A system and method is disclosed for a personal radio recorder. The personal radio recorder allows for random access of communication signals by identifying a channel and time. The personal radio recorder is capable of concurrent reception, storage and playback of a complete spectrum of individual communication signals. A wide-band signal is received, and concurrently demodulated into a plurality of individual communication signals. These audio signals are identified by channel and time. Individual signals may be simultaneously played, paused, or stored for later playback. Compression may be used to make efficient use of storage. Storage may be fixed, removable, or a combination of both. The system is also capable of storing signals that are digitally formatted, and is compatible with existing analog or digital playback devices. The personal radio recorder may playback multiple channels of communications data, either previously recorded or currently broadcast, to multiple output stages at the same time.