp3 is smooth.

    Recording options allows you to choose several possible quality encoding modes:
  • User Defined is the default encoding mode with constant bitrate you can
       set yourself.
  • Medium is variable bitrate which provides good transparency to most
       people on most music. The bitrate should be in the 150-180 kbps range.
  • Standard is variable bitrate which is generally transparent to most people
       on most music and is already quite high in quality. The bitrate should be
       in the 170-210 kbps range.
  • Fast Standard is like Standard mode, but this forces the encoder to use
       a faster encoding mode with a lower quality. The bitrate should be
       in the 160-200 kbps range.
  • Extreme is variable bitrate which provides slightly higher quality than
       the Standard mode. The bitrate should be in the 200-240 kbps range.
  • Fast Extreme forces encoder to use a faster encoding mode with a little
       bit lower quality The bitrate should be in the 190-230 kbps range.

    NB.  Please be aware that:
    • iRadioNet cannot improve quality of source stream.
      If an on-line station broadcasts music stream with, i.e., 32 kbps bitrate, setting Record Quality in the Extreme mode will not forse the encoder to provide higher quality for your resulting mp3. iRadioNet uses third-part freeware Lame MP3 Encoder.

  •   How to record on-line music Top
    Click on the Record button while you are listening to on-line music to start recording and click on the button again to stop service and save the recorded file on a hard disc.
    If an on-line radio station provides a title for this song, the saved music file will have the same name.
    If a station does not provide this information, the music file will have a default name. You can set the default name as well as the path where to keep saved files in the Options Dialog.

      How to start with parameters Top
    Put in command line the path to iRadioNet executable file and set of parameters separated by spaces.

    Following parameters are accepted:
  • -v0 .. -v10 – set volume level to 0..10
  • -c1 .. –c5 – play the fixed channel 1..5
  • -s# – play the station #
  • -r0/-r1 – switch off/on record mode
  • -t# – switch off recording after # minutes (if -r1)
  • -n# – record and save # files (if -r1)
  • -f"path" – save recorded files into "path" folder (if -r1)
  • -d# – switch off recording when size of the destination directory
       will be more than # MB (if -r1)
  • -e0 – close the program after recording (if -r1))

    Sample of parameters to run iRadioNet in Windows Sheduler:
    • "C:\Program Files\iRadioNet\iRadioNet.exe"
                   -r1 -v0 -e0 -s3 -n5 -t45 -d150
    NB.  Please be aware that:
    • Some anti-virus programs not allow you to run the program from Windows Sheduler. You should disable anti-virus protection in this case.
    • Not all on-line stations provide correct data for meta mode (see above). I advise you to set either timer or directory size protection for recording.
    • If iRadioNet is in non-meta mode all transmitted music will be recorded in one file.
    • Record service is restricted for unregistered copy

  •   How to add a new online station Top
    Open a radio station web site with your internet browser, find a web-page whith a link to the server music stream. Copy the link to a computer memory pressing the right mouse button and selecting the Copy Shortcut/Link menu item.
    On iRadioNet main screen click on the List button to open a list of available radio stations. Click on the Add button (or select the same popup menu item) to open a screen for a new entry. Enter the name of a new radio station, the copied link will be pasted into the URL field automatically. Click on the OK button to save the entry in the list.

    NB.   The application can accept only following URLs:
    • Direct link to a music stream, i.e.
        http://205.188.234.4:8004/
    • Direct link to a stream playlist (pls/m3u format), i.e.
        http://www.somafm.com/beatblender.pls
    • Link-to-link to a music stream or a stream playlist, i.e.
        http://radio.ext.ru/playlist/radio.m3u?
                 station=europaplus&stream=128

      How to add a new local audio file or a playlist Top
    On iRadioNet main screen click on the List button to open a list of available sources. Click on the Add button (or select the same popup menu item) to open a screen for a new entry. Enter the name of a new source and path to a separate audio file or a playlist file (if you copied the path before, it will be inserted into the URL field automatically). Click on the OK button to save the entry in the list.

    NB.   The application can accept only following pathes:
    • Direct path to an audio (mp3, mp2, mp1, wav) file, i.e.
        C:\My Music\ABBA\01 - Abba - Chiquitita.mp3
    • Direct path to a playlist file in pls format, i.e.
        C:\My Music\abba.pls
    • Direct path to a playlist file in m3u format, i.e.
        C:\My Music\abba.m3u

      Volume control Top
    To increase volume of the sound, click on the Volume Up button.
    To decrease volume of the sound, click on the Volume Down button.
    To switch the sound off click on the Mute button (it will be highlighted with green color). To swith it on again click on the "Mute" button one more time.

      Seek control Top
    To play the next radio station, click on the Seek Up button.
    To play the previous radio station, click on the Seek Down button.

      Scan control Top
    To play a radio station one by other with time-out period, click on the Scan button (it will be highlighted with green color). Default timer interval is 15 seconds. You can set other scan interval in the Options Dialog.
    To switch off the scan mode and play the current station, click on the Scan button again.

     Channels control Top
    To play one of the preset radio fixed stations, click on the 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, button. The selected channel button will be highlighted with green color.
    To assign a playing station to any of fixed channels, click on the Set button and then on the channel number button.

      Stations control Top
    Click on the List button to open window with a list of available music sources. Using popup menu or buttons you can play the selected source, add a new station or local audio file, edit information about the selected source or delete it.
    You can change the current music source list in the Options dialog.

      System tray popup menu Top
    Most of above functionalities are available from main popup menu (click on the application icon in the system tray with right mouse button).
    To show the hidden application main screen, you should either select Show menu item or double click on the application icon in the system tray.

      Keybord commands Top
      Volume Up Ctrl++
      Volume Down Ctrl+-
      Mute Ctrl+M
      Seek Up Ctrl+U
      Seek Down Ctrl+D
      Scan Ctrl+S
      Record Ctrl+R
      Channel 1 Ctrl+1
      Channel 2 Ctrl+2
      Channel 3 Ctrl+3
      Channel 4 Ctrl+4
      Channel 5 Ctrl+5
      Stations Dialog Ctrl+L
      Options Dialog Ctrl+O

      Backup previous installation Top
    To save important information from your previous installation of the application, setup package includes the new section "Backup previous files".
    This option allows to create a backup sub-folder in the installation folder and put the old configuration, playlist and registration patch files into the backup directory.