To listen to WXYC on your computer, you'll need software that will play one of our audio streams. We now have 4 streams to choose from: 16k and 176k RealAudio streams, and (new since our webcasting anniversary!) a 128k MP3 stream and a 64k OGG stream. Links to the streams are available from almost every screen on the wxyc.org website. They're up at the top right corner of the page next to the cute little boombox radio graphic.

If you want to listen to WXYC online and you're connected to the internet with a dial-up connection, the 16k RealAudio stream is the one you'll want to use. The other streams afford better audio quality but also require a faster internet connection than a telephone line can provide.

The RealAudio streams require RealPlayer. Download the free RealPlayer from RealNetworks.

Once you've installed and tested the player, just click on either the "Real: 16K" button or the "Real: 176K" button on this page next to the boombox, or on one of these text links: 16K audio stream  or 176k G2 audio stream.

Almost any player will play our MP3 stream provided you are using a broadband internet connection. RealPlayer will play it as will Windows Media Player, Winamp, and Quintessential Player, among others. (Click on the player names to be directed to the websites where the software can be downloaded.)

When you've installed a player that will play the MP3 stream, click on the "MP3: 128K" button at the top of this page next to the little boombox, or click the link here: 128k MP3 stream.

Not as many players are compatible with the OGG stream yet, but Ogg Vorbis is good for several reasons (for example, it is open source and non-proprietary, it offers better sound quality at a lower bit rate than other compression codecs), and we're happy to offer a 64k OGG stream to you. Winamp and Quintessential Player will play our OGG stream. Other players exist that will play OGG streams, too: Click here.

When you've installed a player that will play the OGG stream, click on the "OGG: 64K" button at the top of this page next to the little boombox, or click the link here: 64k OGG stream.

Curious about Ogg Vorbis? Click here!

One problem you may have in trying to play an audio stream (WXYC's or anyone's) is that clicking on a link to a stream may not start the stream in your player. This is simply the nature of the software today. But this doesn't mean you can't stream WXYC on your computer. If clicking one of our audio stream links doesn't work for you, try the following instead. RIGHT CLICK on link to the stream of your choice and select "Copy Shortcut" from the menu that opens. In your audio player, find the menu option that allows you to manually enter the location of a webstream ("Open URL" or "Open...", etc., possibly from the "File" menu or other main menu option depending on the player you're using). Once you've found the place where you can manually type the location of the stream, RIGHT CLICK in that space and choose "Paste" from the menu that opens, or left click in the space and hit Ctrl-V to paste. If you're using a Mac, hopefully you know the equivalent way to copy a shortcut and paste it, because I don't! (But if you let me know I'll add the instructions to this page.)

If you get a lot of rebuffering in the G2, MP3, or OGG streams your connection speed may be too slow; try the 16k RealAudio stream instead.

If you get a "file not found" error from any of the stream links, that stream may be down temporarily. It does happen. Feel free to contact us if any of the streams seem to be down, but we're probably already working on it.

The G2 stream is reset every night at 3am local time (east coast of the USA, GMT -0500). If you're listening then you'll be disconnected. The stream will start back automatically within a few minutes. This is done to preempt a bug in the encoder that causes sound quality to degrade after it has been running for long periods of time.

WXYC plays music from many eras of the history of recording technology. Much of our library is on vinyl, so you will hear worn, scratched, well-loved and dusty records being played. This is not a problem with your computer.