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Hello to everyone! I am new to this hobby and have been a Ham radio operator for almost 2 years. This hobby is great because it allows me to share my #1 passion with others.
Hello to everyone! I am new to this hobby and have been a Ham radio operator for almost 2 years. This hobby is great because it allows me to share my #1 passion with others.
Well, I did some research and found that it’s best to go with AM. More range and less worry of interference. I plan on getting a SSTran AM transmitter when my cash flow gets better. In the meanwhile, I’m setting up the automation software and getting all my music organized and normalized. Is there any decent free software to normalize your audio? I tried Audacity and it made the song sound super flat. Or is that what it’s supposed to do?
Thanks,
Chris
Total posts : 45366If your audio files are MP3, run them through MP3Gain. Do a “Track Analysis”, then “Track Gain”. The program doesn’t change the audio, but changes some flags in the MP3 header. Most MP3 player apps should honor these flags on playback. The nice thing about MP3Gain is that you can undo the change later.
I run all my files through MP3Gain at the default gain setting. This gives me a baseline from which to work with. I can then set my audio levels and processing and get a pretty consistent broadcast level.
I also run all of my MP3 files through EncSpot Pro to check for sync errors and ID3TagIt to create consistent ID3 tags. For encoding WAV to MP3, I use RazorLame which is a Windows frontend to the Lame encoder (all free software).
You don’t really want to use a program like Audacity to normalize your files, as you will not only permanently change them, but get that “flat” sound that you mentioned.
For audio processing, you can throw some hardware into your audio chain, if you have the money, or you can do it in software, like I do. I’ll describe my setup below. My setup is totally automated 24/7. If you intend to do the live DJ thing, you will need some type of mixing console. Depending on what console you buy, you may not need some or all of the software I am using.
For automation, I use ZaraRadio 1.61 (free), as many here do. The output from ZaraRadio is fed into Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) ($30), which routes the audio into VSTHost (free). In VSTHost, I use Classic EQ plugin (free) and Broadcast Processor plugin (free) to process the audio. I also use Modern Meter plugin (free) and Inspector plugin (free) to monitor levels and spectrum. The output from VSTHost goes to the sound card and then to the SSTRAN transmitter. As you can see, the only part of this software chain that costs money is VAC, which is worth the $30.
I have had an engineer friend from a local radio station tell me that I sounded as good as any commercial station.
ZaraRadio has a rudimentary AGC feature builtin that you can enable. It works, however I liked the results that I was getting with my software audio chain better, so I don’t use ZaraRadio’s AGC.
The one piece of hardware that may be worth buying is an Inovonics 222. I picked up one cheap and so far, I have not integrated it into my station. I experimented with the 222 and a spare SSTRAN transmitter and didn’t get the results I expected. I corresponded with Phil at SSTRAN and he had some suggestions. I just haven’t gotten around to doing more experimenting with the 222 yet. I don’t want to take the station off the air while I’m trying new things, so I’ll have to build another antenna for the spare SSTRAN, so I can experiment some more.
If anyone is using a SSTRAN with the base-loaded antenna and a 222, I’d like to hear about your experience.
Definitely work on your audio files and experiment with the software and hardware you intend to use before going on the air. You will learn a lot and sound more polished, once you do go on the air. When you get your transmitter, you can use just the wire antenna and listen to how you sound before putting up an outside antenna and letting “the world” hear you.
Total posts : 45366One more thing — if your audio files are WAV (or any other non-lossy format), it is safe to do whatever you want in Audacity or similar program. Just keep a backup of the original file. If you are dealing with MP3 (which is a lossy format), Audacity will convert it to WAV upon loading. This involves a degradation of the original MP3 audio data. When you “export” from Audacity as an MP3 again, you get more degradation. Depending on several factors, you may or may not hear any difference. However, it is best to never convert MP3 to anything else, if you can avoid it.
Total posts : 45366Mojo, Thanks for the info on your setup. I am using Zararadio for the automation. I was thinking eventually going with a hardware EQ, mixing console, and maybe a compressor/mic preamp and a Heil Fin mic. I don’t like how the music sounds with a compressor, but it can help the voice. The software solution will work at first, but I’m concerned about bogging down the computer (Athlon 1.2ghz w/ 256MB RAM). I’d love to have all my audio as wav files, but it takes up so much file space. There’s a big difference in quality, but I already converted 600 CDs and have another 1200 or so to go. 🙂 Do those MP3 utility programs you mention do the files as a batch?
Thanks,
Chris
Total posts : 45366Depending on what you are doing, hardware for the audio chain may be the way to go. I broadcast OTR and period music on a regular schedule that I have setup in ZaraRadio. I never do any DJ stuff. Things just run unattended 24/7. I pre-recorded my few voice announcements on another PC and they are scheduled in, along with everything else.
I was lusting after one of those new Heil mics, but can’t afford the price right now. I did my announcements with the cheap mic that came with my M-Audio USB interface.
As for compression, don’t use too much or you’ll sound like the local FM stations 🙂 Also, there is a compression control on the SSTRAN, which is very effective. I use a little bit of compression on the PC and a little bit on the SSTRAN and it sounds good.
You’ll have to try things on your PC to see how much CPU time is used. I use a P4, 2.6GHz. I don’t know how an Athlon would compare. Just run the software and pull up Task Manager to see the CPU load graph. The one thing I would do, regardless of what software you run – put at least 512MB RAM in that PC. Windows is not going to be happy with only 256MB.
My automation PC is dedicated to just that task. I don’t use it for anything else. In fact, I have stripped out some unneeded parts of WinXP and disabled some unneeded services. This is part of the reason why that system has been so stable all these months. That PC has been up 24/7 since early March, except for one lengthy power outage and one late night hard drive upgrade. I have it on a UPS, but the power outage lasted 2.5 hours.
Something that I have mentioned here before is that I set the process priority of both ZaraRadio and VSTHost to “above normal”. This ensures that practically nothing else will interfere with the delivery of audio. Set this way, I can copy huge numbers of MP3 files to/from that PC, across the network without the slightest hiccough. At normal priority, my program audio stutters when copying (not good). If you try this, DO NOT set the priority to anything higher than “above normal”, or you may wait forever for your PC to respond to your input. Also, don’t set the priority of any other program to anything higher than “normal”, or it defeats the purpose of prioritizing the audio software. VAC does not need a higher than normal priority, either.
I use a utility program called “Process” (free. I like free.) to set these priorities from a batch file on startup, so I don’t have to do it manually every time. The utility can be found here: http://www.beyondlogic.org/consulting/processutil/processutil.htm
If you are ripping direct from CD, the best software is Exact Audio Copy (EAC), in combination with Lame. Both are free. EAC and Lame will rip and encode all in one go. Just change CDs as needed and otherwise ignore it. If you use the Lame setting of “-preset standard”, you will get an MP3 that is VBR and around 200Kb/s. Unless you have golden ears, you won’t be able to hear the difference between the MP3 and the CD. Also, considering the bandwidth of AM, you don’t even need an MP3 that good. If you want to rip once and also use the files on your MP3 player, use the “-preset standard” setting and you’ll be happy. If you do have golden ears, use “-preset insane”.
I only use RazorLame when I am converting from WAV to MP3 (yes, it does batch). For ripping from CD, I use EAC.
EncSpot Pro scans an entire directory of MP3 files at a time, so it is easy to use. If you are using EAC to rip your CDs, you probably don’t need to run EncSpot Pro on the files. I get OTR files from many sources, so I have to test every one for sync errors and also re-tag everything to a consistent format.
For tagging, I use ID3-TagIt, as I said before. You can mass tag lots of files with it, if they have similar tags like album, artist, etc. Of course, if you rip with EAC, it can automatically do the tagging for you by getting the album info from a database on the net. If the tags aren’t quite what you want, EAC allows you to edit them as you go.
One last comment about ZaraRadio: if you are using a random playlist, the more files in the directory that you are pulling from, the longer ZaraRadio takes to play the next track. The delay is not bad, though. I have one random playlist that is used for filler music to bring you to the top of the hour, if the scheduled program is short (OTR programs are not always a consistent length). This random playlist pulls from a directory containing almost 4000 songs. The maximum delay seems to be about one second on my PC. This delay doesn’t seem to be present with a regular playlist that specifies what tracks to play, just the random directory type.
Total posts : 45366Thanks again Mojo. Most informative. I’m using the Athlon as a dedicated computer. With the 256MB of RAM I used to run an Automatic Positioning Reporting System which sends my GPS coordinates over the ham radio waves and also receives other stations as well. Plus I ran a Satellite tracking program with a couple of other programs in the background to automatically change the frequency on the radio to adjust for doppler shift and also to control and azimuth/elevation rotator to move the antenna as the satellite is making a pass. All this and the computer didn’t bog down. But with audio processing, I know it’s a lot more CPU intensive. I plan on running playlists through Zara with various formats at different times/days. It should be an interesting venture until I get my transmitter, 🙂
Thanks,
Chris
Total posts : 45366Glad I peaked your interest in part15 and good to see you on this forum. You will find great info from good folks who have lots of experience. Most important—-have fun with it! 73!
Regards,Lee
http://www.freewebs.com/wilcomlabs/index.htm
Total posts : 45366Thanks Lee. If I wasn’t able to see the operation myself, I would have never known about this hobby!
Thanks again!
-Chris
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