Hey everyone... Ok, the subject line is a bit of a misrepresentation, but still this is too cool not to share...
Just put the finishing touches on my VERY crude empeg radio Tivo. For those of you without a tuner module, this is something worth doing...
First, download and install Total Recorder. Very cool program, well worth the registration money. It lets you record any sound that runs through the computer in a variety of formats, including mp3, of course. AND it lets you set timed recordings.
So I bought a cheap radio with a line out, and jacked that into my microphone in on the PC. Set a timer (in this case, for Stern every morning 6-11 AM) in total recorder, set the bitrate to something manageable (no sense with higher quality than FM can send) and I'm off to the races.
Works perfectly! I come in to work in the morning, throw the file (anywhere from 20-60 megs depending on what bitrate I select, still experimenting) on the empeg, toss it in my 'howard' playlist, switch to the 'seek tool', and voila.
Incredibly useful for four hour tracks, this seek tool! Jumping the fifteen minute commercial breaks takes SECONDS, and you can zip back to the correct point instantly.
Really amazing! No more messed up reception, no more droning ads, no more interruptions... The only problem now is that I refuse to listen to live radio
I have a USB radio (Dlink) that has software that lets you change the stations at timed intervals, but I've never got it to work adequatley. The only limitation of this of course is that you can only set it to record off of one station... I'm going to figure out how to get my USB radio going, though, and then I can set it to record anything.
Try it out! Now to figure out a way to make these recordings available to other people
Skeeter