Ask the Omnia Guy: How Can I Stream Identical to FM? | Telos Alliance

By The Telos Alliance Team on Dec 18, 2020 1:28:18 PM

Ask the Omnia Guy: How Can I Stream Identical to FM?

Dear Omnia Guy,

Our Program Director wants the same sound on the stream as our over-the-air signal. Can you help explain the best way to make that happen?

Dear Frustrated Engineer,

That’s a common question. (And I'll explain why that’s not 100% a good idea later.) First, let's focus on how you can get there with Omnia processors:

If you have an Omnia.11 HDFM unit (and aren’t watermarking for Nielsen in a large market): Do whatever you can to get the HD output of your Omnia.11’s HD section over to your streaming encoder. The Sensus codec that handles the HD side on the Omnia.11 sounds fantastic on a 64kbps AAC stream (which seems pretty standard these days).

o11
Also, Omnia.9 has an HD/streaming core option. With it, you can take the same preset for your primary analog signal and copy it over to the HD/streaming core. While it won’t have the same effect of pre-emphasis/de-emphasis on the FM…it should come out identical (as far as the sound and dynamics go).
 

Screenshot_127
Omnia.7 has a streaming option you can add to the unit to do the same exact thing: craft the main sound, save it, and paste it into the streaming core.

FM audio processors introduce pre-emphasis, while radios “de-emphasize.” That’s part of the “sound” of FM radio. It introduces undesirable artifacts when streaming at nearly any bitrate. Furthermore, the clipping applied by any audio processing chain for FM will seriously degrade or completely break the encoding process.

My advice to streamers is to get the best sound you can and observe a -12 or -14 loudness average. After all, your chief competitors in this space will be the Pandoras, Spotifys, and YouTubes of the world.

It’s easy to do with the Z/IPSTREAM X/2 or 9X/2 software. If you’d like a free, no-hassle demo to try it for yourself, reach out to me.


Further reading: 

Ask the Omnia Guy: How Do I Know if It's an MP3?

Omnia VOLT: Hearing Is Believing

Trending: Optimize Your Streams for Smart Speakers with Telos Z/IPStream R/2

Telos Alliance has led the audio industry’s innovation in Broadcast Audio, Digital Mixing & Mastering, Audio Processors & Compression, Broadcast Mixing Consoles, Audio Interfaces, AoIP & VoIP for over three decades. The Telos Alliance family of products include Telos® Systems, Omnia® Audio, Axia® Audio, Linear Acoustic®, 25-Seven® Systems, Minnetonka™ Audio and Jünger Audio. Covering all ranges of Audio Applications for Radio & Television from Telos Infinity IP Intercom Systems, Jünger Audio AIXpressor Audio Processor, Omnia 11 Radio Processors, Axia Networked Quasar Broadcast Mixing Consoles and Linear Acoustic AMS Audio Quality Loudness Monitoring and 25-Seven TVC-15 Watermark Analyzer & Monitor. Telos Alliance offers audio solutions for any and every Radio, Television, Live Events, Podcast & Live Streaming Studio With Telos Alliance “Broadcast Without Limits.”

Topics: broadcast audio processor

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