Audio Help

Audio Help

Thousands of people listen to KCRW's live streaming and archived audio every day. Here's a guide to getting the most from KCRW's online audio..


Streaming questions


Live stream troubleshooting


Podcasting Questions


Still having difficulty or want to report a problem?


What audio is available on KCRW.com?

KCRW.com offers live streaming as well as archives of our broadcast programming. KCRW offers three live, 24 hour streams: KCRW Live (simulcast), Music (all music) and World News (all news).

Our online audio archives allow listeners to replay, at their convenience, nearly all of KCRW programs after the original air date. While comprehensive, not every program aired on KCRW is available for archive listening. Archives of the programs not produced by KCRW can be found through the link to their websites provided on their respective program page (News, Music, Talk), and National Public Radio news programs are archived on NPR.org.


Where do I find audio to listen to?

KCRW offers our live streams in three formats via our "embedded Media Player". To open the media player, click on one of the three channels listed at the top of each page of our website: Live, Music or News.

Links [image] to archived audio can be found on our archives page as well as on the program pages of KCRW programs. All of KCRW's programs are listed on the KCRW A-Z page as well as on their respective catagory page (music, news or talk).


Where do I find video to watch?

Live video links [image] for musical performances will appear on the home page and on the Morning Becomes Eclectic program page at the time of the live performance. Shortly after the performance, archived video will be posted of the performance to the show page. All video on the KCRW website is currently in the Real Media format and requires the Real Player be installed on your computer, even though the video will play through our embedded media player.

Not all musical performances feature a video archive. We are in the process of updating links to our past video archive of Morning Becomes Eclectic. If you come across a video link that does not work, please let us know.


What do I need in order to listen to KCRW's live streams or archived audio?

KCRW offers our live streams/archives in three formats: Real Audio, Windows Media and MP3/Quicktime. In addition to a computer with a sound card and speakers or headphones, you need a connection to the internet (dial-up modem, DSL, cable modem or local area network) and audio player software.

Though our live streams are played via what looks like KCRW's own window, audio player software of the type of audio you want to listen to must be installed on your computer.

To listen to our Real Audio streams, we recommend the latest version of the free Real Player.  If you need help installing or using Real Player, please visit the RealPlayer Customer Support site.

To listen to our Windows Media streams through IE on a PC we recommend the latest version of Windows Media Player. The Windows Media Player is a Free Download for Windows operating systems as well as the Macintosh, Pocket PC and other operating systems.

If you need assistance installing or using Windows Media Player, please visit Microsoft's Windows Media Player FAQ page.

To listen to our MP3 streams in our embedded player, Quicktime must be installed on your computer. If you have an iPod and/or iTunes installed on your computer, then you should already have Quicktime installed. The latest version of Quicktime is available as a Free Download for Windows operating systems and Macintosh OS X.

To listen to our live streams in stand-alone audio players, links can be found in the middle top of our Embedded Player to open the streams in Real Player, Windows Media Player, iTunes or other MP3 player. All three channels feature stand-alone links.

To listen to our archives in the stand-alone Real Audio player, right-click (or control-click) your mouse on the media area on the right side of the Media Player window and select "Play in Real Player".

Currently, there is no way to launch Window Media or Quicktime archives in a stand-alone player.


What happened to the 128k MP3 streams I used to listen to in iTunes or WinAmp?

They're still here! To listen to our highest quality live streams via iTunes, WinAmp or other media player that plays MP3 streams, the Media Player channel of your choice (found at the top of the site), then click on the link to "Listen in stand-alone iTunes/MP3".

Another way to listen to KCRW's 128k MP3 stream is through iTunes directly via the "Radio" setting on the left side under the "Public" listing.


I have the KCRW stream bookmarked on my desktop (or in iTunes). Why isn't the live stream launching anymore?

If changes are made to our stream, your bookmarks may be affected. To update your bookmark, go to the KCRW Media Player for the stream you listen to and re-save the stand-alone audio stream as a shortcut.


When I listen to a live stream, the sound cuts out. Why?

There are a few explanations for why this may occur.

  1. Your internet connection may be too slow for the stream you are trying to listen to (our stream requires at least a 33.8-56K baud modem) especially if you try to listen while doing something else on the internet at the same time.
  2. There may be temporary problems on the internet somewhere between our audio servers and your computer.
  3. There may be a problem with your computer hardware or software.

When attempting to listen to an audio stream with Windows Media Player, the audio continuously skips (like a CD player), cuts out momentarily or I receive the following error message: "A network firewall may be preventing the Player from opening the file by using the UDP transport protocol. To play this file, try opening the file without specifying UDP."

UDP: Disable the UDP protocol (a type of streaming audio protocol) in the Windows Media Player. This is easily done by unchecking the UDP check box which is under the Network tab on the Options palate under the Tools menu in Windows Media Player.

Buffer: Users with dial-up (telephone) internet connections are sometimes helped by increasing the "Buffer" setting on Windows Media Player. Under the "Tools" menu, select "Options" and then click the "Performance" tab. Change the "Network Buffering" setting from "Default" to 10 seconds (it can be adjusted upward to 60 seconds, though this is rarely necessary). This will permit Windows Media Player to store more audio locally so the stream can continue playing if your internet connection is briefly interrupted. Be aware, the longer the buffer time, the longer it takes for streaming content to begin playing.


Why is it that when listening to the shows online the voices sound robot-like and/or tinny?

In order to broadcast audio over the Internet, sound must be compressed so it can be efficiently transmitted to the greatest number of users. Also, the speakers or headphone you use to listen to our internet broadcasts affect what you hear. We have made improvements to the quality of our audio streams and will continue to do so in the future as the technology continues to improve. For a higher quality listening experience, try our broadband mp3 streams!


Why doesn't Windows Media audio play, even though I have Windows Media Player installed?

At this point, the Embedded Media Player will only play Windows Media audio on Windows based operating systems running Microsoft Internet Explorer. Other browsers and operating systems currently do not work with the embedded Windows Media play that we use. We hope to fix this in the near future.


Recommended players

KCRW recommends the latest free versions of the following players:


I have another question or a comment.

Talk to us! If you have questions or comments, please contact us.