Audio Engine
9 posts on this topic
The two-deck audio engine that removes the gap between songs
Most media players open and close an audio device for every track. That click between songs is the sound of amateur radio. Here is how a two-deck engine avoids it.
Read the postWhy a jingle should never fade in
Crossfading everything the same way is the most common automation mistake. Music, jingles and voice tracks each need different transition rules to sound like real radio.
Read the postEBU R128 loudness normalization, and why it is cached
Music from twenty different sources arrives at twenty different levels. Loudness normalization fixes that properly — measured to broadcast standard, not guessed from peak level.
Read the postMix on the marker, not the fade-out
Every song has a point where it stops being interesting. Marking that point — rather than letting the file run to its end — is what makes transitions sound deliberate.
Read the postReading the VU meter: peak-hold, CLIP, and why the scale is not linear
A meter that spends its life pinned in the top fifth tells you nothing. A broadcast scale gives two thirds of its width to the range you actually work in.
Read the postAudio formats, and what happens to a 5.1 WAV
Seven audio formats, one source of truth for the list, and automatic downmixing so a multichannel file does not play out of two speakers wrongly.
Read the postWASAPI output, and what happens when the device disappears
Audio devices vanish. USB interfaces get knocked, drivers restart. What matters is whether the application notices and tells you.
Read the postHow long should your crossfade be?
A single number applied everywhere is always wrong somewhere. Here is how the setting actually behaves, including on very short items.
Read the postChoosing a streaming bitrate and codec
Bitrate is a bandwidth bill and a quality decision at the same time. Here is how the defaults are chosen and when to move away from them.
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