hissing/white noise

J

jonasmount

New Member
Need some help here.

I have an internet radio station where we broadcast music and "live" talk shows.

I am going to be putting quite a bit of info here as I've been told that helps those trying to help....


We use a USB mixer, SAM Broadaster and Shoutcast to broadcast to the world.

When we load mp3's of music and play them, we do not experience any problems.

When we go "live" for a talk show we get a hissing sound underneath those who do their shows. It's very obvious and difficult to listen to for long periods.

While I've been told that the gain may be up too high, I have done the following...

-Unplugged every cable that runs from the mixer to the computer.

-I've shut the mixer down all together.

-I have literally shut everything down and simply opened the pipeline (within the software) so to speak and I still get this noise.

I thought it may have been SAM...so in an effort to eliminate all options, I tried different software...same result.

So in short I figured out (I think) that it's not the software or even the computer as we also tested it on a Mac from a completely different location, thus also eliminating the room we broadcast from as being a potential problem.

But could it be something IN the software that needs adjusting?

I can't imagine that there is not an answer here. I don't recall hearing other internet shows (live that is) having that sound under them. Or is this just a "that's the way it is" kind of situation?

I am at a loss here and really need some help.

Thx,

Jonas
 
Hi Jonas,

From your explanation, it initially sounds like this is a result of your mics being at a low level on the mixer and you are then compensating the low volume with louder levels in the broadcast software which would cause the amplification of the hissing sound.

Another thing to check is that SAM does not have some kind of compression setting for its inputs (We haven't used it in a long while and cannot remember). A compressor basically controls dynamic range and it would therefore reduce any large peaks from the microphone, but at the same time it will also increase quieter parts which would bring out the hissing noise even more.

What USB mixer and mics are you using by the way? Have you tried using other mics and cables? It could be an issue with the your soundcard or the cables themselves. Are the cables balanced / unbalanced?.. Does the mic require phantom power?

Have you tried asking over at the SAM support forums as well: Support Forum - spacial.com ?
 
Thank you for your response.

As far as the mics go, (and please don't think I'm discounting what you are saying at all) but if the mixer is completely taken out of the equation then 'm not sure how that would work. If only because at this very moment I have no mixer plugged in, and of course no mics either, but I have a stream up and I can hear the noise I'm talking about. Why would that be? In fact, check it out for yourself and you'll hear what I'm talking about
jonasmountradio.com....click the Listen Live link at the top of the page. Maybe if you hear it? I'll leave it streaming with no programming and no mixer or mics on at all...no power

Thx
Support said:
Hi Jonas,

From your explanation, it initially sounds like this is a result of your mics being at a low level on the mixer and you are then compensating the low volume with louder levels in the broadcast software which would cause the amplification of the hissing sound.

Another thing to check is that SAM does not have some kind of compression setting for its inputs (We haven't used it in a long while and cannot remember). A compressor basically controls dynamic range and it would therefore reduce any large peaks from the microphone, but at the same time it will also increase quieter parts which would bring out the hissing noise even more.

What USB mixer and mics are you using by the way? Have you tried using other mics and cables? It could be an issue with the your soundcard or the cables themselves. Are the cables balanced / unbalanced?.. Does the mic require phantom power?

Have you tried asking over at the SAM support forums as well: Support Forum - spacial.com ?
Click to expand...
 
Thx for your response. My only issue is that I experience this problem when the mixer and mics are completely disabled. As of this moment I have a stream up and am listening to it on my phone. There is no programming but the white noise is very obvious.

If you could, log on to jonasmountradio.com and click the Listen Live link at the top and you'll hear what I mean. No power to the mixer or mics. It's up now...I'll leave it up

I have even experimented with this on a laptop in another location entirely. Where there isn't a mixer or mic at all.

thx
 
Without looking over your set up in person we are not sure what that could be then if you are removing all such equipment out of the equation? Especially if its happening with other software as well and not just SAM.

We are currently tuned into the stream at http://station.voscast.com/52e2791fd5664 and it sounds absolutely fine to us at this particular moment (18:34pm). There is no obvious hissing at all although you seem to have a playlist up and running now.

Have you spoken to your own stream provider regarding this issue? What did they suggest?
 
It appears you are logged in to our other stream. That's the Wave link.
the stream in question is the Listen Live link at the top of the page in black
sorry for the confusion
 
Ah we see, the wave link reads "listen live now", hence the confusion.

Yes we can hear it now. Very odd? And that is a live stream of SAM directly connected to the server?

What other encoder software did you try that had the same problem?
 
Try turning the mic/audio level down on your computer and turn the mixer up by the master. let the mixer do the work not the computer your encoding on. This happens to a lot of our home djs that have the level on computer at 100 and then on the master on the mixer they have it down to nothing. dont let the computer do the work let the mixer do it!

from scruff
soundz radio uk
 
jonasmount said:
Yes that is a live stream from SAM to the shout cast server.

We also tried stationplaylist.com's software too
Click to expand...

We can only really suggest checking that all of your mic / line input levels are not maxed out in both pieces of software, also check the same in your computers control panels audio settings. Try just turning them all off for now for the sake of testing purposes.

When using the mixer and mics, just ensure that you are taking into account what we said above in our first reply to you.

Other than that, we can only recommend contacting your own stream provider for some assistance. But to be honest, we do not think that this is any kind of server issue whatsoever. More the fact that you just have your gains too high somewhere in your audio signal path!
 
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