FAQ

According to How Much Music Streaming Services Pay Artists in 2023 (lalal.ai) :

StationHead volume is really low when the channel is playing music through CarPlay. Normally on my unit, I have the volume at 10 for everything. Whether it is terrestrial radio, SiriusXM, Apple Music, or Spotify.  10 Works well.  But with StationHead, I have to have it on at least 20 to hear the music at all.  

And when the host switches to Talk Only or Talk And Music, you do not hear them unless you adjust the volume up or down.

But when you do, the host is as loud as the unit normally is at that volume setting, so I have to change the volume back to 10 while they are talking.  Then when it goes back to just music, I turn it back to 20 so I can hear the song.  And even then, it is not as loud as the talking was.

I cannot confirm or deny if the issue is also present on AndroidAuto.  

At the moment it doesn't appear to work completly.

If you are broadcasting, and have the StationHead client set to "Music Only", the the RODE device is seen and you can hear the music through the headphones connected via RODE device.

If you switch to "Talk Only" or "Talk + Music" then StationHead appears to completely ignore the RODE device and switches to using the internal microphone and speakers on your iOS device.

EDIT :

I have found an older iPad Air that will only run iOS 12.6.3.  When you try to install the StationHead app, it says it cant load the latest version because it requires iOS 15.x.x or above.  So it loads an older version of the app.  The RODE AI-Micro device works exactly as it is supposed to in this previous version.  Unfortunately, I am unable to determine exactly what that version number of the app even is.  

I have updated my support ticket at StationHead to inform them that this device works with previous versions.  It might help them figure out exactly WHAT changed, and determine if they can revert that change to allow other audio devices to work with the StationHead service.

Both services have a huge library of songs.  And from what we have tested, the overlap is about 99%.  So if you find one on Apple, it should also be on Spotify, and vice versa.

Spotify is the only available service on Android devices, at this time.  So keep that in mind.

If it matters to you, Apple Music does pay the artist more than Spotify does.

You ever hear a show where the DJ sounds great in the headphones, and then when the music starts playing, you can barely hear it?  So you turn the volume up.  And then when the DJ comes back on, it sounds like they are screaming at you?

In most MP3/MP4 based music files, even when streamed, there is an ID3 Tag that has the preferred volume of the track.  While this is normally loud enough to hear, it isn't the same volume as a broadcaster's voice when listening to them on StationHead.

It is possible there is a setting on your iPhone/iPad that is lowering the volume of the music.  

I have found that if you go into SETTINGS > MUSIC > SOUND CHECK = OFF, this helps alleviate the issue.

This also may explain the StationHead issue with listening using CarPlay as well.  Although I haven't been able to confirm or deny this, yet.

Damn fine question.  This entry is just here for the moment so I can test multiple categories.

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