I’ve decided to create this section because I’ve found people are usually either asking for my (software / tech / whatever) recommendations or after talking to someone I find they are generally excited by things I normally use. So in an effort to help out I’ve decided to post these here and now let me introduce: Captain Approved!
I’ve been listening to talk radio as long as I can remember. It probably started from hanging around with my grandfather.
Thanks to the spread of broadband and the increased ease of recording on PCs we have podcasting… however I find that many (home made) podcasts usually don’t interest me. Thankfully many of my favorite AM radio stations to stream their shows on the Internet (and some even offer limited podcasts). However, the challenge remains with my busy and often complicated (work) schedule and being married I do not have enough time to listen to my favorite talk shows (this is very anti-TiVo).
More than a year ago while I was still working at that other place and after I grew tired of interruptions causing me to miss my morning talk radio, I decided I would find or figure out a solution for a TiVo like experience for AM radio. I found a company called Applian Technologies which looked to do what I wanted.
I must admit, their website and product offering is confusing, they seem to offer too many overlapping products so here’s where my recommendations hopefully come in handy.
Basically they have two products to look into: one which will tune a stream and *dump* that stream to disk leaving you with a Real Audio or Windows Media Audio file which you can play back at a later time (WMVCR)… or they have another product which will dump the stream and then convert it to MP3 or AAC for later playback (ReplayAV). Both products have a scheduling feature where you can program in your favorite shows (from a pre configured list or manually) and if you leave your computer on it will record these automagically for you.
After *testing* a version of WMVCR for a few weeks I decided to support a company producing a great product and I bought it. Recently, the company updated the Replay Radio product to become the Replay AV which combined the stream dumping and soundcard loop back recording functions of the two products into one AWESOME product.
Both products work great… however if you’re looking for the most user friendly and powerful product I’d recommend to buy the ReplayAV product.