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Anyone using SAM4 ?

E

eve

Inactive
Inactive User
Hi folks,

Has anyone upgraded to SAM4 ? I swear I read somewhere that the new version has voicetracking capability. Has anyone tried that feature out and what do you think of it ? I may be needing it in the future.

Also, in general, do you feel it is worth it to upgrade ?

Cheers,
Eve
 
I use SAM4 on my station 2NG, it functions well, does what I need it to for the most part. However, what I do want is good Voice-tracking. The VT function that was added in V4 is basic by even the most loosest standards. Simply it will record from the sound card and allow ultra-basic editing (delete before/after position). Truth is I don't find it useful at all because I can't preview through it (I use the Rear channels on a 5.1 card to preview and the VT will play on the main audio!)

The other upgrade benefits are that it now includes a licensed AAC+ encoder and the Bid4Spots/StreamAdz integration, although for some of us, that had become somewhat of a damp squib, primarily due to the very low CPM rates it attracted and also, for those of us licensed by Loudcity, the new agreement with SESAC currently prevents us from running instream ads.

Finally what is useful, for me at least, you can now make use of on-board DSP such as compressor/limiting if you have an Orban card or E-MU 1212M which I will be adding, hopefully this weekend!

I wouldn't upgrade for Voice-tracking, it's extremely early days for that, if you need AAC+ or Bid4Spots/StreamAdz integration then it may be worth it.

It is however stable in my view. :)
 
SAM is Streaming Audio Manager, an automation package from SpacialAudio, the neat (I think features) are that it reads the audio file and determines cue points (and this works 98% of the time in my case, and can be overridden), has some neat scripting features called PAL, clock rotation features, in-built encoders for MP3, WMA, Ogg and AAC+ and automated requests.

The downsides are the dynamic rotations can be a bit repetitive, voice-tracking is too basic and a few small gotchas'. I did run using MusicGenL Lite as the scheduler for a long while, but I currently allow requests so relying on it to create the music, so far so, ok ish!
 
I am interested in purchasing Sam4, but wanting to make/create a playlist that will run a 24 hour a day period. What scheduling software do you use if your using Sam4?
 
I looked at both and it seems to me for a playout Sam4 has more bells than stationplaylist, am I wrong?
 
Will SAM3 autodetect the cue points ? And if so, how do I set that up ? I see where you can set them manually, but can't figure out how to autodetect.

-Eve
 
it seems to me for a playout Sam4 has more bells than stationplaylist
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on your application. StationPlaylist has a much more advanced voicetrack facility and the integration between the two programs, Creator and Studio, makes it a winning double. However, my comparative evaluation was done with both StationPlaylist and Sam at v3 so there may have been other advances that I have not taken into consideration that may make one or other more attractive to your particular needs.

All I can say is that I use StationPlaylist and have not regretted choosing that over the others I evaluated at the time.
 
SAM will detect the cue points "on-the-fly" when it loads the song to play, not on import. What it tends to do when it's playing is when it gets 10 secs to the end, it looks for the cue point and uses that. Sometimes on a slow fade, if the audio level you wish for cue has passed before 10secs then it gets missed, that is one small buglette so to speak.

The only issue I had with Station PLaylist is that it wasn't category based, but directory based. For me, I prefer to keep my assets where I want them and the Asset management deals with it. If I wish to change or rest a song, I don't want to start moving files about etc. That may have changed and I'll stand corrected!

However, for the money there aint much out there right now on scheduling.
 
I used Sam for a long time, but switched to StationPlaylist studio and playlist creator.

It has true voice tracking and works very well.

My .02
 
Is voice tracking the only feature that is better with stationplaylist rather than Sam4.
 
The only issue I had with Station PLaylist is that it wasn't category based, but directory based ...
That may have changed and I'll stand corrected!
Click to expand...

Consider yourself corrected!! That changed last year in v4.

Is voice tracking the only feature that is better with stationplaylist rather than Sam4.
Click to expand...

It's the high level of integration between the scheduler, Creator, and the playout, Studio, that is the biggest feature in favour of the StationPlaylist package for automated broadcasting. I don't really use Studio for live-assist, so I couldn't comment if that is your primary application.
 
easyfm said:
Consider yourself corrected!! That changed last year in v4.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, I downloaded the demo, although you can add songs individually, I so far, can see it being a real pain to manage with the path name (in my case) being in full view failing to show the song name and I couldn't find dayparting and I would miss rules from MusicGen.

Now, if I can spew out logs from MusicGen and use StationPlaylist Studio for good voice-tracking. Hum, something to keep me amused for a bit!

Thanks.
 
I so far, can see it being a real pain to manage with the path name (in my case) being in full view failing to show the song name
Click to expand...

You must have the demo set up to read filenames rather than file tags. Check out the help to understand it better.

I couldn't find dayparting
Click to expand...

Again you need to set it up properly ie setting categories and rotations in exactly the same way you do with MusicGen but using the file tag info.

I would miss rules from MusicGen
Click to expand...

Yes, you can only set up limited rules using the file tags compared to a database system, but I'm told that is due for a major overhaul in the next version later this year.

Now, if I can spew out logs from MusicGen and use StationPlaylist Studio for good voice-tracking
Click to expand...

I tried that, but you lose too much of the integration functionality between StationPlaylist Creator and Studio. It could be done using a piece of software to translate the MusicGen info into something that StationPlaylist understands. Someone has already done that for Jazler for example. However, when I looked at what I could achieve with the file tags by using Mp3Tag and Creator together, I decided not to pursue something similar.

I actually use both Creator and MusicGen (for different stations) and have managed to replicate most of my requirements in Creator.
 
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