Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: How to label streams in a playlist (Read 7663 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

How to label streams in a playlist

I would like to keep a playlist in foobar with all the stream radio stations I listen to. I tried to write the stream addresses into a M3U file like this:

Code: [Select]
http://dradio.ic.llnwd.net/stream/dradio_dlf_m_a.ogg
http://dradio.ic.llnwd.net/stream/dradio_dkultur_m_a.ogg
http://dradio.ic.llnwd.net/stream/dradio_dwissen_m_a.ogg

This playlist works fine, but the actual title of the radio stations is only displayed when I am connected to the stream, otherwise only the filename is displayed, which of course looks ugly and allows no meaningful identification for many streams.

So I would like to give a title to the streams. But how can I do that? I tried the extended M3U format:

Code: [Select]
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1,Deutschlandfunk
http://dradio.ic.llnwd.net/stream/dradio_dlf_m_a.ogg
#EXTINF:-1,Deutschlandradio Kultur
http://dradio.ic.llnwd.net/stream/dradio_dkultur_m_a.ogg
#EXTINF:-1,Deutschlandradio Wissen
http://dradio.ic.llnwd.net/stream/dradio_dwissen_m_a.ogg

It doesn't work however. Foobar only ever displays the filename, regardless of the #EXITINF lines. Doesn't foobar support this format? Is there any other way I can have my stream list with appropriate titles (either give them titles myself or make foobar remember the titles from the last connection)?


How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #2
I've found a solution! It's even on the website from Deutschlandradio: http://www.dradio.de/wir/hilfe/477306/

(They not only offer high quality Vorbis streams but also recommend foobar as player. How cool is that? )

There's a .pls file for foobar on that page, which has custom titles defined. Apparently foobar only interprets pls files and not extended M3U. Good to know.

Update: Although I'm fine with the possibility to assign a title via the .pls file, it's still quite limited. The title gets overwritten by the stream's title while connected and it's not possible to define anything but the title. I think it would be a great feature if foobar would support some kind of pseudo-tags for stream links!

How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #3
I, too, have resorted to using .pls files in order to customize the stream/station names in my fb2k playlist window, and I, too, am disappointed that this name is only exposed via the %title% variable, which (unless you turn off dynamic track titles in the networking preferences) gets overwritten upon connection to the server and then again each time parseable title data is encountered interspersed within the stream. This behavior of changing %title% isn't really a problem, it's just that it would be nice to also have separate variables for 1. the stream title obtained from the playlist file, and 2. the stream title sent by the server upon connection. Related topic: [a href='index.php?showtopic=69487']here (click)[/a], where I also suggest having a variable for 3. the unparsed mid-stream data ("StreamTitle", in a SHOUTcast stream).

 

How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #4
I asked a question along the same lines about a month or six weeks ago.  I imagine there are many Foobar users who would very much welcome a plug-in that allowing better handling of streaming radio playlists, especially as the audio quality of those streams is fast coming up.

Thanks for the link.  Wish I spoke German.

How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #5
+1 for customizable stream tags

How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #6
would like that, too!


How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #8
I want this feature too!

How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #9
2 years old thread but I would really like this too. M3U is the best format for organizing one's favorite streaming stations as it's simple and powerful. Winamp shows this format properly but unfotunately Foobar2000 does not:

Code: [Select]
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF: TranceRadio.ch (/128.aac)
http://tranceradio.ice.infomaniak.ch/128.aac

This is a slightly poor example because in this case the URL is informative of the station name, but often it is not, and there might be lots of extra information about the station in the EXINF field.

Managing one's stations in all other formats is way more problematic than this, for example PLS requires one to know the amount of stations in the list (manageable) and for each to have their position number in the list (not easily manageable at all; think about reordering the list based on your current preferences). All the other formats with lots of metadata...meh.

For example my favorites list is now 773 radio stations (1546 lines). M3U is the only format where managing this and making new lists based on this (created by regular expression searches, for example) is feasible.


How to label streams in a playlist

Reply #11
It would work but it's a totally proprietary solution and there's no easy way to automatically convert from M3U  to mtags. Mostly this is about having support for extended M3U which is more of a standard, as one can load M3U's into many (almost all?) audioplayers.