WebSDR 4+

NOTE: In iOS 16 and above, many SDR websites do not work properly with this app. There are still enough sites working to use WebSDR for creative sound design.

WebSDR is an Audio Unit Plugin that plays audio from Software Defined Radio (SDR) streams. It allows you to incorporate the sound of live radio into a live music performance.


WHAT IS SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO?

A software defined radio is a device with an antenna that connects to a computer and allows it to receive live radio broadcasts. It features a wide variety of protocols; in addition to standard AM and FM modes found in most consumer radios it typically includes modes for LSB, USB, CW and other settings used to listen in on the CB radios used by taxi drives, marine weather stations, air traffic control towers, amateur radio enthusiasts and many other types of radio broadcasts.

The signals you can access using this app are not your own local radio stations; rather they are the radio stations in the vicinity of a collection of free servers, many of them operated by universities. These servers are positioned in many different countries around the world so using this plugin you can listen in on a variety of radio signals in a wide variety of languages and cultures.


WHAT DO PEOPLE USE THIS PLUGIN FOR?

The crackly sound of an old-style AM broadcast or a conversation between taxi drivers on a CB radio is a musical flavour that can not be replicated with other plugins. If you are looking for some really unique and interesting material to include in your performances or mixes, this plugin will supply.


LIMITATIONS

This plugin requires Javascript in order to play sound. Unfortunately that means that the UI must be open the entire time you are using it. When the UI is closed Javascript stops running, similar to the way a website stops playing audio when you close a tab in your browser.


NOTE: THIS IS AN AUDIO UNIT PLUGIN. IT RUNS INSIDE A HOST APP SUCH AS GarageBand.