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HELP! What Automation system works best???

T

TCC

Hey Guys and gals I need your help!! I have been reading these boards for a few months now and now I have a question for both engineers and programmers. We are starting on budgets already for next year (good times) and we are looking to install a new automation system. But what to install?? What system is the best? I have worked with numerous systems and have my opinion and our engineers have their opinions. (By the way...our opinions don't match up) So what are you all using? What's good about it? What's bad about it. I want to look at this from a programming and engineering point of view. Scott Studios, Smart Caster, Phophet etc...?? Please tell me your thoughts on this! Thanks, I appreciate your help!
 
Stay away from AudioVault. The support is horrible, often you will be waiting an hour or more for a call back from the Tech Support Department.

The system overall is clunky and i don't like it.. but thats MY PERSONAL OPINION.....
 
I dont have any hands on experience with it, but from what I have seen while visiting a station, Salem's Rivendell looks pretty interesting. It's Linux based and I BELIEVE you can download it for free, but I might be wrong.

http://www.salemradiolabs.com/rivendell/
 
Obviously, you can see by my profile signature that I'm not in Iowa but I thought Id respond to this question anyways...
 
I used Scott Studios a number of years ago at KSMM-Shakopee, MN. We were a very wide Classic Hits format with a large library (2100+ in regular rotation), and the system never seemed to have any trouble either storing or accessing such a large number of tracks. Its touchscreen interface was also quite user-friendly -- easy to switch between automatic and live-assist, multiple "sort by" options when searching for a song, and active buttons for the entire alphabet when searching by artist name.

I was only a part-time DJ, so I don't know much about the more "behind-the-scenes," PDish administrative stuff... but on my end of things, I was pretty impressed with the system.
 
Yeah, the stations are here in Iowa, and thanks so much for the posts so far everybody. I appreciate the input!
 
Reilly aka Grrrradio:

I've never had the pleasure of using Scott Studios or touch screen, I bet it was nice....... I've never heard many bad things at all about Scott Studios.

I hope things are going well down there in Minneapolis, Cubby.

Paul
 
Check into the Storq system sold by the Waitt Radio Networks. We use it with one of their satellite networks, and it works very well. It can also be used as a complete automation system, not using a Waitt network.

I agree with Paul on Audio Vault, it's poorly designed and unreliable.
 
jh said:
I agree with Paul on Audio Vault, it's poorly designed and unreliable.
Click to expand...

As a jock, I found AV Air to be pretty easy to run. However, I have to agree with you on the reliability issues. I wouldn't want to leave it unattended for very long. It seemed to crash multiple times a day! Scott Studios is more reliable, but, the last time I dealt with it, a lot of people complained about the hot keys and just how many of them there were. It was pretty easy to screw up, even when everyone had their own logins and hot keys! I never had any real problems with it, but a lot of people B&M'ed about it!
 
Get the Scott System - if the money's a problem they can run the ad revenue stuff to help you pay for it. It's truly the cadillac of automation, the biggest problem people have with it is coming up with the cash to buy it. And if you have trouble, there are several stations in iowa running it who can probably help ya out locally...
 
Scott Studios is something I have used before as well. I liked it and it seems every programmer I speak to likes it too. Any down sides to it? The hotkey issue listed above is one...but I noticed over time you get the feel of it and know where everything is...but to start it can be a little overwhelming. (I guess just like any other system) I've heard of some crashing issues. Anybody run into that? Thanks again for all the input!
 
Only bad thing about Scott Studios is that if something breaks, expect to pay BIG bucks for competent labor...obviously...

That being said, my first station is still running their Scott Studios system from 1998, and with the exception of a monthly restart and RAM clearing...it has pretty much ran solid for 24 hours a day 8 years straight!

YAY for Scott Studios!

Radio-X
 
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