Considering dumping SAM Broadcaster for RadioDJ + Radiocaster

[JamboUK]

HI All

 

We are considering dumping SAM Broadcaster in favour of Radio DJ + Radio Caster, there are various reasons for this:

 

1. We have numerous remote DJs who want to do shows on our station and to purchase DJ Seat from SAM for them would work out very very expensive, whereas RadioDJ is FREE

 

2. We have had numerous problems with SAM that do not seem exclusive to us, remote show script keeps dropping out, crackling when using SAM Live, on Reboot SAM will not connect to the database whether it's Firebird or SQL, SAM will not restart after system reboot requiring a complete re-install of SAM, encoders stopping for no reason at all, plus various other issues. Now I could cope with these problems if SAM was free but we paid for this software which is flaky to say the least.

 

3. SAM freezing when searching for tracks

 

4. RadioDJ is much more pleasing to the eye

 

5. RadioDJ looks much more professional

 

6. In our tests RadioDJ has been far more stable with no freezing or crashing

 

7. Our remote DJs can use RadioDJ for free which means our costs are substantially reduced.

 

8. RadioDj has everything on one screen making it much more user friendly.

 

9. RadioDJ Cartwalls are much easier to use and setup.

 

We have tried SAM on various different machines and encountered the same problems whereas we have installed RadioDJ on various different machines and not had a single problem.

 

I admit that the initial setup of SAM is a little easier but that is the only plus side for SAM that I can see.

 

Just wondered what your thoughts are on this.

[djgary72]

Just wondered what your thoughts are on this.

 

Nothing else to say you hit the nail on the head with most of your points.

 

I think you have made a wise decision to use RadioDJ over SAM the whole DJ seat thing is just a licence for spacial to print money.

 

6. In our tests RadioDJ has been far more stable with no freezing or crashing

 

I've been using RDJ over 2 years now the SQL database is far more Robust than SAM and I've yet to have it crash on me during a live show plus it runs for days and days without having useless PAL scripts locking the program up.

 

If You or any of your DJ's have issues setting RadioDJ up send them over to the forums http://www.radiodj.ro/community/index.php We are here to help.

 

 

Hope it works out better for you !!

[frostycold]

Before switching to RDJ, my Sam would crash randomly and would have to re-install. Since a switch 6 months ago, no issues.

[Gadfly]

I use SB but would gladly switch to Station Playlist in a heartbeat. As far as I am concerned, SB is buggy and I've tried different versions. At the moment I am using 4.2.2 (had to rollback) which for now seems reasonably stable.

 

I have decided to roll back to WXP and try out RDJ.

 

And I see RDJ support Flac lossless which is a boon for it.

[djgary72]

 

Is Radio DJ compatible with W7?

 

I believe it supporst FLAC lossless.

 

Yes RDJ is compatible with most of the windows operating systems Tested on XP/Win7/Win8/MS 2012 and Yes it plays FLAC http://www.radiodj.ro/radiodj-features

 

It needs at least .NET 3.5 and also needs to be ran as Administrator, as i said to Supercabby if you have any issues setting RDJ up the forums will be there to help.

[Vanlen]

I have decided to roll back to WXP and try out RDJ

I'm running RadioDJ on Win7 64 bit so you don't need to roll back if you'd rather not.

 

Cheers

[JamboUK]

Cheers Guys, thanks for all your comments, I am glad to see that we are not the only ones who have had these problems, I just wish that I had found RadioDJ before spending the money on SAM Broadcaster which now seems to have been money down the drain.

 

Out of interest what do you all use for your encoder streaming, Edcast, MB Recast or RadioCaster or something else?

 

 

Rgds

 

Jamie

[Gadfly]

Thanks Vanlen. Which audio processor do you use with RDJ?

[djgary72]

Out of interest what do you all use for your encoder streaming, Edcast, MB Recast or RadioCaster or something else?

 

I use Altacast for streaming with you can find that here http://djgarybaldy.co.uk/free-automation-software/ we also use Virtual audio cables not free but worth the $30 takes the hassle out of trying to get Stereo mix working on Windows.

 

I just wish that I had found RadioDJ before spending the money on SAM Broadcaster which now seems to have been money down the drain

 

You're not alone with that i'm afraid i know of a few people who wished they had never paid Spacial for SAM.

[Gadfly]

Thanks also Gary. Love the fact that RDJ support Flac.

[JamboUK]

Thanks Gary, which VAC do you use, there are so many to choose from?

[djgary72]

This is the one we use http://ntonyx.com/vac.htm like i say not free but worth the money they ask for it.

[JamboUK]

Thanks once again Gary, I do hope you reconsider your decision to give up Internet Radio, you would be a great loss to the community

[djgary72]

Thanks once again Gary, I do hope you reconsider your decision to give up Internet Radio, you would be a great loss to the community

 

Just taking a back seat for the time being but will always be around to help where possible.

 

Quick heads up on the VAC. If you want to be able to talk over your stream just set the VAC to listen through Mic or line in and it will still work like a normal sound card and get Altacast to pick the sound up from the line you have set. Works rather well when i route my mixer through.

[Vanlen]

Which audio processor do you use with RDJ?

@gadfly in the new beta I'm using the default processing in RadioDJ Beta8 and just tweaking and testing with a zed 10 mixer and m-audio in/out, but the main release RadioDJ 1.60 on main machine I'm running it through Breakaway Live

 

Cheers

[Gadfly]

Thanks Vanlen. Good to know that RDJ with work with BB.

[isaacl]

We've been running SAM for over 3 years now, with no issues.

Our station broadcasts 24/7 and has close to 400 listeners during peak hours, and besides for occasional times when we take the station offline for a few minutes for updates, we are streaming continuously.

If you have everything set up correctly, and keep relatively up to date with SAM updates (using 4.2.2 either means that you're using a pirated version, which is likely virused, and definitely old and out of date, or you've been living under some rock, and never realized that there were newer version), you shouldn't have problems.

You can post questions here or on the Spacial forums, and there are plenty people that would be happy to help.

In general though, for your questions - using MySQL, if it's set correctly, will give you the most stability with SAM. Your remote DJs can be running whichever software they want to, but you can use PAL scripts in SAM and use the Event Scheduler to set things up so they're automatically connected for their time slot.

You definitely shouldn't need to reinstall SAM after a reboot, and that normally means that it isn't set up correctly.

You're welcome to contact me directly if you would like help with setting SAM up.

I haven't used RadioDJ, and it's very possible that it's a great product, but SAM has definitely been out there for a lot longer, and works for so many people, and has an amazing community behind it.

At some point, I'll probably install RadioDJ just to try it and see what it can do, but seeing the way some people push it at every opportunity and try to put down other products has kinda turned me off.

Each person has to try both products on their own, and like everything else, if you don't put the effort into setting something up correctly and learning it well, it may work for some time, or in some ways, but you'll never get the most you can out of a product.

Good luck with your station, and with whatever works best for you.

[JamboUK]

Hi Isaaci

 

I did not mention using verson 4.2.2, our software is bought and paid for direly from Spacial and we have the latest version installed (excluding 2013).

 

We have found it very flacky to say the least and our experience of using the remote show facility using PAL scripts have been very frsutrating to say the least. I have set it up on various different machines and had the same problem on them all. I am quite computer literate and cannot see how it is not installed properly.

 

I have always hated the look of SAM ever ssince we purchased it but at the time it was all I could find, I have never used it for a Live show as I did not like the way in which it worked, I instead used Virtual Dj through my mixer and then out to another computer running SAM which was merely used for encoding and broadcasting.

 

We tried using it for Live broadcasts in our other studio and it froze, cracked and popped and crashed, so why installed it on another PC and it ran OKish for a couple of weeks and then did the same again.

 

I have got fed up of keep re installing it and re doing our playlists and cloakwheels.

 

So its time to give something else a go.

 

So far RadioDJ has proved to be stable and most of our DJ/Presenters prefer look and functions that it offers and when the new version finally comes out it will be even better, we are not going to completely dump SAM as we have paid for it so we would like to get our monies worth out of it but it will just be used as a back up for now.

 

Thank you for your offer of help and should I have any further problems I may well take you up on it.

 

Rgds

 

Jamie

[isaacl]

Sorry, someone here had said something about SAM 4.2.2...

4.9.8 should be very stable, and we were running it for a while, before we beta tested SAM 2013, and then upgraded, once 2013 was released, though if you're not on Windows 8, there aren't really any changes.

I think a lot of the issues with SAM crashing may come with the way MySQL (or whatever database is being used, though you should be using MySQL) is set up, and if you're on top of the database maintenance.

Also, PAL scrips can cause issues if they're not set up or running correctly.

You also should try installing and using the Lame ACM codec - there are instructions on the Spacial forum to install it, and if you start SAM with the /LEGACYENC parameter, you can add an encoder using the Legacy MP3 option and the LAME codec.

The best thing would be to start with a clean test installation of SAM - run it with no scripts and a minimal song database, and see how it works. Gradually add your PAL scripts in, and see if one of them causes it not to run well.

I personally like the look of SAM, though maybe it's because it's all I've used, but I never had a broadcasting background, so from my computer background, it's been great.

Also, we're pretty much always running SAM in AutoDJ mode, with quite a few PAL scripts and requests, but we don't really do any live shows.

A lot of issues with the sound may be caused by the sound card and the buffer settings - we always keep SAM on silent output, so the internal sound card (or lack therof in my case - we're running SAM on a remote VM on my server) doesn't affect anything. And the buffer settings are very important - we've set ours high, maybe too high, but we don't have any issues with sound or crackling and popping.

Obviously, if you're doing a live show, you need to have the local sound enabled, but there are some sound cards that don't work well with SAM - I haven't seen a specific list, but some seems to cause problems, though most should work fine.

Anyways, if RadioDJ works well for you, then use that - just make sure it can do what you need, and that you learn it well.

[GKIye]

Hi Isaac,

 

I agree with You 100 %

However being addicted to older SAM versions ain't always a "pirate" behaviour

I know an owner of a webradio at The Netherlands who was using SAM 3 since 2001 (or 2002)

Unfortunately He has ended his broadcasts since past NYE

He had several reasons ... he lost his focus on his project due too much problems in his family (funeral of his Mom, brother, sister and some relatives) ... All happened the past 2 Years

Now he stopped making radio after he ever started broadcasting - as FM station - since the early 80s

 

Anyway, He builded those days his own pc and a backup pc ... The backup pc was never used in all those Years ... The main pc has been rebooted a few times, but was never offline unless a few minutes

The miracle is ... that his SAM 3 never went down in all those Years ... Yes, he made a reboot of it once a Year ... but that was the only thing he did

Not that many people believe what I write but it is the truth

If you have everything set up correctly, and keep relatively up to date with SAM updates (using 4.2.2 either means that you're using a pirated version, which is likely virused, and definitely old and out of date, or you've been living under some rock, and never realized that there were newer version), you shouldn't have problems.

About the silent output ...

I noticed already several times into posts (I'm a BW member since 2008), that users have problems with their soundcard(s)

However, it looks that not that many users know that they can stream without soundcard by using the silent output ...

... we always keep SAM on silent output, so the internal sound card (or lack therof in my case - we're running SAM on a remote VM on my server) doesn't affect anything ...

Concerning my own project I'm also an addict of the older SAM version ...

Don't ask Me why ... but my point of view is : never change a winning team ...

If a software acts as it has to do, keep on using it ...

Playlists are loaded ok, PALs do a perfect job and there is even music broadcasted

 

Check the sound of my SAM(my) - adjustement of the sound happens by using DSPs

So, yes ... for a part the old fashion way ... but it works ... and thats important

 

BUT, I wanna say also something good about RadioDJ

The founders of that project became member of BW since about 2 Years (more or less)

We at BW have given them lots of feedback, ideas ... even translations of pdf files to the English language

Gary (GaryBaldy) is currently a Mod, so it looks that there is a nice exchange of ideas

As SAM addict I have already shared their type of software many times with people who're in search for an automation software (to broadcast or to being used at a resto, pub etc)

 

I see it as a kind of the best of both worlds

[countrywesterndj]

We have found it very flacky to say the least and our experience of using the remote show facility using PAL scripts have been very frsutrating to say the least. I have set it up on various different machines and had the same problem on them all. I am quite computer literate and cannot see how it is not installed properly.

I have offered a few times to help you with the remote DJ issue. I wrote part of the code and could have you fixed in minutes. However, for whatever reason you elected not to use my help.

 

It's OK to diss one program over the other, but at least allow people who know the program inside and out help with issues you can't figure out.

[djgary72]

(using 4.2.2 either means that you're using a pirated version, which is likely virused, and definitely old and out of date, or you've been living under some rock, and never realized that there were newer version)

 

 

I find the accusations laid down on here quite frankly awful. Suggesting someone is running a pirated copy of SAM when they are not is simply not on. Spacial only have themselves to blame for the amount of cracked copies of SAM that are out there.

 

The main reasons people should switch to RadioDJ is the fact it's FREE and doesn't require any stupid reg keys and just works without freezing and locking up all the time.

[JamboUK]

Hi countrywesterndj

 

Sorry mate

 

I found the problem with the remoteshow script that I was using and that was it was only putting the URL in the queue for one instance, i found this by remotely logging into the main machine while trying to do a remote show test and it ran for a few minutes but then just went back to its normal rotation.

 

Sorry for not letting you know.

 

Rgds

 

Jamie

[isaacl]

GKIye - I was referring to people using older versions of SAM 4.x.

If someone's using a version of SAM 3.x because they didn't or coulsn't upgrade, that's a whole different thing.

Anyone using a legal copy of SAM 4.x has a free upgrade to the latest 4.x version (4.9.8 as of now, and that's probably how it will stay).

I came into broadcasting once SAM was already by version 4 (4.6.0, if I remember correctly), so I never used version 3, but if it works for what your friend needs, great, and there's no reason for him to upgrade.

I know that there were a lot of changes to SAM through the later 4.x versions, and although some of the earlier versions worked well, there were a lot more features and fixes implemented in later versions, and the whole interface was redesigned somewhere around version 4.9.0, and the SAM PHP templates were fully rewritten around version 4.7.4.

They also added better support for Windows 7 and multiple processors in later versions of SAM 4.x.

Even if someone wants to use an older version of SAM, I haven't heard of anyone purposely using a version before version 4.6.0, unless they are using a pirated version.

There may be exceptions, but version 4.2.2 seems to be the most widely pirated version, and whenever someone says they're using 4.2.2, that's the first thought that comes to mind.

I initially was using the Silent Output option when we were using a PC in my house to stream, and I didn't want to always hear what was playing. That seems to be the best way to run SAM, at least from my experience, and I don't know why more people wouldn't use it, unless they never really went through the SAM options (I think I found that option the first time I opened SAM, when I was going through the various options).

The problem with SAM, in some ways, though it can also be an advantage, is that it's very easy to use out of the box, but there are also a lot of options that need to be set up correctly for it to run well. Unless you spend time going through all the available options, and read up on what they do (or ask), you won't be able to take advantage of the full capabilities of SAM.

 

With RadioDJ - I'd like to try it, even though I'm very happy with SAM, and have no reasons to switch, but I tried becoming a member on their forums, and never got an email with my login password, and the reset option doesn't work either.

Tried emailing them, and I didn't get any response - guess I'll try contacting them some other way...

[GKIye]

Thanks Isaac for the feedback

 

If You have problems to login ... Send Gary (aka GaryBaldy ... http://forums.broadcastingworld.net/member.php?12197-garybaldy72uk) a PM

Gary is a BW member but also a Mod at RadioDJ

I guess He can fix it for You

With RadioDJ - I'd like to try it, even though I'm very happy with SAM, and have no reasons to switch, but I tried becoming a member on their forums, and never got an email with my login password, and the reset option doesn't work either.

Tried emailing them, and I didn't get any response - guess I'll try contacting them some other way...