Important note about following review: This review is based only for the Webradio interface and streaming feature - nothing else.
Review was performed by Rol Welker in June 2019. Special Thanks to him from BoD.FM !
His Final Rating for RadioKing:
Conclusion: Expensive service, very limited use of program design, low web space, only small number of listeners / listening hours in the basic offer available.
Here we will introduce a very exceptional track from our House Channel, Artist "Without Wax" and Titel called "Astrolabe". Coming out of the Album "Whiskey Pickle XXX", released in 2016, but actually (in 03/2018) we could not find any buying source in the web. Nevertheless the album is found in preview status on SOUNDCLOUD respectively this song. Below enjoy this powerful, & strong embedded song and enjoy !
Following I will notify SAM BC users about a problem which seems to be known but not solved from Spacial. It's about the "WPAY" issue.
Working with Sam Broadcaster requires (If you require so) to place a "Buying Link" into the "Song Information Editor" of Sam BC which is seen as "Buy CD". But to fill this line with content you have to copy / paste the Link data manually into SAM BC's editors line, view picture below marked in red.
To pretend this manual action after placement into Sam's database it is a good idea to fill that line in your mp3 file BEFORE you copy it into Sam BC music directory. So FIRSTLY you have to fill the ID3 Tag "WPAY" (Jump to Wikipedia for ID3 TAg specification) - the proper location to fill with buying data with an external program like kid3, mp3tag or similar software for editing ID3 tags. [Remark: Originally the WPAY tag refers to 'Payment' according ID3 tag standard]
Now you have filled the WPAY line. But: Once You EDIT information in the Song info editor in SAM BC and click on "Save Tag" you will discover mysteriously things: the link is fully visible in SAM BC's song information editor BUT is NOT more viewable in any of the software for ID3 tag editing. If you ever intend to move this file to another machine: your buying link is away for any ID3 editor.
A closer look with a Hex Editor program showed that the link was indeed visible in the mp3 data but not displayed in ID3 editor. The following picture shows Kid3 editor view with missing WPAY tag information (Although it is present in mp3 file !)
The root cause for the missing informtion in ID3 editor is simply a saving issue of SAM BC as the storage format of WPAY does not match to current specification of ID3 tags. There is simply one space character too much ...
SOLUTION:
Add your buying link - with your prefered ID3 tag editor - [Before file transfer to SAM BC] into both "Comment" line (or create manually another line) And "WPAY" line. So you ever have the chance to have the link available (in comment line or similar) once you clicked the "Save Tag" button ...
[ Remark: Text & pictures sourece: Beatport.com. No Copyright violation intended. Below info is for informational service and promotion purpose only ! ]
Following his beginnings providing soundtracks for sunrises up and down the East Coast, Pete Moss settled himself down in Philly, a city with a warm reception to the soulful sounds of his selections. Having gathered equipment along the way, he focused intently on production and gained encouragement and inspiration form the musical clan that existed there which included the likes of King Britt, Josh Wink, and the whole Ovum cast & crew. Pete developed into one of dance music's finest talents and reminds us constantly with his late night sets and soulful and impecable production skills. Read More ...
[ Remark: Text & pictures source: Beatport.com. No Copyright violation intended. Below info is for informational service and promotion purpose only ! ]
Addex is a solo project from Romania. His sound is atmospheric deep house with summer sounds, dubby chords, heavy pads and with grooving bongo percussion. Began listening electronic music at age of 10, and with years, many various genres was capture his attention wich was an inspiration and a study case. Read More ...
[ Remark: Text & pictures used here are copied from Traxsource.com. No Copyright violation intended. Below info is for informational service and promotion purpose only ! ]
Considered to be one of the architects of the Chicago music scene, Ron studied and collected various types of music as a young boy, taking cues from his father who ran a record pool in the late 70's. Later, becoming a respected DJ in his early teens in the mid 80's. Ron began to work on his own productions, which lead to his first release, the highly recognized classic "Altered States" in 1990, giving him international acclaim. Through his 13 year old Prescription Records, Ron has notched up an extensive back catalogue of his own productions and introduced several key players. Prescription Records is widely regarded as one of the most influential Deep House imprints of the period.
In the early 90's, Ron collaborated with House/R&B team Hula & Fingers, producers for Jive records and production credits with Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Kool Mo D, High Five, Lidell Townsend and MTF. Under the direction of Hula & Fingers, Ron began to develop his skills as a producer and musician by incorporating his training as a percussionist along with developing skills on the keyboards. After several releases on Club Records, Hula & Fingers classic imprint, Ron went on to form his own label with renowned vocalist/producer Chez Damier.
In 1993, Ron and Chez began creating the template for what would become the signature Prescription sound, eventually finding it's way into various remix and writing production hits, and implementing the conception of Prescription Records. Prescription Records, together with it's sister label Balance, introduced the likes of Anthony Nicholson, Abacus, Glen Underground (CVO), Moody Man, Norma Jean Bell, Joshua, Peven Everett, Rob Mello, and Luke Solomon to the world. During its course, Prescription Records became known for issuing superbly produced, often epic dance music by drawing influences from all over the globe and delighting club goers, as well as DJs with its highly unique sound.
Ron's sound expanded in 1997 with the release of the dance classic "Ncame U". With writing partner Anthony Nicholson, famed vocalist D'bora, and Peven Everett on trumpet, this record launched Ron onto the NYC dance scene. After Ron's move to NYC, he quickly gained respect as a DJ/Producer by doing various gigs at Body and Soul, Shelter and hosting his own events at the legendary nightclub Vinyl in downtown Manhattan.
Ron's DJ and production skills caught the attention of the owners of Giant Step. Together, they began to create a new sound that would lead the way for the future of Giant Step the club and Giant Step the label. In 2000, Ron started his residency with Giant Step at Shine, bringing forth a fusion of Neo Soul, Jazz Funk and World music, while merging it into a dance formula. The party, "Giant Step Weekly Sessions", sponsored by Levi's and Evian, played host to many loyal weekly followers. With Ron's vast knowledge of music and Giant Step's thirst for the cutting edge, the event became one of the most top rated nights in NYC.
Ron's in house productions on the Giant Step/Sony label, featured artists such as Amel Larrieux, Jody Watley, Anastacia, Donnie, Carl Hancock Rux, Lina, Jill Scott, Eyrkah Badu just to name a few. His productions lead him to work with other greats including Tony Allen, Chucho Valdes, Papa Weba, 4Hero, Amp Fiddler, Groove Collective, as well as various other world artists.
[ Remark: Text & pictures used here are copied from Traxsource.com. No Copyright violation intended. Below info is for informational service and promotion purpose only ! ]
Antonio Mea, aka Anthony Mea, is an italian dj / producer; whose musical journey began at a young age, and then perfected over the years.
2011 marks the year of his debut with the publication of several releases with various famous and historical labels such as Armada, Large, Street Kings, I!Records, Spring Tube ... however, not focused on a unique musical genre.
Deep-House, Soulful and Drum & Bass, are the styles that have marked its beginning and the continuation of its work.
His songs were often present in Traxsource TOP 100 deep house / soulful and its activity has been appreciated and supported by international DJs of trance and house scene, including Armin Van Buuren, Solarstone, Matt Darey,Roger Sanchez, Larry Heard, Jamie Lewis and many others.
As BestOfDance.FM is looking forward into the future we are looking for 24/7 streaming options and services on Cloud and virtual servers. As first option we tried Spacial's ( Spacial is manufacturer of SAM Broadcaster Software and Cloud Service) offer to use a 7 day trial with their Cloud Audio Streaming solution called "Sam Broadcaster Cloud".
Our major expectation: "Sam Broadcaster Cloud" handling is similar to previous "Sam Brodcaster" PC solution ... But we were wrong ! A total different cloud interface did not match any of our expectation - as the web interface is totally different. It is very clear after our trial that this new Cloud Version was developped from different people than the people from the PC solution.
We had a look into the web: Even support in Sam Broadcaster Forum was not able to give solutions for forum members because forum support had no glue about the Cloud version ... BUT: Sam Cloud version is available since... I guess 2015 ? According Spacial there are a lot of stations using Sam Cloud. But we don't believe that. Indications for wide spread software and solutions are lots of Forum activities, were we found a lot for Sam Broadcaster PC versions but not for the Cloud Version. Even Spacial Forum does show only a handful entrances, there is no main category present ... Additionally on Spacial's Facebook and Twitter account: Some comments about Sam Cloud cannot be viewed ... just try it for yourself to get them visible. Very mysterious.
Our inital thoughts were to give a detailed review for Sam Cloud version but we think we can reduce it because our definitive negative summary lead us to minimize our feedback.
Let's Start our Review with SAM Broadcaster Cloud Audio :
What's important for a webradio ?
1) Good Music
2) Good Audio
For Option 1) we suggest the webradio operator will do his best for his listeners.
For Option 2) there is need to get the knowledge of dealing with the Audio configuration / settings within your broadcasting software.No big issue with SAM Broadcaster PC version as you have multiple choices to do so.
But: SAM Broadcaster Cloud is very limited - I will say it is impossible - to change anything in the Audio settings menue. What is sold as "Audio Setting Configuration" is nothing more than "Track Setting Configuration"! Just view the promotion video placed from Spacial on Youtube (which is the same as in our trial version) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2c5zI365-k&t=3s If watched: anthing found for Audio ?
Below is a screenshot of the "Audio Settings" Menue, Click for large picture.
For comparison of Audio output from both PC version and SAM Cloud listen / watch our Youtube Video below. The first Audio sample belongs to our BestOfDance.FM Stream. The sceond Audio sample is SAM Cloud audio output. Both samples are streamed with same streaming conditions and recorded with same settings to show the difference. As a background info: If you upload an audio file to SAM Cloud then this file will be atomatically encoded into AAC format ! Additionally all audio output is normalized according EBU R128 standard finally creating those lousy, muted, dynamic less audio output.
Despite all findings before, there are important QUESTIONS:
1) Who will use Sam Broadcaster Cloud ?
2) And: As a potential Cloud user: How do you get your music files (Don't forget: if you have a few thousands tracks, you will have a few GB data to be uploaded !) to your Cloud Service ? Any suggestions how to do it from Spacial ?
ANSWERS to the questions before, we will begin with answer for the second one:
2) If you have few hundreds of tracks and more you will feel the upload pain if you do have a upload speed of a regular internet connection provider. So Question Number 1) is already answered as I don't believe a large amateur web radio station with thousands of tracks can do this. And, - important -, No solution is provided from Spacial to solve this upload problem.
Finally we will close our review here as all important questions and things needed for web radio operation have been monitored and failed.
Additional comments - made on Youtube - to this review:
Comment from Spacial to our Video:
As you are using a trial, the audio settings are unavailable but with the full version, you could try increasing the gain which in your video is at zero. The audio settings enable you to increase the gain by +6dB but if you raise a support request at http://support.spacial.com we can increase this further if you prefer. We would imagine the audio gain on the first player is set much higher than the second.
>>>> Our reply to Spacial:
Dear Folks from Spacial: Your comment above does simply confirm our findings ! Thanks. As the Audio output of a service like yours is an essential thing in Radio World it seems to be a joke to excuse lousy sound with a trial version and to have to raise a "support request" to get a proper standard Audio output as usual in other streaming solutions from your competitors in the rest of the world. 1) If you would have ever watched your own promotion videos and written documentation ! you would have noticed that your comment above describing "gain settings" are INDIVIDUAL TRACK settings and no overall setting. => So: Do we need to expect to adjust the gain of ten thousands of tracks ? in the full version ? No, Thanks ! 2) It's funny to must raise a "support ticket" to adjust audio gain settings. Why must we ? Because of the poor basic standard Audio output ! Even in the full version. (Just listen to some Sam Cloud Radio Stations in the web.) => This is a No-Go ! Your comment: "..We would imagine the audio gain on the first player is set much higher than the second..." 1) Answer: If you would have read my comment under our video stating "..audio samples were recorded with the same AAC Streaming settings both PC and Cloud version as well as the recording levels were the same.." Please note: It is not set higher in the first player, it's simply physics: Your sound. We know how to compare things in a legal way. [Tip: Different Audio signal levels create different loudness in recordings at playback. => Basic Physics. Additionally just read our tip below in 2) to compare our findings ]. 2) If Spacial would have ever listened to their crappy audio output compared to normal regular streaming you would have noticed the difference. As a helpful tip: Just listen some radio stations in TuneIn for example, you will will find Sam Cloud Stations easily ... Thank you Guys from Spacial but: BOD.FM rejects usage of SAM Cloud service.
Alex W wrote:
I confirm that there is a way to increase the global station level in Audio Settings, up to +6dB increase is possible. The problem, HUGE problem, is that when setting the master volume level at +6dB, as a consequence you lose Crossfading effect. This may be due to the fact that the Intersect cross trigger level cannot be set lower than -10dB (e.g. -5dB or -3dB), then the crossfade is triggered only when the song volume is very low, causing very late transitions and almost silent gaps between tracks. I tried explaining the issue to the support, but every time I open a case it looks like I know the system better than Spacial support team. It's unbelievable and really frustrating. I hope Spacial will read this comment and find a solution!!!
>>>> Our reply to Alex W:
Thank you for your feedback. You answer reflects very well our findings noted in our blog: That even Spacial members of support and forum do not have technical background knowlegde of the Cloud version. Secondly it is nuts and useless to use "EBU R128" audio standard in streaming as it's original intention was to be used in TV and FM Radio application to have a standard average loudness. So why is R128 used in the Cloud version ? Only heaven knows ...
Alex W responded to our answer above:
BestOfDance.FM my feeling is that they use it as an excuse to cover the fact that there is no dynamic audio processing in the cloud. The sound is flat like Spotify and other streaming services. The most frustrating thing is that sometimes you understand the possible cause of an issue and they could work to fix it starting from your suggestions but they don’t. And the answer is completely out of the context!
What's going on here ? Answer: We will give you support, hints & tips around the broad range / theme of Audio streaming and working with Sam Broadcaster as well as for working with mp3 Audio files, introducing interesting Artists, Bands played on BestOfDance.FM channels and other related stuff.