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So you want to listen to Internet radio? Perhaps you have a favorite
station you'd like to hear on the Internet, or you've found an interesting site
that offers 'Net radio, but you aren't sure how to go about it. Or maybe you're
just interested in the idea of Internet radio, and want to explore a little.
This guide is intended to help you get started!
There are a few things that you'll need before you can listen to Internet
radio:
- A reasonably new computer -- something that was fairly state-of-the-art
no more than four years ago.)
- A connection to the Internet. If you're reading this on your computer, well,
you have a connection to the Internet! You should also be aware that there
are, generally speaking, two different kinds of Internet connections you can
have. One is called dial-up, and the other is called broadband.
- A dial-up connection is where you connect to the Internet over
your phone line. This means that, whenever you want to check your e-mail
or browse the web, you must first dial-in and log on to the Internet.
- A broadband connection can be one of many things. DSL,
Cable Internet, and ISDN connections are all broadband connections.
Generally speaking, if you have a broadband connection, you are always
connected to the Internet. If you are at work and your computer is on
a network, then you probably have a broadband connection. The name "broadband"
is used because the speed of the connection -- i.e. how long it takes
to check e-mail, load web pages, or download files -- is much faster than
a dial-up connection. That means you can check e-mail faster, web pages
load quicker, and files download in relatively short periods of time.
It also means that Internet radio will generally perform and sound better.
- A sound card for your computer, and some speakers. If your computer
already makes noise (when you start it up or shut it down, or when error messages
pop up), then you know you have a sound card and that it's set up correctly.
If your computer is silent, however, you can still check to see if you have
a sound card. Look at the rear of the computer. If you see what looks like
a metal drawer with a 1/8th" headphone jack (like that for a Walkman
or portable CD player). Chances are, you'll have two: one is a jack for speakers
(or headphones), and the other is a microphone jack. On most computers, these
jacks will be labeled, usually with an icons (pictures) of a microphone and
a pair of speakers. If all else fails, your computer's documentation may say
whether or not your computer has a sound card, and how to use it if it does.
- The proper "media players" installed on your system. Your
favorite radio station "webcasts," or streams, in one of
two formats. Just like VHS and Beta were competing formats in the early
days of VCRs, RealAudio and Windows Media are competing formats
of Internet audio. They are simply two different ways of achieving basically
the same thing: carrying audio over the Internet to your computer. The programs
that play these formats are generally called "media players." Unlike
VHS and Beta, however, there is no clear winner in this competition, yet.
Fortunately, both Windows Media and RealAudio media players are free, and
it's easy to have both on your computer at the same time. We'll talk about
how to get media players, and how to use them, in the next section.
Next
page: Getting your system prepared
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