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question to marius about a sound card

Started by radiodjlp, May 17, 2017, 02:02:04 AM

Filip83

All audio goes trough the virtual mixer. I found it pretty straight forward, but I have audio engineering background. It will get easier for you I'm sure. Just take the time... U should be ready to go in a few days.

You could try to make a new topic on the forum specifically about voicemeeter banana. A lot of people use it so maybe people will see it and chime in.

Oh and don't direct your questions to Marius as he is busy and will respond to the post regardless if he has something to say. But the forum has a lot of great knowledgeable members.
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Brodephat

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FreerunMedia

It is much easier to use a mix board ( nobody likes them though ) and put a mic on it, put the main audio output on it, put the different sweepers and AUX player to it and send the main out of the mixer to the line input of a computer running an encoder like B.U.T.T. and you're done.

I am running a fully operational studio with the Eela SBM90, 3 computers for assist, internet and automation and when the automation takes over, i can shut down the studio. No problems at all. Soundcard wise i am running an M-Audio Delta 1010 and for the automation input i am running an optical input on a Terratec 5.1 Fun. No problems at all exepct for the delay but that is going to be covered through an audio switch and a real "on air" button. Yes it is a little work to build it all but you love radio or you don't  :hihi:
Running 3 editions V1.8.2 at www.salto.nl and v1.8.2 at radio251.nl. ( NOW with 2 live studio's! )

Filip83

@FreerunMedia: You have a proper radio mixer unlike the original poster. It's not the same.
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KXOL1660AM

A real mixer is the best way to go.
We run RadioDJ into a real mixer with the mic plugged in the mixer, then output the audio to monitor speakers, on air, and to the input of RadioDJ's soundcard.  We never listen to the mic from after RDJ except to set the levels once.

This way there is no delay or echo.

It is super simple to plug in real wires and setup RDJ to play and input just a pair of channels.

Recently I use the mixer's USB channel pair as RDJ's output and the Audio Science professional card as the input from the mixer... you can substitute another card for the Audio Science one we use.

I do work for multiple stations that use RDJ for the automation and inserting paid spots on schedule.

It's awesome not having to actually make playlists.  Setting up playback rules and pattern makes us very popular in each market using it.

The station I have encoding after the mixer console uses a separate computer running BUTT to encode and stream.  I bought a refurbished Dell Core2Duo 3Ghz small form factor computer on a major site for $100 including a new 19" 1920x1080  Asus LCD monitor and shipping was free.

A good used mixer from a pawn shop should cost less than that, and will have inputs with phantom power for real microphones.

That's less than $1 a day for a year to pay for all the hardware besides the computer you use now for running RDJ and streaming it with professional results.

If you need to record shows, the second computer can easily do that while running BUTT to encode and stream.

It is possible to do it all on one computer, but more people can help you when it is a matter of plugging in patch cables and keeping it simple with the computers.

If you only need the computer and a single mic, currently Sweetwater has an M-Audio M-Track 2X2 which would save $100, making it less that $0.36 a day for a year to pay off the equipment cost. ($200 in hardware besides the original computer already used to learn/run RadioDJ)

The Behringer UM2 UPHORIA is cheaper cost, bringing total cost down even further.  It's probably good enough for what you want to do.

The M-Audio M-track would add ability for 2 mics and you can use unbalanced consumer microphones or professional balanced audio microphones. It should only cost about $25 to $35 more for a somewhat nicer product.

I have used the M-Track to feed a 100,000 watt FM transmitter through it's FM Audio Processor, for a couple years, becoming the dominant station inside a 110 mile diameter contour.

Broadcast radio equipment expects balanced audio, and more recently AES67 digital audio.

If you don't plan on going beyond a streaming station, and why would you with the FCC headaches of running an FM in the USA, then it comes down to how much you are willing to invest in your streaming radio setup.... Do you need to BE live, or SOUND live?

I have one FM station with the minimum 2 full time employees at the studio 5 days a week, and they don't actually have a DJ in the studio.  They have a service that provides new liners and drops and station ID monthly, and daily news.

Thanks to Marius giving us drop folders the remote DJ records news early in the morning and sends it via FTP for RadioDJ to play on schedule. If there is breaking news he can just upload another file and RadioDJ automatically plays it when the next news slot comes around.

The remote news people combine world and regional news, as required by each station they produce for, plus local sports scores and weather so that it sounds local and live.

My point being, short of taking actual live phone calls, it is easy to sound like a live station 24/7 with RadioDJ and a little preperation and pre-recording of audio clips.

It is possible to group songs by artist and then set that group to use various pre-recorded drops that say things like "Coming up next, another great song by Korn," and with a dozen at a time for each artist, and anti-repeat rules, it becomes very hard to tell if there is a DJ at the station or not.

Skype is great for a live call in show just to let people know someone is really there.

I have figured how to have RadioDJ replace the automation at professional radio stations well enough to eclipse listenership at competing stations who use $20,000-45,000 so-called professional automation systems.

Marius has in the last 3 years made RadioDJ into a product that can run with, and beat, the big boys of radio.

More polish would be nice, but it is capable of everything except generating invoices for played ads if you think carefully about how to schedule and what rules to set in proper order.

I am considering making my rules and template more generic in labels and making them available, and making a video showing how we schedule playout of paid advertisements such that no ads are ever skipped or cut short.

Very few pro automation systems can avoid occasionally cuttings ads short or overlapping them a little.

Marius gave us a way to insure that never happens.

RE: setting up a microphone for live use...

Best done with a real mixer and second computer running a streaming app like BUTT, which is as close to bulletproof as you can get for under $200.

If you have more money it is possible with a multichannel soundcard and a more expensive mixer to use just RDJ on a single computer and a mixer with microphone, and you gain the ability to connect a call via bluetooth.

RE: USB audio codecs

Both the USB device and the Computer hardware, and Ooerating System and Software installed determine how reliable it is to use a USB soundcard.

I have a few favorite Dell small form factor computer models i have and will continue to use for years at a time with only a USB device for audio output which never ever glitch being run 24/7/365 on rather large power backups with standby generators kicking in so they survive dozens of power glitches when the bad weather interferes.

Two things... run no more than you must on any one computer, and don't use the other USB ports while you are streaming unless you are 100% certain that they don't share the same internal USB controller.

The hardest part, unless you ask someone with long term experience, is knowing what model of computer and which operating system to use. (Sometimes driver versions need to be specific for stability too)

:ok:

Our hobby or job in broadcasting is a labor of love and a love of labor, but it doesn't have to be too much labor...









neutralhills

QuoteA real mixer is the best way to go.

That's the eventual goal. Got a line on a used Audioarts R60 in excellent condition. In the meantime, Voicemeeter Banana fits our budget (or lack thereof). We went broke on some used EV RE20s with studio boom arms this month.
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Studio systems running RadioDJ & Rivendell (occasional only)
Flow 8 Deck & PlayIt Cartwall for live mixing and assist.
Remote systems running RadioDJ
Pioneer DDJ-SX control surface.

Filip83

I agree that a mixer is the best, but with low budget Banana is just as good - amazing, and even If I had a proper radio mixer I would very likely still use Banana (in conjunction) just because Banana offers unparalleled flexibility and connectivity.
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www.soundcloud.com/diskonekted