• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Computer-based STL?

B

bmcglynn

I'm looking at building a computer-based STL solution to deliver audio from our studio over a dedicated IP link to our transmitter. I've looked at some of the Barix streaming devices, and wanted to see if anyone had some experience with doing an all-software, or hybrid solution. As a hybrid example, encoding would be done with a Barix box and sending to a shoutcast pickup.

I would like to look a PCM versus AAC+ or MP3 for the transmission transport. Looking for stories and experience from the community.

Thanks in advance,
Brian
 
Tieline Bridge-ITs or the Comrex BRIC or the Telos ZEP-IP One would really be your best choices. You can do something with a computer but you will find the pro products will be much more reliable. At least the lower priced Barix units do not have linear. You might check the specs on their more pricy units. They might... I don't personally know of any linear computer-bases streaming software.
 
A pair of Barix 500's and Nanostation M5's. work great. the Digigram pyko in-pyko out units work well and are very cost effective.Both will do PCM.You can get a pair of 500's for the cost of one comrex or tieline as well as telos.It just depends on how much you want to budget.
 
Interesting. Well, I've learned something new. The 500s would be a cost-effective way to go then. With PCM you loose some of the need for things like error correction and stuff like that found in the more expensive stuff. With linear PCM you either have enough bandwidth or you've got problems anway. LOL!
 
I would definitely recommend you go with linear PCM. Otherwise, what's the point?

Personally I would go with something from a broadcast manufacturer (rather than Barix; Digigram Pyko is just re-branded Barix) such as the mentioned Coremix BRIC-Link, Telos Z/IP One or this budget solution from ATP:

http://www.aptcodecs.com/radio-products-32-97.html

ATP has been synonym for high quality audio-over-IP products for years, but their professional codecs are fairly expensive. This Silver codecs, I believe, go for about EUR 900 (cca USD 1,180) per pair. There will be balanced I/O option.


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
Like the silver units,don't like the RCA I/0 connections.Why not use db9 with XLR's for input and output.aptx is good but when you have plenty of pipe 54mbps ,and only need 3 to5 ,why not just go PCM. The Barix has been very reliable with thousands in service worldwide.If someone wants to spend more,that's fine.Our 500 sounds as good as a competitors Comrex.
 
I have had better luck with comrex than barix... have had a couple barix units fail. With that said, make sure you have a good connection, thats all. We went with comrex because they supported FLAC. We did not have quite enough bandwidth to do 44.1 PCM. T1 will only do so much.

I'm doing a project in a month or so with a pair of tieline bridge-it units. I'm waiting to get them in my hands now and start testing, see how I like them.

The only thing I've done with a computer is remotes. Audiocompass on a good stable connection works great but its kinda pricey unless you really have a need for it.
 
I am a big fan of the Barix 500. I would not want to use a computer for an STL simply because they are too complex. Hard drives, CPU fans, power supply fans, operating systems, updates, reboots, etc. With the Barix you just plug it in, set it up and forget it. I am very surprised to hear folks talk about Barix boxes failing because I currently run 4 of the Barix 500s and 12 of the Barix 100s, never had a single problem.

Of course, all of mine are running MP3 streams. I know, I know, it a sin to run MP3. But we are very rural and out here it's more about the content and less about the quality. That being said, a set of Barix 500's running the highest quality MP3 on the STL firmware has proven very reliable, very affordable, and the audio quality is (IMHO) plenty sufficient for broadcast.
 
Have been using the Tieline Bridge-ITs at a couple of sites for over a year now. What's nice about them is that they are bi-directional, so you can backhaul an RPU or the station audio for confidence and/or PPM monitoring. Latency is near zero in PCM, and VERY low when running 384kbps layer II. I use the layer II for the return trip to save on bandwidth and it's non-critical audio. I can switch to PCM for adjusting the processing by logging in to the remote unit.

They have been rock solid. The only time I had an issue is when Cablevision had a router screw up at their "central office".
 
Oldiesstation, the APTs will do linear PCM (which I would recommend you use) and the balanced I/O will be an option...


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
Thanks Goran:)

Next go around i will try the Silver units.Very familiar with their products,get plenty of emails from them.Never hurts to have spares around! Nick,the 500's will do bi-directional as well.I have nothing against
the other products.I like em all...
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom