Timeshifting streaming audio.
May 24, 2014 12:31 PM   Subscribe

Is there a relatively painless* way to pull audio off of a site like this, without using the analog loophole?

Understandably so, it looks like xray.fm doesn't really have the capital for podcast hosting in addition to their regular broadcast stuff. They're a micro-broadcast station with streaming.

There are a couple of their shows that I'd really, REALLY like to sit with and enjoy in detail. I'm not able to stream them when I would prefer to listen to them, and they're not available as podcasts, which is how I listen to all of my 'radio' these days.

Are there any options out there that would allow me to record this audio off a flash streaming player like this?

*There are a couple of these shows that I would actually attempt painful ways to obtain the audio, namely the show linked above.
posted by furnace.heart to Computers & Internet (10 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: At least for me, it opened with a HTML5 player, not flash, and the URL of the MP3 file is readily accessible in the source to the page.
posted by thegears at 12:41 PM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: If you have a Mac, Audio Hijack Pro lets you record audio that your various apps put out.

You would just tell Audio Hijack Pro to record the audio (the audio stream) being put out by Safari (or whatever browser you were using) and just click record.

The only downside is that it is recorded in real-time, so if you have a one-hour stream, it's going to take one hour for it to record (AHP is "listening" to the stream just as you would).
posted by blueberry at 12:43 PM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: At least for me, it opened with a HTML5 player, not flash, and the URL of the MP3 file is readily accessible in the source to the page.

I assumed it was flash; I've completely forgotten to look through the source of a page. I can find the link, but I'm still only able to open it in safari as a streamed file. I now realize this is easier than I thought it would be, but i'm feeling quite dense. How would I download the file directly from the source to get it onto my machine?
posted by furnace.heart at 12:50 PM on May 24, 2014


Best answer: For the specific URL you posted, this is the link to the mp3 file. It's 137MB.
posted by Jem and the Hooligans at 12:54 PM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I can find the link, but I'm still only able to open it in safari as a streamed file. I now realize this is easier than I thought it would be, but i'm feeling quite dense. How would I download the file directly from the source to get it onto my machine?

What you have to do is turn it into a physical link you can click on (like entering it in the MeFi comment box and viewing the preview, or you can use Jem's link above) then right-click and choose "Save File" or the equivalent option for the browser you're using.

Also, +1 to Audio Hijack Pro for situations when the mp3 isn't so easily accessible.
posted by mekily at 12:58 PM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: What you have to do is turn it into a physical link you can click on (like entering it in the MeFi comment box and viewing the preview, or you can use Jem's link above) then right-click and choose "Save File" or the equivalent option for the browser you're using.

As soon as I saw the physical link Jem posted, I slapped my forehead, because this was the most obvious way to do it. Thanks all!
posted by furnace.heart at 1:08 PM on May 24, 2014


Did you try to contact the station and mention that you would like to listen to their content in podcast format?

Many internet radio stations take a dim view of the kind of ripping you're describing here. Please consider that for a station operated for love of music or radio, ripping is a Pandora's box of intellectual property challenges. While you may be doing it for time shifting, other listeners do it, especially in Germany where ripping is legal, in order to chop and collect mp3s. Have you considered why it is called Audio Hijack Pro?

Some rippers rebroadcast the mp3s or redistribute them online, even as they're sucking bandwidth the station would prefer to give to a bona fide listener. An artist friend of mine was shocked to see a show she had produced, only ever distributed over internet radio, had been turned into an mp3 and was distributed on a mp3 database that charged money for access. She, and her crew, of course, saw none of this money, and when she contacted the database, they were verbally abusive and acknowledged no wrongdoing, even though they were profiting wrongly off her work.

Internet radio stations are aware of ripping, and often assume ill will when they see someone logged in for very long periods of time, and ban the IP. Other stations use different strategies.

Please talk to the station.
posted by mitschlag at 2:08 PM on May 24, 2014


To my mind, if it’s for personal, time-shifted use, making an MP3 that you listen to on-the-go doesn't seem any different than you listening to it as-it-streams (it’s just a hell of a lot more convenient for you). I mean, the station is still just streaming it to you once; it’s not like they get hit with extra streaming traffic or anything.

Of course, this is assuming you're not going to try to put your MP3 onto a CD called "Furnace.hearts’ Freedom Rock!" or start posting your recordings online. But yeah, like with any station or podcast, if you like their stuff (as it seems you do), maybe think about donating if you can afford it.

posted by blueberry at 4:57 PM on May 24, 2014


Response by poster: *sigh* I had more than this written, but don't want to turn this into a conversation that deviates from the askme. But for the sake of completeness:

I donate to the station.

I have talked to the station (some of their programs are set up as podcasts, but that onus is on the producers of that individual show). They're not set up to host podcasts, but might be in the future.

I won't be distributing anything beyond my computer and my stereo.

This is, as I mentioned in the question, so I can listen to them when I'm unable to stream them.

Have you considered why it is called Audio Hijack Pro?

Because the developer called it that when they released it. That program can be used for as many legitimate reasons as it can for illicit ones. It's just a tool, and has no inherent moral quality to it.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:28 PM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Thanks, Furnace.heart. I didn't want to go too far afield either, but my point was that if you regularly use timeshifting tools, many stations that track this will react in ways that undermine the usage of the tool (IP banning and some other strategies that interrupt coding).

Many station owners and producers view any use of "Stationripper" and "Audio Hijack Pro" usage as illicit, and react accordingly - and sometimes users who rip to timeshift are surprised when they can't log into their favorite station anymore, because they've been banned.

The internet radio folks I know who are over 50, for instance, are very podcast-agnostic, no matter how many times I tell them what Leo Laporte and TWiT are doing. I'm not talking about people who are pirate broadcasters or who, like me, stick to Creative Commons-licensed and free works. I'm talking about people who already pay the dreaded SoundExchange and ASCAP/BMI fees.

In those cases, I think it really can be better to contact them and tell them what you want, they might work with you (you did say it was a microbroadcaster).
posted by mitschlag at 10:28 AM on June 3, 2014


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