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Docs Broadcasting

Start broadcasting

This page covers getting the first broadcast on air. It assumes Studio is installed and at least one Receiver is running.

The sequence#

  1. Open Studio. Wait until the status in the top corner reads Broadcasting.
  2. Look at the Receivers list. Running receivers on the network appear by themselves within a few seconds.
  3. Choose or build a playlist.
  4. Start the broadcast.

Sound comes out of every point at the same instant within a few seconds. Nothing has to be done on the receiver side.

The playlist#

The list plays in order and moves to the next track when one ends. How that move is made is a separate subject, see Transitions.

Tracks can be added, removed and reordered while the broadcast runs. The track currently playing is not affected.

When the list ends it returns to the top. A continuous broadcast is the point: Studio plays a track, overlaps the next one onto the same timeline as it ends, and the stream never stops.

Track format#

Studio encodes files once at import and stores them as .nfa. Nothing is re-encoded at broadcast time; the stored frames go straight into network packets.

This has two consequences. Every broadcast of the same file is bit-identical, and playback costs no encoder CPU.

Zones#

Every receiver can take the whole broadcast, or receivers can be split into zones and play different lists or streams. One list on the ground floor, another stream in the cafe, silence in the stock room. Zone selection lives on the Studio side; there is no setting at the receiver.

There are sixteen zones and they all share one clock, so they stay on the same timeline even while playing different music. See Zones for detail.

Silence#

When there is no music on air the clock keeps flowing. This is deliberate.

When a clock goes quiet, receivers lose their lock and take time to regain it. A continuously running clock is what lets a track starting hours later still start at the same instant at every point.

Stopping the broadcast#

Stopping the broadcast does not drop the receivers. They stay connected, keep following the clock, and sound returns everywhere at once when the broadcast resumes.