It is so important to get your programming to where your audience is. As of the end of 2017 only 88% of homes have radios. This number is expected to decline with the invention of the smart speaker. Millennials don’t even own radios. They have their phone, laptop, tablet, smart speaker, and Bluetooth/Sirius/Pandora/iHeartRadio enabled car stereos. As the new generation grows up, it is important to deliver content to where they are, and this means, you must have your radio broadcasting online. Once your station is online, you can expand to websites, mobile apps, smart speakers, TuneIn, and many other services.

Look at the facts, Jacobs Media’s 2017 Tech Survey reported that 11% of radio listeners have smart speakers, “manual (technologies) are fading and becoming secondary to the handsfree, voice-activated environment. Radio needs to move in that direction to fit in” (Jacobs, 2017). There is a projected growth in this area, in 2016 only 7% of 118.48 million households had smart speakers, Voicebot.ai and Gartner Research project 94.2 million households of 125.65 million will own smart speakers by 2020. This is a 7% to 75% jump in just a few years. Gartner Research is predicting that 30% of all our technology will be voice controlled in 2018. According to the US Edison Research “Share of Ear” study (Podcast Familiarity) 1 in 5 minutes of audio listened to in the US is on smartphones. Join the Movement.

It doesn’t take much to get your signal from your automation machine to the internet. For demonstration purposes, we will be using Simian and an AudioScience audio card.

Equipment Needed

The following are needed to get your stream online:

• Barix Instreamer
• RCA Female to XLR Male adapters OR adapter cable
• Professional soundcard with 1-2 outputs
• Simian software
• Internet Connection
• Streaming Account

The Process

• First and foremost, you will need a streaming audio server. I recommend using Ken at Miriam Technologies, [email protected], he has been providing streaming services for Catholic Radio stations for as long as I can remember. If you have someone with enough knowledge, Shoutcast provides the software necessary to create your own streaming server, https://www.shoutcast.com/BroadcastNow. For demonstration purposes, I will show examples that are based off MiriamTech’s servers.
• You sound card needs at least one available output, two is preferable.
  1. With one output:
     1. You will need a Y Cable, changing your single Output 1 (L or R) into two outputs, one to your transmitter and one to an XLR to RCA cable adapter for streaming
     2. Simian’s fader will have one configuration, show below
  2. With 2 outputs:
     1. You will need an XLR to RCA cable adapter
     2. Simian’s fader will have two configurations, show below
  3. When you order the Barix box it is not pre-configured. When you receive the unit, connect the power cord to H (see figure 1) and an Ethernet cable from the Barix box I (see figure 1) to your modem. The RCA cables will connect to E (see figure 1) on the back of the Barix box.

 

• To setup the Barix:
  • Enter the IP address of the unit in a browser window
  • Barix recommends updating the firmware before anything else happens, the video below goes through that process

View a tutorial on setting up the Barix Instreamer

• Once the firmware is updated, locate your ShoutCast (or other streamer server) account settings, for example:
  Your Live URL is: http://[RADIONAME].stream.miriamtech.net:8000/[MOUNTPOINT].mp3
  Hostname:[RADIONAME].stream.miriamtech.net
  Source Port: 9570
  Source Password: PASSWORD
• Under Advanced Settings

• Simian Configuration:
  • One output:
    • Open your primary fader in Simian

• “Mixers”: ASIXXXX Mixer (this will be different based your model soundcard)
• “Lines”: Line Out 1 / Line in 1
• “Faders”: Line Out 1 / Line In 1 / Volume
• “Selected”: + sign on the first gray bar
• “Ok”

• Repeat instructions if you have a second Mixer:

 

• Connect your Y cable to your output 1 and then one side to your XLR to RCA adapter and then to your Barix box
  • For two available outputs:
  • Open your primary fader in Simian

• “Mixers”: ASIXXXX Mixer (this will be different based your model soundcard)
• “Lines”: Line Out 1 / Line in 1
• “Faders”: Line Out 1 / Line In 1 / Volume
• “Selected”: + sign on the first gray bar
• Go back to the top
  • “Mixers”: ASIXXXX Mixer (this will be different based your model soundcard)
  • “Lines”: Line Out 2 / Line in 1
  • “Faders”: Line Out 2 / Line In 1 / Volume
  • “Selected”: + sign on the second gray bar
• “Ok”

• Repeat instructions if you have a second fader
• Connect your XLR to RCA adapter to Line Out 2 and then to your Barix box
• Using the live URL your streaming service gives you, open is in a browser window and test

A couple stations (out of many) that use this setup are

• https://jp2radio.com/
• http://grnonline.com