Will Net Radio Data Base Reciva go bye-bye? Alternatives? And UPDATE!

[ThaDood]

Looks like Reciva, the company that has been the data base for Net and wi-fi radios for over 15 years, will be calling it quits. https://radios.reciva.com/   That will really suck for those of us that use these radios. the C-Crane co., had this to say about that:

"Yes, Reciva is closing. Grace Digital offers a WiFi Radio that uses another database if you'd like to take a look at the Grace Mondo Eilite Radio. I'm including the link below to the radio on our site as well as the link to Grace if you'd like to check them out. We do expect to come out with another WiFi Radio in the future, that could take 6-12 months as an estimate. At this time that is all the information we have available regarding Reciva.

https://ccrane.com/gracedigital-mondo-elite-wifi-internet-radio-alarm-clock-with-bluetooth-iheartradio-npr-and-radio-com/

https://gracedigital.com/    "

So, we'll see. I love my Net Only Radios, since they free up computers for streams and automatically reset the stream connection when the stream breaks. That, and the D/A converters just sound better in them.


UPDATE: The bad news is that Net Only Radios that use Reciva as the data base will be pretty much paperweights after 1/31/2021. (Yeah... I'm pretty pissed about that too.) So, some saving grace is Grace Digital,  https://gracedigital.com/      Hit the CHAT icon and ask if you can get a 20% discount on a new Grace Digital based Net Only Radio. Well, that's something, anyway. At least, as far as customer COMM's go, they've already been X1,000 % better than Reciva.

[redhat]

I looked at getting a standalone digital tuner last year.  I was put off from not only the cost, but most of the stations I like to listen to only offer streaming through an app or through their website.  And sorry, but I don't want to tie up my phone or a web session to keep audio going.

+-RH

[M R I]

I have found links to some stations I listen to (and many smaller streaming stations that play different music) that I can play in VLC and create my own playlist on PC. I tend to stay away from the big comercial stations with lots of adds. I also have a old Apple iPad touch docked to a sound system as a dedicated player for years and it still works with the radio station app. Many ways to play.

[RobRich]

I am somewhat surprised there is not more interest in reviving the Sharpfin project to replace Reciva-related firmware and player software with open source alternatives.

That said, an old smartphone or tablet often can be repurposed as an Internet radio device easily enough. Even my ancient Windows Mobile 6.x phone running TCPMP plays most common streaming audio formats and supports playlists.

[ThaDood]

Yeah... I've done that with a smart phone, tablet, and the studio computer, but the net radio has much warmer, harshless, audio. Must be a better D/A converter in them, where as the other devices can do D/A audio, but it must be more of an after thought. That, and a net radio will try to reconnect to a stream that momentarily drops. The other devices do not seem too, but must have the streams reset manually. Hmmmmm... You would suspect that there could be a quick software upgrade to correct that in the other devices, but then again, these other devices are not really marketed towards broadcasters, where you want to link, stream, air, walk away, and hopefully forget it.

[ThaDood]

Then, Boomer referred me to this:     https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/reciva-internet-radio-platform-shutting-down

[ThaDood]

Then, there's this. Can I still use my 2007 Sangean WFR-20 wi-fi via this technique? Duh-know, yet, but I'll try it. https://swling.com/blog/2021/03/how-to-give-your-reciva-wifi-radio-a-second-life-before-the-service-closes-on-april-30-2021/

[ThaDood]

And them, you have this method.   https://swling.com/blog/2021/04/robs-tips-for-uncovering-radio-station-stream-urls/   Hey... If it works, yea!!!! Some of these Reciva based radios went for $400.00. It would be nice to get a little more use out of them.

[~SIGINT~]

There is also concern that radios use a software token for protection https://swling.com/blog/2021/04/do-reciva-wifi-radios-use-a-token-system-lets-prove-or-disprove-this-now/. That functionality would not surprise me at all. Tokens, or certificates, are not uncommon to protect software and firmware from modification or reverse engineering. Additionally, a token based feature would have also allowed then the option to turn the radio into a subscription based system, for example, paid for feeds or packages. Think of it in the same way as a cable or satellite TV box.

Some of these platforms are also compounded with the SiriusXM streaming issues as quoted in the SWling post: "One thing that has gone under the radar here is that several Grace Radio models, in addition to being impacted by the Receva shutdown, can’t stream SiriusXM as of March 31st."

I went through the same heartaches when Sony discontinued the HID-C10 Dash Personal Internet Viewer. I have modded the firmware to chumby but my Dash is now pretty much nothing more than a fancy WiFi clock.