diff --git a/amodem/common.py b/amodem/common.py
index da9344c..97b58a6 100644
--- a/amodem/common.py
+++ b/amodem/common.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def load(fileobj):
 
 
 def loads(data):
-    x = np.fromstring(data, dtype='int16')
+    x = np.fromstring(str(data), dtype='int16')
     x = x / scaling
     return x
 
diff --git a/amodem/ecc.py b/amodem/ecc.py
index 1da4f32..b80b1aa 100644
--- a/amodem/ecc.py
+++ b/amodem/ecc.py
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ def end_of_stream(size):
 def encode(data, nsym=DEFAULT_NSYM):
     chunk_size = BLOCK_SIZE - nsym - 1
 
-    for _, chunk in common.iterate(data, chunk_size, bytearray, truncate=False):
+    for _, chunk in common.iterate(data=data, size=chunk_size,
+                                   func=bytearray, truncate=False):
         size = len(chunk)
         if size < chunk_size:
             padding = [0] * (chunk_size - size)
diff --git a/amodem/recv.py b/amodem/recv.py
index 08866fa..d1d95ad 100755
--- a/amodem/recv.py
+++ b/amodem/recv.py
@@ -238,11 +238,16 @@ def decode(bits_iterator):
     return ecc.decode(blocks())
 
 
+def iread(fd):
+    reader = stream.Reader(fd, data_type=common.loads)
+    return itertools.chain.from_iterable(reader)
+
+
 def main(args):
 
     log.info('Running MODEM @ {:.1f} kbps'.format(modem.modem_bps / 1e3))
 
-    signal = stream.iread(args.input)
+    signal = iread(args.input)
     skipped = common.take(signal, args.skip)
     log.debug('Skipping first %.3f seconds', len(skipped) / float(modem.baud))
 
diff --git a/amodem/send.py b/amodem/send.py
index 58127ab..cae52d2 100755
--- a/amodem/send.py
+++ b/amodem/send.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ def main(args):
     log.info('%.3f seconds of training audio',
              training_size / wave.bytes_per_second)
 
-    reader = stream.Reader(args.input, 64 << 10, eof=True)
+    reader = stream.Reader(args.input, bufsize=(64 << 10), eof=True)
     data = itertools.chain.from_iterable(reader)
     encoded = itertools.chain.from_iterable(ecc.encode(data))
     modulate(args.output, bits=common.to_bits(encoded))
@@ -99,7 +99,9 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     p = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     p.add_argument('--silence-start', type=float, default=1.0)
     p.add_argument('--silence-stop', type=float, default=1.0)
-    p.add_argument('-i', '--input', type=argparse.FileType('r'), default=sys.stdin)
-    p.add_argument('-o', '--output', type=argparse.FileType('w'), default=sys.stdout)
+    p.add_argument('-i', '--input', type=argparse.FileType('r'),
+                   default=sys.stdin)
+    p.add_argument('-o', '--output', type=argparse.FileType('w'),
+                   default=sys.stdout)
     args = p.parse_args()
     main(args)
diff --git a/amodem/stream.py b/amodem/stream.py
index 02a3bf6..78ff5eb 100644
--- a/amodem/stream.py
+++ b/amodem/stream.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 import time
-import itertools
 
-import common
 import wave
 
 
@@ -12,12 +10,13 @@ class Reader(object):
     WAIT = 0.1
     TIMEOUT = 2.0
 
-    def __init__(self, fd, bufsize=None, eof=False):
+    def __init__(self, fd, data_type=None, bufsize=None, eof=False):
         self.fd = fd
         self.check = None
         self.total = 0
         self.bufsize = bufsize if (bufsize is not None) else self.BUFSIZE
         self.eof = eof
+        self.data_type = data_type if (data_type is not None) else lambda x: x
 
     def __iter__(self):
         return self
@@ -27,6 +26,15 @@ class Reader(object):
 
     def next(self):
         block = bytearray()
+        if self.eof:
+            data = self.fd.read(self.BUFSIZE)
+            if data:
+                self.total += len(data)
+                block.extend(data)
+                return block
+            else:
+                raise StopIteration()
+
         finish_time = time.time() + self.TIMEOUT
         while time.time() <= finish_time:
             left = self.BUFSIZE - len(block)
@@ -34,11 +42,9 @@ class Reader(object):
             if data:
                 self.total += len(data)
                 block.extend(data)
-            elif self.eof:  # handle EOF condition by stopping iteration
-                raise StopIteration()
 
             if len(block) == self.BUFSIZE:
-                values = common.loads(str(block))
+                values = self.data_type(block)
                 if self.check:
                     self.check(values)
                 return values
@@ -46,7 +52,3 @@ class Reader(object):
             time.sleep(self.WAIT)
 
         raise IOError('timeout')
-
-
-def iread(fd):
-    return itertools.chain.from_iterable(Reader(fd))
diff --git a/tests/test_stream.py b/tests/test_stream.py
index 5dbbcf4..e5b80bd 100644
--- a/tests/test_stream.py
+++ b/tests/test_stream.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def test_read():
     j = 0
     for i, buf in result:
         assert i == j
-        assert len(buf) == f.SAMPLES
+        assert len(buf) == f.bufsize
         j += 1
 
     try: