Hey all, I'm pleased to announce that our high-quality stream is now running at 192kbps, rather than 128kbps as it's been for the past few years - so now you're recorded, and streaming, in higher quality than ever before! If you experience any problems with this or anything else, please do tell me :) As a result, it's even more important that you take care of the quality of music you're playing during your shows. If you're not playing from CD, *make sure that your files are 320kbps MP3 or higher* (the act of transcoding files reduces the quality, so the difference is definitely audible!) And please, *please try not to use the 'iPod cable', and really try and avoid playing music from your laptops or iPods or phones* or whatever. The cable is there (and deliberately short) just for DJs playing occasional sound effects, or in an emergency if something breaks. We have broadcast-grade CD players, minidisc players, and a fantastic touch-screen panel system, Rivendell, which you can easily upload your own music to, set up entire shows and playlists and jingles to transition automatically on a playlist, or set up panels of jingles and songs you can just press with your finger. It's got a high-quality sound card, and if you upload good-quality files to it, it'll sound amazing (and it'll soon display the 'now playing' song on the website, and log your playlists for you!). And you don't have to use a mouse, or worry about volume on your laptop, or Facebook making a sound, or whatever. If you have any questions about how to set up your own panels and shows on Rivendell, or how to use the CD players and fader-start, Keir ( programming@icradio.com) will be more than happy to help. :-) And whatever you do, please don't rip anything from YouTube - you're playing something which has probably been converted from analogue to CD, ripped to MP3, transcoded for YouTube, re-transcoded to another MP3 when you rip it, played through the desk, then re-transcoded to another MP3 to broadcast - understandably, it sounds awful... Best, Max and the rest of the Tech Team