14 DAY TRIAL // Sometimes, even I want to have some fun while listening to music, and I am pretty sure I'm not the only one thinking like this. After all the HiFi gear and hours spent in front of the PC "endlessly" working on never-good-enough settings just to make one jingle sound as professional as it could ever sound, I feel the need to smile.
This day was a pleasant, yet exhausting, day; it will end with the awaited large smile as I listen to some music. But I did not load my songs in some fancy high-end audio software as some might think: I have found something which really amused me. A software that simulates a real live radio station with a radio DJ which actually speaks to you!
Sounds cool, does it not? Well... it really is cool: the MP3 Radio is based on a human speech engine, not a very good one - that's true - but a definitely entertaining one. You are technically the manager, the audience and even (partly) the DJ, so you can emulate a radio-environment in your own living room.
The Looks
MP3 Radio doesn't have the cool looks that other mp3 or radio softwares have, but considering the purpose it has been designed for, it appears pretty OK. Basically the MP3 Radio's GUI consists of a main window, which looks as if it were quickly put up from wood shingles, having a very large screen in the middle, on which a big green clock is displayed. On top and below the large clock the artist name and song title scroll from right to left simultaneously, in the same bright green color.
The buttons aren't exactly buttons, but rather interactive portions of text which that turn red when they're activated. On the sides, one can access the Sleep and Alarm options, while in the lower part of the window there are the Options, Requests and Playlist sections. Centered and above the main clock, there are the sole 3 playback-control buttons: Play, pause and Stop.
Each corner of this shingle-looking screen is reinforced with another shingle part, each serving as an interactive area for minimize (to taskbar, not system tray), close, help and about commands. No skins or color-modes for this version of MP3 Radio while the additional windows have Windows-native appearance but very nice and visible buttons for "ok" and "cancel"-type commands. Even though neither in the XP-style nor "modern", the overall looks of MP3 Radio's auxiliary screens are very eye-comforting, intuitive and easy to use.
The Works
Before you judge the MP3 Radio, you must first decide what do you want from this software: you are either looking for a very serious and professionally-working program (and in this case you'd better search elsewhere) or a fun-generating software, and therefore you should be able to accept the present flaws.
Basically, you create your own playlist and then press play. The songs are played in that order, but between them the "DJ" speaks, makes various announcements, tells the time, reads messages and plays the requests. This is what makes this program so entertaining: it really tries to look - or rather sound - like a real radio station. The human speech engine has some nice phrases, which it randomly introduces between the songs in the playlist. I laughed so much because the titles of my last album (the one I used to test theMP3 Radio) are in Romanian and the engine had a lot of "trouble" pronouncing them. Otherwise, the voice and the content of the spoken parts are really pleasant and they even remembered me of the golden era of radio-stars.
The DJ even asks you to make requests and promises he will play them all on air. How can you refuse him as you hear a strong whispering voice at the end of one of your fav tracks saying: "Beeautifuul!" or as it tells you the time exactly as I'm sure you've heard so many times on the radio: "It will be 6 PM in just...10 minutes, what a lovely evening!"
And when it comes to making requests, things are getting even better and more fun as you are asked to tell who you are and for whom you would like the chosen song to be aired. The DJ will soon play the song you have chosen, while also speaking as a real radio-man. At the moment the human speech engine will be significantly more efficient and thus speak better, I guess I would even use a software like MP3 Radio at parties and create a very amusing atmosphere while even pulling some jokes on people using the DJ's voice.
The Good
The thing I liked best about MP3 Radio was the main idea which stood at the basis of developing such a program. Blending the Human Speech Engine with an mp3 player is a very nice project and - if sustained - it could mean the dawn of a new stage in multimedia entertainment. A very nice software overall but still recquiring a large amount of work.
The Bad
I noticed no major bad things in MP3 Radio, but rather things done with insufficient attention and care. The speech engine could use some serious upgrade and the GUI should be redesigned for a more "commercial" look.
The Truth
MP3 Radio is a fine start for a very interesting project and pretty well-done considering it is freeware. In my opinion, this is a software with a very serious potential which you should exploit to the maximum.
You'll see more of what the MP3 Radio can do as you check the screenshots below:
