iPlayer day: 91Èȱ¬ Radio in iPlayer - sounds even better, with more to come
Post categories: iPlayer
| 10:31 UK time, Friday, 12 December 2008
There's been a little revolution going on with 91Èȱ¬ Radio output online. The UK national stations (like Radio 1, Radio 4, or Asian Network) now sound better than ever online - and there are more changes to come.
We've been working, along with the nice folks from software company (above), on something we've called Coyopa. The name's from a Mayan God of thunderous noises, in case you wondered. It is the new system for encoding live and ondemand audio from the 91Èȱ¬'s UK national radio stations.
Until now, the audio you've heard online from the 91Èȱ¬ has been broadcast onto digital satellite, then received on a satellite dish in a nice building in Maidenhead, where it's been recorded and re-encoded for online use. As a result, we've had the occasional reliability problem (satellite dishes don't like snow; sometimes the satellite receivers break), and a nagging feeling that the audio hasn't necessarily sounded as good as it could have done because of the double-encoding process we've used.
Behind the scarily technical-looking people in the image above is one of the two identical versions of Coyopa. Both Coyopa units are now in London's Broadcasting House, so they get the cleanest signal possible - direct from the studios (which in the case of Radio 3, 4 and 7 are just a few floors higher up). One of the Coyopa units is now working; the other is in its final stage of being commissioned. (We've two so we can do software upgrades with no problem, and so we maintain a reliable service).
Read more and comment at 91Èȱ¬ Radio Labs blog
