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Looking for a good MP2 encoder for use with Edcast...

R

richard.vanderveen

Subject says it all.
I'd like to use Breakaway/Edcast to supply a cable headend with our signal, and would like to do so using a 384kbps MPEG2 stream.
AAC is not possible and I'd rather use MPEG2 instead of MP3
 
oldiesstation said:
Considered twolame??
Click to expand...
Isn't that just an encoder for files? I guess I need a .dll for Edcast...

I have a MP2enc.dll available from Db Poweramp. Haven't got a clue if just adding it to the Edcast directory will work...
 
384kbps MP2 is pretty damn transparent. Add that it's not hacking up the audio into 512 filters, only 32, and it's much more gentle at that rate. 320kbps doesn't sound bad either, have one station with all of their audio at that rate.

Going below 256kbps on MP2 it starts to get crapped up pretty quick. But at the higher bitrates, it can take going through another codec.
 
Of course, if at all possible, never use bit reduction at all. One of the reasons my streams sound so nice at 32K AAC is that ALL the material we play on the air is 44.1 Linear.

On the IP Codec front, if you have a Comrex, I am quite a fan of FLAC 15K. It hovers between 800 and 900 Kb constant and feeds a wonderful, non destructive, but yet bit reduced audio stream.
 
I agree with all of the above, but I am tied to the possibilities of the IP box on the far end (cable headend). And that means PCM, MP3 or MP2...
Hence the 384 MP2 wish ;D The only other choice is 320 MP3, but the signal will be distributed digital as well, so I fear cascading 'trouble'.

Source material is all PCM 44.1
 
Please further my education a bit more.

Is your use of the term PCM synonymous with the term WAV?

My latest version of Adobe Audition gives me "Save As" choices that include PCM(.wav) along with other formats. I have an earlier version of Audition (2.0) that gives me SEVEN variations of files that are wav/pcm or variations of one or the other.
 
My bad GRC.

PCM (.wav) in Adobe is uncompressed audio. PCM stands for Pulse Code Modulation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation

Many of us on here say PCM, as technically a .wav file can be an MP2 or MP3 file (If you have for instance, the Q-Design MPEG Codec). If you are familiar with video compression, think of .wav as .mkv (a container). For instance, in video, .mkv can contain h.264 video, but it is a file container that allows additional metadata to be injected.

So, if you see us say PCM, you can guarantee we are speaking of totally uncompressed audio, as compressed PCM was labeled ADPCM... And, truth be told, we should really say LPCM, but that term has pretty much been replaced by simple use of PCM.

Here is a read on .wav. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wav

I should add that you will see some other PCM versions in lower bit resolutions. When we say PCM, assume 44.1, 16 bit, uncompressed (LPCM).

You would be amazed at the audio related information on wikipedia. I would suggest searching anything you don't fully understand. I bet you find some answers... Happy reading :)
 
Thank you, chriscollins for the helpful explanations.

All this technical talk about getting the very best quality out of a stream has a drawback. I am a "sucker" for trying out links I find in discussion when people talk about their radio station, their podcast or other form of audio on the Internet. The topics can be journalism or engineering voodoo or community oriented programming. If I find myself face-to-face with a listinting on Radio-Locator and there is a link listed for audio.... I'm on it!

Somewhere between 1/3rd and 1/2 the streams I come across will not let me listen. I click on the HELP page of the station's website for hints on how to properly access the audio they are sending. It seems to never dawn on the writers of those pages that we, "the un-washed public" might not have the essential exotic driver, .dll or other resource on our computer. In the quest for better and better sound, we as an industry are killing the goose that could lay the golden eggs in the future.

And the "on-line only" folks may have worse statistics that the 1/3rd to 1/2 that I use. At some point we have to decide if we want pats on-the-back from a half-dozen insiders who are our friends and recognize what a break-through in quality we have made, or if we would like to throttle back just enough so the "un-washed public" might turn our listening audiences into something large enough to monetize.

// RANT MODE SET TO: OFF //

So what software (or hardware?) will create a good MP2 flow?
 
chriscollins said:
I strongly suggest you get a Barix for each end.
Click to expand...
Why? I stream from a Breakaway/Edcast combo to a very nice IP receiver which is 1U 19", has the appropriate AES-EBU and analog balanced audio connectors on the back, takes 220V directly, has a nice display on the front on which I can see important config details and audio levels, and it can be configured from the front. On top of that I can access it remote.
What can Barix add to that?
 
Well, I recommended that based on what his technical knowledge of these things are.

Barix is an extremely simple setup to do his point to point. Just trying to keep it simple for him.
 
chriscollins said:
Well, I recommended that based on what his technical knowledge of these things are.
Barix is an extremely simple setup to do his point to point. Just trying to keep it simple for him.
Click to expand...
Ah... your recommendation is aimed at Goat Rodeo Cowboy and not at me ;D
It's a bit confusing since it looks like this thread is getting hijacked...
 
If it's mission critical, I would go for either a Comrex Bric, Tieline BridgeIT or Telos. They will cost more, but can manage packet loss, have forward error correction and are more robust than the Barix.

When packets get lost, the Barix "drops them on the floor".
 
Barix also has poorer audio quality (from my observation) when used with MP3 encoding, even at the highest quality setting... I'd second WNTIRadio and my choice would also be something designed for broadcast, both for reliability and audio quality.


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
My apologies if my questions confused the flow of the thread.

This is one of the topics that brings out strong opinions. Discussing how to transport audio seems sometimes to be about as volatile as discussing religion or politics in a public setting.

Going back to the original post: he is transporting content to the head-end of a cable system. I assume what the cable system uses to distribute content from the head-end to the consumer does not change from day to day. Though I also have a troublesome amount of "the perfectionist gene" in my make-up, I am more than willing to grant the original poster the room to decide that potential listeners receiving access via the cable system will contain few if any audiophiles who will discern the difference between the very finest technology choice as compared to doing it second best or third best.

As an observer of this activity rather than a participant, let me once again stress a point I was trying to make earlier in this thread: There may be something more important that having THE BEST technolgy when it comes to spreading audio around in ways other than traditional broadcasting. There absolutely MUST be a good help screen on a website or a human being at the end of an 800-number phone line to help potential listeners who cannot get a circuit to work for them... mainly because they are NOT broadcast quality technicians/engineers. It matters not whether you have the best technology at work, the second best, or the 7th best technology.... if the intended receiver cannot achieve a working connection.


Just for grins I play the role of Bubba combined with a rodeo clown in the persona of GRC... but keep in mind: I got my First Phone Certificate in the mail back in 1960 and have been programming and maintaining my own computers for the last 25 years. I stand in awe of most folks in this forum when it comes to discussing how to transport audio from site to site, but when I go to a streaming site or a radio station audio feed and I can't make it work... you got a problem, and you may be the one who should be wearing the BUBBA name tag. ;D
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
My apologies if my questions confused the flow of the thread. Let me once again stress a point I was trying to make earlier in this thread
Click to expand...

Dear sir, what you do is called 'hijacking'. I started this thread because I am looking for a certain piece of software. You use this thread to take it in another direction and frankly, that is considered to be rude and a 'no-no' on most forums...
 
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