Internet Radio: Audiophile or no?


I was interested in finding out whether people think Internet radio has much to offer an audiophile these days?

I would say yes. The sound quality is pretty good and the variety of music available is without equal.
128x128mapman
too bad wwoz new orleans is in low quality...a great station along with wbgo newark

PS i think the sound quality on pandora is pretty good
wwoz is pretty good via the Roku Soundbridge. I was very pleasantly surprised.

It never sounded very good when I used to stream it direct off their web site from a PC prior though.

It is a great station though...always one of my favs.

Pandora has really grabbed my attention.

It does NOT sound particularly detailed, airy, transparent or revealing, but at least in my system it sounds very comfortable and pleasing, which is more than I can say for some "high end" components I have had in the past.

And yes, streaming new music is a wonderful reminder of how we got into this hobby - I hope to listen to more internet radio.
OK Cwlondon, I'm having some fun now... Pandora is awesome. I actualy had this on my Iphone and didn't know what it was. I saw your post and started playing with it on the big rig last night. I am now listening to it as back ground in my office and loving it.

Lot's of fun on my Iphone as well... I don't think I'll be listening to my own downloads for a while.

What a great way to discover new music. This truly is the ultimate radio station.
"Pandora .... does NOT sound particularly detailed, airy, transparent or revealing"

I assume you play this via USB from computer to your system?

There is lots of detail, air and transparency with the hookup on my system with many many stations.

I use a Wifi connection from Roku Soundbridge on my system direct to the internet for internet radio stations. Radio Roku is the internet service used to catalog and provide access to the various stations.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way to access Pandora or other personalized services with this setup.