Must be something better and for the same price…free!
Any suggestions? I need the software to automate streams, files and allow me to take control (go live) at a moments notice.
Must be something better and for the same price…free!
Any suggestions? I need the software to automate streams, files and allow me to take control (go live) at a moments notice.
Zara has let me down too many times now.
Streams have not played or started at the times i programmed them for, Sometimes the playlist goes nuts and cycles thru the playlists.
It worked well for me in the past, but lately it has failed me .
I am currently using winamp wich means i have to check on the broadcasts as well as insert the next file or stream.
I am currently trying to manage as many as three or four streams and playlists.
As always, your input is much appreciated.
How much does free really cost?
More of a philosophical discussion than a software recommendation, but I’ll share that I sometimes find myself wondering how much free software really costs me.
I’m crazy about free, but sometimes free isn’t all that cheap. Very few of us have much of an operating budget, but every now and then I think it’s a good idea to make an honest assessment of what our needs really are.
Then look at how we might meet the needs (sell excess equipment on ebay, take a one day Saturday gig, work a few overtime shifts, etc.) rather than focusing solely on “free.”
Example – the SAM system sold by one of our advertisers is about $225.00 US and, while that’s a hell of a lot of money, if it (or another application) really makes the station run smoothly, well…
How About DirEttore, Station Playlist, Rivendell, or SAM?
Another free program for radio automation is DirEttore. However, I don’t think that it has the same functionality as ZaraRadio and it takes some time to learn the software.
To download DirEttore: Go to “www.mixtime.com”. Click “Downloads” on the left. Select “Download The Free Version”. There’s more information on the website about the program, too.
You could also try Station Playlist. It will probably fit your needs. However, you will have to spend some money for this software. See “www.stationplaylist.com”.
If you feel like installing Linux and experimenting with more professional software, you can try Rivendell. I’m not sure what you are able to do with it, however. See “www.rivendellaudio.org”.
You can also try SAM, as the previous commenter suggested. See “www.spacialaudio.com”.
That’s all I know. Good luck!
I tried Direttore and
I tried Direttore and used Sam at another station.
Sam works great, i’d give it a A+ rating anyday.
Problem with Direttore is, unless i missed something it doesnt accept streaming stations.
I broadcast Free Talk Live, RadioTalkX and several other sources that i can only get from a stream online.
All day today i have had to load the next program into winamp on time just to get the program on the air.
I think maybe i could do the local programming using Direttore wich ive had on my computer for awhile now.
Just let it handle the playlists i make, then load the shows (streams) into winamp to be played at their appropriate times.
At least until i am able to work something out with my software problems.
Found something else
A piece of software that is basic in design but still meets my needs and of course it’s free (for non-profit use).
qoute from the website:
mAirList
mAirList is an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use radio automation software for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, designed for the small but professional radio station.
I am using it now, in fact its been running flawlessly (crosses fingers and toes) since sometime yesterday evening. You can use this software with a free license from the creators if you are a non-profit station wich most of us here are.
It’s pretty stable, doesnt seem to use alot of resources and so far has played a complex playlist of music, talk shows and comedy bits without so much as a hiccup.
I just might replace Zara with mAirList at least until I can afford something better. I really would like to purchase Sam later as it is pretty darn good.
Anyways, check it out for yourself.
http://www.mairlist.com/en/
I am running this along with shoutcast/winamp as well as feeding the audio to my am/fm xtmrs.
Zara fails…
I am sorry to hear about the problems you have with Zara. I have been running it for 2 1/2 years on an old p1-450,running multiple playlists,seq’s,rotations,live feeds and local control with no problems whatsoever. I do realize that the documentation is really poor and have found by trial and error what works well and how to program it. As any piece of software or hardware goes,there is always a root cause for problems. It only takes one corrupt file or conflict to bring it all crashing down. I’d bet if you cleaned up the computer,reinstalled everything and paid careful attention to details that it would work well for you. If I can be any help,just let me know.
Zara Fails?
Gee, I have never had a problem. It’s running right now.
this was a fresh os install
Lee & John,
I was running Zara on a Dell Optiplex GX-200, 933 mhz, 256 mb memory, pentium 3. The OS is Windows Xp Pro it was installed just about a month ago with a clean harddrive.
My main problem was when a scheduled stream started it would play ok but if there was a stream following the last one it would cycle back and fourth between the two streams, more often than not i would have dead air.
This usally happens when im busy and not paying attention to the station, or even when i am asleep.
Other problems were minor such as the playlists i used to fill in with, usually containing mp3’s, the playlists would take over Zara. So if there was a stream scheduled to play at a predetermined time, the playlist of mp3’s would not let the stream start and ive never been able to get the station id play without canceling out a podcast program that was longer than a hour long.
Im sure it works great for others, but i must have missed some important details somewhere.
As always i will take any help offered with much appreciation.
Thanks
Zara woes
Well,streams can be a problem,especially if they dont work properly or are not timed properly. The scheduler is also misunderstood by most and proper setting of the times for events is critical.
Options settings I recommend,overlap 1 sec,fade 0sec,silence detector 60 sec,enable AGC,disable secondary events.
Scenario1:stream fails to start or is delayed. Silence detector fires,starts next stream or event,now both try to play together making a mess. A better way to do streams is to put each one on its own playlist with nothing else in it to interfere,only the 60 second silence detector and the next event to move it on to the next playlist. Never a problem this way unless the stream is junk to begin with. I prefer to download content for replay when I want it,that way it never fails to play.
Scenario2:playlist isnt followed or events play out of sequence or not at all. Timing is everything,I always assign a 10 minute wait,a 60 second silence detect and time events I want to be in sequence one second apart. One second apart prevents anything else to get in there. Example,my top of the hour events: 01:58 plays station id,01:59 plays NBC chime,02:00 plays time,02:01 plays news,02:02 plays show promo jingle…if you leave one open second,it will throw a playlist selection in there!
I gotta tell ya,there is nothing wrong with the Zara software,its all in having the patience and knowledge to program it properly,to take the time to learn how it works. I was impatient at first and it did all the crazy things you mention. They were all due to my not understanding how to program it properly. Use the log viewer to help you understand what went wrong. I hope this helps you out,any questions,post or e-mail me.
I have had Zara running for
I have had Zara running for over a year with very little trouble. There are over 60 events programmed on my computer to switch between four internet streams and a satellite dish input, and to fire off ID’s, position statements and promos. For the price, Zara has performed amazingly well.
As far as playing internet streams…I save each stream as a “backup” file and tell the event scheduler to play the file at the right time. The file contains two stream addresses. With the mode set to “repeat” if the stream goes down, the silence detector tries to re-connect to the same stream. This has worked great.
micro1650am
Tonawanda, New York
Giving Zara another chance…
Thinking about it now, i have been used to seeing Zara on my desktop for the past year and it’s easier on the eye’s than the other software ive tried the past couple of weeks.
I’ll give it another chance and this time attempt to take everyones advice and try to learn it again as if i never used it before. I have to admit, this past year has been a struggle for me and this little station.
Computer failers (at least 2x), software, coverage and content. Right now programming for my station is the hardest part. When i say programming i mean the shows, music, news etc.
The material is out there and most of it is good, but im just too dang picky! I have even thought about buying the necessary music license(‘s) so i can legally air some tunes i really like.
But no station can operate without the proper software and/or equiptment. I dont have a quiet room for live shows or recording, what recording i do is when no one is awake around here lol. I have five kids so it’s not easy to get a moments peace in the living room lol.
But that’s not a big issue for me, my main concern right now is getting the programs on the air smoothly and to have them fire off without alot of babysitting on my part.
I am used to cueing, pushing the play buttons and sliding or twisting a knob on the board to make my shows run smoothly, i was trained that way at Scarlet Oaks Voc. School in Cincy my last two years of high school and later when i had shows on a public station and a commercial fm/am in Stanford,Ky.
I chose the music had alot of fun in the process.
That’s why this is so frustrating to me now.
But I will press on and Lee, ill give zara another chance and follow your suggestions. I’ll check in later with the results. thanks
Zara gets to stay…
And im a happy camper..lol
Well guys thanks again for the help, looks like all i needed to do was take a little more time to learn the quirks of zararadio before i gave up and sent it to the cyber landfill.
I took Lee’s advice and it’s been running now for at least two and half days non-stop without a problem. Thanks for that Lee.
Alot of my problems were operator error, i didnt save the events, now everything fires off when it is supposed to.
I may want to re-record my station ID , at least leave a few seconds dead air at the beginning and end, zara is so effecient that when it fires off the ID almost immediatly the programming after the ID takes over , nearly blending with the last few seconds of the ID.
I might need to adjust the fade time to fix that, if not ill just add a few seconds of silence to the ID file.
again thanks guys.
Zara rocks!
Congrats! I think you are on your way to a great relationship with Zara. With a little fine tuning,it sounds better than the local corporate crap. You can adjust your files to play just right. Also you can add a”~5″ for example to get it to fire the next file at -5 seconds. For a true test of how tight your files are,try running it with no overlap. Use a sound editor to clean up the silence on your files.If it sounds good,you are close to perfection! I began with Zara1.4 which wont play overlaps,so my library and jingles are very tight when played on 1.6! Sweepers abound and in manual mode I use the jingles and playlist and sound like a real pro. Also check out the Zara forums,a lot of good tips in there as well. Enjoy!
Listen if you like
Listen if you like,
I have the stream url at the bottom of my posts although i might need to add /listen.pls at the end of that url, anyways you all are more than welcome to listen in anytime. thanks
Stream problem
Your stream sounds good except it has two audio feeds of the same program about one second apart. Awful hard to listen to…
Me too
I wasn’t going to speak up unless someone else got that too.
I’m using WIN XP, VLAN open source stream player, Comcast 12 mbps broadband internet.
I’m also running VAC and some other stuff on this box, so I wasn’t sure if that was me or not.
Apparently not.
Keep trying, the stream is really solid otherwise, no buffering and good fidelity.
Much Thanks
I caught on to that sometime last night, i think i spent more time out running around town than i expected to. When i got back i heard the echo effect on the fm in the car.
Problem was a I programmed the same stream twice. lol
I think the night i re-programmed Zara there was alot going on in the house here so i may not have been paying attention to what i was doing.
Sorry about that, im about to go back over Zara again in a few minutes.
The stream has been running off winamp as a back up.
Edit: The stream is fed directly from a cheap fm radio into the aux on my soundcard then handled by winamp shoutcast for streaming.
Thanks