streaming url - Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions

Mother Earth Radio is a private project. We use vinyl records and hi-res audio files that are broadcast in 192khz/24bit. The music is tuned down to a special chamber tone. The station is financed out of my own pocket.

I have no sound?

Try it with another current browser
Try if the mp3 stream works
Use an Ethernet cable connection
Does the stream work with VLC?

What kind of noise is that during playback?

Crackling occurs with records, the dust on the record causes the needle to crack.

I don’t see any title or artist information?

Pioneering work takes its toll. Unfortunately, the FLAC format as an internet stream cannot transport metadata.
We provide the metadata via an extra API; not every platform has integrated this data to date.

The choice of music is strange?

The selection of pieces is based on musical quality and the lyrics, but not on musical taste or genre. Read more about it here.

Warum ist die Lautstärke ist so niedrig?

Mother Earth supports the peace efforts in the Loudness War. We therefore transmit at a level of
-23db LUFS
in accordance with the recommendation of the European Broadcasting Union EBU R 128.

It is often claimed that it makes no sense to record vinyl digitally in Hi-Res, as the music was produced digitally in the studio anyway. What do you make of this?

This statement is indeed true for a significant proportion of music productions from the late 1990s to the 2000s. During this time, digital workstations such as Pro Tools with a standard resolution of 48 kHz/16 bit established themselves as a widespread means of production. However, it is a misconception that this applies to all vinyl releases. Before that, production was predominantly analogue, and fortunately, after this phase, sound engineers and producers have rediscovered the advantages of higher digital resolutions and are increasingly using them. There are also other crucial aspects:
Vinyl mastering: Nowadays, many artists and labels opt for a separate vinyl master. This is often provided with less compression and a different sound tuning in order to optimise the dynamics and natural sound of the music on vinyl. This difference in sound can be enormous and is lost with a simple digital copy.
Analogue source material: A large part of our programme consists of recordings that were made completely analogue, i.e. without any digital intermediate steps in the production process. In this case, the record is the original or at least a very close copy of the master tape. High-quality digital sampling in Hi-Res can preserve sonic details and nuances that are lost on a CD or in compressed formats.
Recording technology: Mother Earth Radio uses a high-quality disc needle with a frequency response of up to 100 kHz. This enables us to capture a broad frequency spectrum of the record that goes far beyond the possibilities of CD quality. We have already detected frequencies of up to 40 kHz in our recordings.

Some claim that a sampling rate of 30 kHz and a quantisation of 10 bits would be sufficient for recording vinyl, as records don’t offer any more information anyway. Is that true?

This statement significantly underestimates the complexity and fine details that are stored in a record groove.
Frequency spectrum: As already mentioned, high-quality records can reproduce frequencies far beyond 20 kHz. Our measurements show that we can record frequencies up to 40 kHz and potentially even higher. A sampling rate of 30 kHz would cut off these important overtones. The Nyquist-Shannon theorem states that the sampling frequency must be at least twice as high as the highest frequency to be recorded in order to avoid aliasing effects.
Dynamic range and noise: A quantisation of 10 bits only allows 2^10=1024 different amplitude levels. This is considerably less than the 2^16=65,536 levels offered by 16 bits, and even further away from the 2^24=16,777,216 levels that we use in our 24-bit recordings. A lower bit depth leads to a higher background noise and a lower dynamic range. Records also have noise, but the subtle dynamic differences and subtle sound information require a higher bit depth to be accurately captured. Our 24-bit recordings enable a far more precise capture of these details and a significantly greater dynamic range.
The quality of the sound wave: Hi-Res recordings of vinyl are not primarily about capturing extremely high frequencies that are barely audible to humans. Rather, it is about the accurate reproduction of the entire sound wave. A higher sampling rate and bit depth make it possible to reproduce the temporal progression and amplitude changes more precisely. This leads to a clearly audible improvement in the naturalness of the sound colours, the spatial reproduction and the decay of sounds.

What exactly are the advantages of a hi-res recording of vinyl, even if you can’t hear ‘super frequencies’?

The benefit of hi-res recordings from vinyl lies in the quality of the sound reproduction and not just in the extension of the frequency range beyond the human hearing limit:
More natural sound colours: Thanks to the higher resolution, the overtone structures of instruments and voices are captured more precisely. This results in a more authentic and lively sound. S-sounds from singers sound natural and not sibilant or washed out.
Improved spatiality: The more accurate recording of subtle time information and amplitude differences contributes to a more precise reproduction of the recording space. Reverberation chambers sound longer, develop more naturally and the individual instruments and voices can be located more clearly in the room. The ‘sound stage’ appears wider and deeper.
More details and subtleties: The smallest dynamic differences and subtle tonal nuances, which can be lost with lower resolution, are retained in a hi-res recording. This can make the listening experience much more intense and emotional. The cymbals of a drum kit, for example, seem to decay longer and with more detail.
Reduction of artefacts: A higher sampling rate and bit depth help to minimise digital artefacts that can occur at lower resolutions and make the sound appear unnatural or ‘digital’.

Mit welchem Equipment nehmen Sie die Schallplatten auf?

Mother’s Kitchen:
Rega TAD 20th Anniversary
Pro-Ject Phono Box DS 2
RME ADI-2 Pro FS
Slientwire Serie 5 Cable
Supra LoRad MD08DC-EU Mark 3.1
Audio Lab:
Linn Sondek LP-12 turntable with Kuetso Black needle
Hexmat “Eclipse” – DS Audio “Ionizer”
EAR Yoshino 868 pre-amp
RME ADI2-Pro FS R
In-Akustik Referenz Cable
In-Akustik AC-4500 power filter
Recording is done in SondForge Pro, editing in Samplitude

I have noticed that some of your recordings are played back at a different pitch than expected. Why is that?

A central element of Mother Earth Radio’s philosophy is the use of a basic tuning of 429 Hz. For this reason, we retune every recording we play to this frequency without altering the original tempo of the music.
We understand that this is a change to the artists’ original recording. However, our decision is based on the conviction that the 429 Hz tuning unfolds a special sonic quality and possibly a deeper resonance. It is part of our artistic freedom and curatorial approach to look at the music world through the lens of this specific frequency and offer our listeners a unique experience.
Mother Earth Radio has extensive licences in nearly 50 countries worldwide, allowing us to present a wide range of music and make our creative choices within the framework of these agreements. We invite our listeners to join us on this sonic journey and rediscover the music in the mood we present.

What are the streaming URLs?

What are your licensed broadcasting areas?

Mother Earth pays its fees to the artists and has a licence for broadcasting in
Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Malta, Andorra, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy (incl. Vatican City), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mauritania, Montenegro, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Yemen
Russian citizens are entitled to listen to whatever they want if the service participates in the global music infrastructure and is licensed in it’s home country.