> which i think should work, certainly the command:
>
> vsound -s trplayer -q rtsp://rmlivev8.bbc.net.uk/farm/*/ev7/live24/radio1/live/r1_dsat_g2.ra | lame -b 128 -quiet - - > radio1.mp3
>
> writes the mp3 data out to a file which is playable.

Sorry, that should be:

vsound -s trplayer -q rtsp://rmlivev8.bbc.net.uk/farm/*/ev7/live24/radio1/live/r1_dsat_g2.ra | lame --silent -b 128 - - > radio1.mp3