Stereo Tool
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Building an FM radio
https://forums.stereotool.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8337		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  operationwhat [ Fri Aug 19, 2016 2:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Building an FM radio
Hi guys,

we are just re fitting an FM radio that was using medieval processing and computer technology for it's program.
We changed allot and now we are testing a Brand machine by DELL with Xeon X5550 / 8GB RAM DDR3 / 120 SSD
The CPU temp is not over 50c with all in and low latency and everything on.That machine was intended to be used in the studio for
RadioDJ + plugins, AoIP i/o to the server machine 22km away. We can't find another machine like that,so we need to build another great
one, capable of running StereoTool processor and to receive AoIP stream from our studio through internet, LAN1 and LAN2 through a MikroTIK WIFI link.

I was thinking about i5 4440 or 4460, or even i7 4790 processor...???? Any suggestions?
Also, could you give us some advice on selecting or pairing those Intel processors with the best fitting motherboards,
coolers, ram...


Few other Q regarding audio and quality:
-------------------------------------------------
1. Is the Winamp plugin less stressful for the CPU than the 64bitVST or Standalone version?
2. Can I use the Manian Alpha soundcard for direct to transmitter use with an MPX output without an outboard encoder and how much more the CPU consumption would jump?
3. How do I get out of the card to the transmitter? Is there a converter plug for this? Where can I find it?
4. Is the built in encoder better than the outboard that we already use?
5. Is Marian better than any other sound card from RME or whatever company and why?
6. What is the best soundcard for the task.... limit 1000eur
===========================================================

All the best!
Nik
Radio FOX
Author:  hvz [ Fri Aug 19, 2016 11:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
Hi,

First your list of questions:

1. No difference. (At least there shouldn't be).
2. Yes. Are you not using the composite clipper now? That will boost it quite a bit, but the quality will be MUCH better.
3. Depends on what sound card you buy, and which connector(s) your transmitter has. It's generally not difficult to connect it, there are convertor plugs from/to everything, price is usually around $1-5.
4. YES (if you use the composite clipper). Unless you are using an Omnia.9sg (which has the same clipper/stereo/rds coder as Stereo Tool), you can expect both several dB's of extra loudness and a much clearer sound.
5. Marian is DC coupled, so if you send out a DC offset it will stay there - that means no need to calibrate it. Except for that, many other cards are good too.
6. I would go for a Marian card, either the Marian Trace Alpha (which is PCI - that might be an issue!) or the Marian Seraph AD2.

About the CPU load: The composite clipper will make it higher, but on the CPU's that you're mentioning that won't be a problem at all. For comparison, on my laptop (i7 4710) I can run 7 Stereo Tools with full FM processing simultaneously. (No low latency in that case though ;) )
Author:  operationwhat [ Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
Thank you HVZ!!!

We decided that we do need StereoTool as it clearly sounds amazing, but you already know that :D
Well, I'm a bit confused about what card we should use. You stated that PCI Marian Alpha could
be an issue but I've read only good thing about it on the forum? What could be the issue with that card, latency or...??? Also what would you suggest, what would require least for a connection to our Suono Telecom ESVA 500w, that has an analog BNC MPX input, with impedance of 2KOhm.

All the Best,
Nik
Author:  Bojcha [ Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
Quote:
Thank you HVZ!!!

We decided that we do need StereoTool as it clearly sounds amazing, but you already know that :D
Well, I'm a bit confused about what card we should use. You stated that PCI Marian Alpha could
be an issue but I've read only good thing about it on the forum? What could be the issue with that card, latency or...??? Also what would you suggest, what would require least for a connection to our Suono Telecom ESVA 500w, that has an analog BNC MPX input, with impedance of 2KOhm.

All the Best,
Nik
He said issue with Marian Trace might be because it's PCI, and most new motherboards does not have PCI Slot!
Next good card of choice would be ESI Juli@, both PCIe 1x and PCI versions available.
Author:  operationwhat [ Wed Sep 14, 2016 2:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
Thanx for the info.
Author:  Modulator [ Thu Sep 15, 2016 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
Quote:
Quote:
Thank you HVZ!!!

We decided that we do need StereoTool as it clearly sounds amazing, but you already know that :D
Well, I'm a bit confused about what card we should use. You stated that PCI Marian Alpha could
be an issue but I've read only good thing about it on the forum? What could be the issue with that card, latency or...??? Also what would you suggest, what would require least for a connection to our Suono Telecom ESVA 500w, that has an analog BNC MPX input, with impedance of 2KOhm.

All the Best,
Nik
He said issue with Marian Trace might be because it's PCI, and most new motherboards does not have PCI Slot!
Next good card of choice would be ESI Juli@, both PCIe 1x and PCI versions available.
With that kind of budget for the soundcard, I would definitely go with Marian Seraph. Or even Lynx E22 (not sure if DC coupled though, so...). ESI is good but you need to calibrate it. There's no need for tilt calibration with Marian, that's for sure.
Author:  operationwhat [ Thu Sep 22, 2016 8:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
Thank you Guys for the Help!

We've purchased the full FM pack SteroTool and will be testing the results next week.
Waiting for the card to arrive and test drive the system without the outboard encoder as it's
clearly outlived itself.
Got to mention that the Radio Station already sounds awesome with the simple 5.1 TerraTec soundcard
that is nothing near of a quality to Marian, but that was in the PC so we tried and got blown away :D
Minor issues there, but all will change with the new card.

Once again,
Thanx HVZ for being the Robin Hood of Broadcast Processing :D
and the rest of you Guys for being here and helping out newbies!!!

Chears,
Nik
Author:  Lewis [ Sun Oct 29, 2017 9:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Building an FM radio
hello all,

we decided to build a dedicated stereotool box for full production in our radio station, in a very nice 4U box with an 8" screen in front of it..
reading many discussions, we decided to go for the Marian Seraph AD2 card..
as we are in late Oct 2017, what cpu do you suggest ?
OS ? Win 7 64bit ?
I suppose an SSD is a must in this construction..
how much memory ? 8g ?

regards,

George
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