BBC Sounds through Roon ? [No]

I just Bluetooth BBC sounds to my system… It works well, I’m not sure how it could be added to Roon…

The main BBC radio stations are already in Roon’s radio directory.

But in terms of the podcasts on BBC Sounds, many have an RSS feed which could be used to download them if Roon properly supported Podcasts.

I think Sonos is the only (authorised/non-voice) platform currently with tight integration into their native app for BBC Sounds mixes and archived radio shows though, and only in the UK.

I’ve recently heard informational interruptions on BBC Radio 6Music, saying that they are changing 3rd party access to their channels and that the changes will be complete by mid-2023.
I think this means no more access via Roon; only through the BBC Sounds mobile app, browser page, smart speakers(?) et al.
Your thoughts, please.
Dave

The BBC is intending to drop use of the Shoutcast technology mid-2023. See this thread:

Thanks, Geoff, and poo! I’m not happy about losing BBC stations on Roon.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/recent-changes-to-bbc-sounds/shoutcast-closure

Isn’t the solution to stream from your iphone or Mac to a solution like RooPlay (requires a Pi, and some configuration)? The kind Dr. is very active on these forums, and helps users with configuration and questions. This also gets you into the ecosystem where you can add his support for hardware volume controls etc. If you don’t want to build a pi yourself, I think he sells some sort of pre-built pre-configured branded version, tho I think it’s exactly the same as a fully DIY box. It can also run on some very lightweight Pi’s since current supply chain constraints are insane.

Forums;

Site with RooPlay and other extension content / where to buy:

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You should address this issue to the Roon support forum. As far as I know Roon they will jump onto it and offer a solution for you and many others. Probably they will decide to support DASH or HLS within Roon in future.

I don‘t know if they already are informed that BBC will go this way.

Post it helping you and others.

Edit: saw that Roon is already able to receive HLS. So switch to this station in Roon and you will be fine.

Best DrCWO

Thanks, Dr.!
Geoff, a Roon moderator, replied above and said BBC is dropping Shoutcast.

I don’t know how to do this. Can you help?
Thanks,
DB

You’l find the URLs of the BBC streams here.

As far as I can see in UK they offer 320kBit AAC for BBC 3, quite a good audio quality :+1:

  • Go to this website and find the link you like to use for the radio station.
  • Copy the link of the station to your clipboard.
  • In Roon go to “My Live Radio”.
  • Click to “+ Add station” on top of this page.
  • Select “Add station URL”.
  • Paste the copied URL in the field and click “Add station”
  • If you like you can also add an image of your choice but not mandatory and it can also be done later.
  • Click “Add station” and you’re done.

Best DrCWO

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Great! Thanks for that page, Dr. I added the 96Kbps since I’m in US.

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As long as you use the aac streams then your using the HLS version and won’t get the message just choose it as the default stream your likely using the mp3 one. However I believe the BBC is looking to have token system next year that will require services to be registered with them to get the token or no stream. Not sure how geared up Roon is for that.

Dr.,
I copied the HLS 96 Kbps URL from the wiki page you sent and added it, but the signal path reveals it as only 48 Kbps. That’s not a problem, it works.
The MPEG DASH URL does not work. Maybe Roon will enable DASH later?
Thanks again.

I think you messed up with 96kbits an 48kHz :woozy_face:

48kHz is the sample rate you see in the signal path. 96kbit is the number of bits transmitted per second and a measure for how strong the audio stream is compressed. MP3 radio normally sends with 128kbit but 96kbit AAC should sound better even if the bitrate is lower.

So, they’re both 48 kHz AAC format, just different bit rates. Got it. I expected the kHz number in the descriptions.

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Hi all-

Two questions there were elicited by this thread:

  1. are the favorite streams / personal radio stations saved on the core or only the remote / are they persistent across remotes? I saved a few BBC stations on my iPad and can’t find them on my iPhone.
  2. Is there a way to access that “add station” functionality from a phone? I can’t find it on my iPhone remote

The combination of 1&2 means I can’t access BBC radio streams I just added from my phone. thanks.

Everything is on the core. Nothing in Roon is stored on the remotes. Never tried to create one from a phone so can’t check.

Stations can be added to the “My Live Radio” page of Roon from every Remote, and should be replicated across every Remote.

I’ve just added a Station to the MLR page using my Android Remote, and it was immediately seen on my Windows 11 desktop Remote.

Thank you. Well, I can add stations from my iPad and see them on my MacBook or Windows remotes. But not on my iPhone remote, no matter how many times I refresh (stubbornly trying things three times instead of one is a painful pattern I cherish).

You are using Roon Remote, and not Roon ARC on your iPhone?

If so, then you may have found a bug, and a bug report with screenshots would be useful - please post in the #support category. Thanks.

What happens if you add the station under MLR on your phone?

Edit: my thinking in asking is does it now appear in your list of stations or not. If not, then something is going on with your phone.