Radio Magnetic hosts on-demand programmes. We no longer stream live. See the About section for more info on this.

Streaming Formats

We stream in two formats: Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Quicktime (MP4). At the bottom of each Show or Feature you will find links to listen to high and low quality versions of each programme. The high quality version (in both WMA and MP4) is for broadband users and the low quality one for people with a dial-up internet connection. For those who really want to know, the high versions are 96Kbps and the low 24Kbps. We appreciate that we could stream larger bit rates than 96Kbps but we feel that is the best compromise between quality and file size. We chose Windows Media and Quicktime as we feel they offer great quality and widespread accessibility.

Players

To listen you will need a compatible media player.

Windows Media Audio

All Windows PCs come with Windows Media Player. If you need to download WMP you can do so here. Mac users should download and instal the Windows Media plug in for Quicktime Flip4Mac. Linux users should use M-Player.

Quicktime

(Please note that the transition to Quicktime is not yet complete. Quicktime files will be available to listen to by mid September 2006.)

All Macs come with Quicktime, the audio engine that drives iTunes (for Mac and Windows). If you need to download Quicktime you can do so here. The Quicktime format we use is MP4, which is also compatible with the following players: Real Player VLC M-Player.

If you experience any problems listening, please email help.

Podcasts

There are various podcasts linked to from the Radio Magnetic website. These are typically in the ubiquitous MP3 format or the better quality and more feature-enabled AAC format. Almost any player can play MP3 files and many can play AAC, including Quicktime, iTunes, VLC, M-Player and WinAmp.