Make Internet Radio Sound "Better"?

The limitation isn't usually your Internet connection or the equipment you have to reproduce the signal once you receive it, it's the resolution of the digital stream that's being sent, and that's not something you can do anything about.

Most Internet radio stations provide a 128 kbps signal, at best, which is about the same as the lowest quality mp3 file you're likely to encounter. A good DAC and other downstream equipment will make the best of that signal but that's more a matter of doing no harm than improving the low resolution source.

But, even with that limitation, Internet radio is a terrific way to discover new music, along with Pandora, Mog, Spotify and other online resources.

decent internet radio will likely outperform most any fm radio in a pure tech
ical sense. whether you like it or not is another story.

Check out this link for stations that braodcast in 192 kbps or better:

http://192kbps.internet-radio-guide.net/

Using the new Stello U3 to run this into my DAC with good results.

If you look at Shoutcast, you can search by bit rate. I limited my search to the highest option, 360(?) kbps. While this is not itself a guaranty of better sound, it does narrow the field a bit. Some of those stations sound really good, IME.

The question could better be articulated as: how can the signal itself be enhanced apart from playing it through every dac on the market?
Marcober