How to Record & Save BBC Radio Shows as MP3 Audio Files

Amit;
Are you sure that you can advise this ? Lots of websites say that you cannot record streams. I do understand that you are just giving advise, but i would suggest caution.
Thanks
K.Shyam

Amit....Thank you. :)

I've used Audacity quite a lot and it works fine for me... :)

i didn't see strerio mix or wav out i saw line in and microphone, any help?

I use OpD2D. Simpler interface. Can directly record sound from sound card into MP3. Specify the number of minute or MB, and then you can go away. The only drawback is that it doesn't have pause option.

Baba - the option you probably want in that case is 'Internal Mic'

well am still not getting getting anything, it says microphone and line in and i've tried both and non of them seem to work , just to be straight this program records any audio coming out of my speakers right?

but no matter what its function is its not working on my laptop

do u have anymore ideas or maybe another program that might work?

I used WINDOWS MEDIA ENCODER 9 SERIES to capture some old rare songs. Gave excellent quality. And u can use different profiles or customize a existing one. Produces wma format which can be converted easily using other media players/softwares.

and for os x here

I also am having similar problems as baba -- I have nothing available to select in the drop-down menu in the Audacity 'Mixer Toolbar' -- all my speakers work etc -- but who or waht has stolen my input source?

I am also having same problem as Baba -- there is nothing in the drop-down window to select

any ideas please

Regards

Jomo

Thank you very, very much!

I spent two hours looking for the good solution how to record one song from BBC site, which really put me into fever.

If you could put a link to Lame on your page, it would make it a complete advice.

May the force be with you ...

THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!

I spent two hours trying to find a good way record a song from BBC, and you have given it to me.

Essence

Alternatively, a much quicker solution is to open the BBC player, right-click on the progress bar on the left and select "View Source" in IE. This will open up a notepad window full of code.

Use find to search for "RPMS", and select all the text between quotes in the embed source tag.

Prefix this with http://www.bbc.co.uk and you have the path to the audio stream.

Use a download manager (I use NetTransport) to grab the stream. This happens much quicker than the above method which grabs in realtime only.

When downloaded, use dbpoweramp to convert from .RA to the format of your choice.

Cheers,
Bod.

You are a star Bod - I've been trying for ages to work out how to do this but couldn't get the URL right! Many thanks!

Jenny

Thank you very much of this advice. Works really fine for me. I've been searching programs which could record properly BBC Radio but before this I have had only disappointments. But luckily I found this advice. I truly recommend everyone who haven't tried this one.

Good article, but check out :

http://www.screamer-radio.com/

Smaller, simpler, free, no installer required.

Well worth checking out.

Enjoy

I just followed avice friday afternoon and everthing worked perfectly. Irecorder more than 3 hours program from internet.

BUT i tried to do the same on my gf's laptop today and i couldnt. The mixer toolbar was modified!!!

G'day,
I recently found a sweet little program called soundtap...
It is the best stream recorder I have played with, but it isn't free.
The features make up for the $20 cost though.

Hi, you say on the link to this page that you can capture streaming video as well, but I don't see how?

I got i-Sound WMA MP3 Recorder from http://www.abyssmedia.com during GiveAwayoftheday for free and it work perfectly for me.

Hi!
How could I record in stereo?
I added a stereo track, and the program is automatically recording it in a new mono track...

Please help, Thanks

Peter

Thank you Bod, great post.

Apologies for the caps, but.. IF YOU WANT THE ACTUAL AUDIO FILE STORED ON THE SERVER - PLEASE USE BOD'S SOLUTION.

See further up.

If you have Real Alternative installed, installed of the proper BBC Real Player, Bod's solution works too.

A typical link should look like this.

'http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/shows/rpms/london/seanrowley.rpm'

Just drop that URL into Net Transport or something similar.

Great stuff Bod. Totally forgot about Net Transport. ;)

Hey...just downloaded the LAME encoder using firefox and Audacity tells me the lam_enc.dll file is not a valid windows image. Excuse my ignorance, but does this mean I can't use firefox to download it? Do I need to use Windows?

Cheers

Chris

Ignore my last comment, trying it with net transport seems to work - looks like the download manager I used wasn't as intelligent.

Replay A/V is the best way to do this- you can record BBC and tons of other shows easily. Check out http://www.replay-av.com ,

I want to download the full stream using Net transport, how can I get the correct link?

I've tried rightclick on the stream and opening the source, but there is not RPM suffix or rpsm

I've also tried creating a torrent from what looks like it might be a source, but no luck (which is what it would have been, cos I had no clue what I was doing)

for example let's say i wanted to download the stream of the Bob Dylan Chronicles on Radio 2...

thanks

You have to view the source from IE, not mozilla - for some reason mozilla shows an abrieviated version of the code.

I found bod's solution great but I have a qn - I know recently in the BBC radio player it says they've been having probs and are working to restore everything etc but has anyone else found problems in the downloaded files? When I convert the real audio files to MP3 it misses out bits (listening back the audio jumps a few mins) and then records silence for the last 25%. If I listen to the real audio file directly in winamp it says there is a buffering problem and then continues playing but with no sound output. This tends to happen about the same place that the sound cuts in the MP3. This makes me think there is a problem with the file that I download, but why???

More importantly what do I have to do differently?

Thanks in advance for any help

Le_Andy

That thing with finding "RPMS" files does no longer work with the BBC. All you get is short cuts to java pop ups...

Just recorded Mark Lamarr Reggae show on Radio 2 - worked fine - no java pop ups

There IS a way, and you don't need the (sometimes wobbly) Audacity prog to do it.

You do need a late Apple Mac (mine's an iMac) with Garageband, and TWO audio sockets.

Then you plug the two sockets together (i.e. you use one bit of wire with a 3.5 plug on each end), so that the sound is coming OUT of the headphone socket and going IN to the digital sound input socket, and then run your BBC-type clip and Garageband.

Just press record, and the clip is recorded into Garageband. Then do what you like with it. My preference is to export to iTunes, from where I can burn a CD, or just keep it.

Don't know if this helps non-Mac users, but it might, if your PC is well enough equipped.


Allen.

And here is yet another solution, although this one too is only for Macs:

You could use AudioHijack (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16382)

Start Audio Hijack and aim it at your app that plays the realplayer clips Then Start THAT app and play your clip when your clip is done you have listened to it AND you have captured it.

It's a commercial prog, unfortunately, but it's only $32, and does other things too. Worth a look (the free download lasts only 10 mins!)

Allen.

bod: excellent suggestions. everything worked like a charm. a bit of work but well worth it. thanks again.