Hello people! I have a question about live audio processing. So, I had one internet radio channel - internet radio, but some songs were louder, and some were quieter. New songs are great mastered and are loud, but some older songs are “softer”. Do you know any plugin or software which can handle this kind of processing? I know there is some hardware, processors, which make this job done. But, do you know some software solutions?
I heard SAM broadcast has built in feature for this. Is this wright?
Configure stereo tool to grab the output from your playout software and then you have access to single band and multi-band compressors, limiters and levellers which will produce a less dynamic and more uniform output. Every station has their own idea of their sound so play away with the tools until you get a sound your happy with.
Set stereo tool to output to VB audio cable and your streaming software to stream the VB audio cable output.
Option 2
PlayoutOne livestream. This software comes free with PlayoutOne but you can license just the Livestream software. The free version doesn’t allow VST plug ins but the paid, licensed version does. You can then use some excellent mastering VST plug ins to get a more level sound and Livestream will send this processed version out to your host.
Yes @Mihael some of the Spacial products such as the SAM Broadcaster Pro do feature advanced audio processing of the audio signal before it’s uploaded to the internet. The flip side is all of that real-time processing can drag a PC to it’s proverbial knees.
Assuming your machine can handle the load … now the fun begins.
Assume you tinker around the edges of your stations sound using several radically different songs to find your happy place. Oooops now if you have more than one personallity at station you have to fine tune every jocks microphone ( all mics are not created equal & not studio spaces are sound treated in the age of internet radio )
Unless you know what you are doing - it will be a trial & error process. Be prepared to be frustrated more often than not. SAM not only allows individual processing at the componet level ( ie decks, mic & sfx ) – it also allows each of these audio features to be customized at the master output level. Most internet stations create their own sound based on the station owners personal taste ( usually ends up being OVER PROCESSED )
Here are a couple of factors when considering an internet station’s sound:
Format ( different formats require different processing )
Your audience ( young vs older )
Your audience’s equipment (small mobile speakers such as cell phones & tablets vs full Dolby 7.1 systems attached to a gaming rig. What sounds great on the latter may distort or damage the smaller speakers)
Realizing that you may or may not be able to control “non-live” content based on decisions to use or not use cloud based automation or full local control thru SAM 24/7
These are just a few of the larger considerations that MUST go into the evolution of arriving at your station’s overall sound quality
I’m sure I’ve heard of some software that acts like a kind of FM radio processor. Sounds exactly like something you’d need but the name escapes me right now.
I use Ozone 8 as a VST plugin inside OBS for video live streaming.
If it’s audio only there’s Audio Hijack which can do amazing things with plugins and shoutcast servers and more if you’re on Mac.
I tried suggestion from @markdenholm . And it realy works great. It’s a little confusing at the start, but it works awesome. Stereo tool is very powerfull and it has a lot of processes like AGC, Multiband comp, declipper, singleband comp, auto EQ etc. The best thing is… It’s completly free if you are using main features and processes like multiband comp, AGC, eq, bass clipping and so on. This tool has many presets alredy installed, so I found one I like the most and made a few changes.
There is a lot of work still going on with my sound, but after few hours researching Stereo tool, I have configured one test stream. If you want to hear how it sounds my test stream on 128 kbps quality, here is link: http://radiolabin.streamradio.com.hr:5110
Glad you got it working @Mihael. A lot of internet stations don’t worry too much about sound processing and just stream their output but every FM station has it’s own “sound” with differing compression and limiting settings.
I think processing the audio makes an internet radio station sound that much more professional.
Hi Mark,
I’ve been reading this thread and it’s the help I more or less needed. I wanted to ask you a seperate question if that’s ok? (thanks to Mihael by the way for starting the thread)
I’d like to live stream / broadcast using an outboard mixer where I will have my record decks and mics connected. The signal from my mixer will go into my soundcard then into edcast and out on the internet. I’m trying to find a way to put something like STEREOTOOL before edcast so the signal is processed before going out . I’m using a pc. It’s a very similar question to Mihael’s I guess but I don’t need to use any automation software or winamp etc. Thanks a lot for any tips! Cheers
I think the solution will be very similar. A combination of vb audio cable and stereo tool will get the job done for you if you want to go down the software route.
You need to route your input to stereo tool using vb audio cable and then process as you wish before sending the processed output to edcast.
Of course given you’re using an external device you do have the option of using a hardware solution to achieve what you want as well. You could take the signal from your mixer into a compressor like the dbx166xs and then take that compressed sound and pass it to edcast to stream out.
Thanks so much for your quick response and advice!
When you say route my input via Vb cable to stereo tool, do you mean a virtual connection from my soundcard?
Or would I need something like soundforge or audacity for the input?
Thanks again!
Vb audio Cable allows you to reroute audio within the computer by assigning physical devices to virtual cables which now isn’t how you get the sound to stereo tool and then stream the output from stereo tool.
As I say your other option is to run hardware processing by routing the master from your mixer straight into a dbx166cs and then the compressed output from this to your PC and stream that.
How is the audio quality using the onboard sound? I’m thinking I’d use a focusrite 2i2 to take the output from the mixer or compressor into the PC. May give better quality sound than the line in jack.
Thnaks Mark. Yes, I’ll be using an external usb soundcard which should be fine regarding quality. I’ll send the output from the external mixer into the xlr inputs of the soundcard. I’ve installed vb cable and stereo tool and the vb cable is showing up both in my soundcard settings and stereo tool. I’m know just figuring out how to configure the routing…
soundcard mic as input - soundcard output as vb cable (out?) then in stereo tool vb cable as input and on edcast vbcable as input. Does that make sense??
I really appreciate all your help. Thanks
There an was easier software option. PlayoutOne livestream allows you to route your audio through plug ins so you could run stereo tool livestream app to process your audio.
The licensed version of the stream software (you’d need this for plug ins) is £79 though.
I have read this topic and i was wondering if you guys could help me with my problem.
I am a home “dj” who makes sets with electronic music.
I use a external denon controller dn mc-6000 in combination with software bundle traktor pro 3.
I am not streaming this for the internet.
Traktor pro supplies the record option and has a limiter function but has no compression function.
I don’t use the limiter in the software because it is not good.
So i control every setting for gain with my dn mc-6000. (vu meters)
Now, when the set is done, the quality is good (48khz 16bit) but there is no equal volume of the entire set.
Some pieces are louder, some are quiter.
I use sound forge pro 14 to adjust manually the gain of every “piece” but this is a lot of work.
I tried many plugins for balancing the compression and limiting but not good luck for me.
But when i play my set in winamp-player with the simple plugin "volume logic= a plugin that in realtime adjust
the compression and limiting for equal volume (but OLD PROGRAM), it sounds good through my speakers.
Is there a (NEW) software solution that adjust compression and limiting in real-time when i record my set in Traktor?
Or after recording when i let it play in a player and record again? ( I have ordered now the internal soundblaster creative audigy rx for recording)
Is vb audio cable and stereo tool also an option for me or do i have to consider a hardware compressor/limiter?
Many thanks for your time and hopening on a respons, tips or solution :),
I agree with @Mike …hardware compressor or limiter would be the way to do it. Do you sing or play live instruments on top of the stereo file? Perhaps you might want to consider a low latency solution such as UAD or Waves grid system.
Ideally SoundGrid Servers | Hardware - Waves Audio
