Recording Multiple Inputs Over the 'Net?

TFGeditor asks: "Thanks to the advice of fellow readers from a previous Ask Slashdot, I now have a PC system optimally configured to produce professional on-air radio programs. Now I have a new problem: my radio co-host and I are in different cities located a few hundred miles apart. In order to give the show a real-time (i.e. 'live') sound, we need to somehow connect us so that we can produce a show complete with co-host banter, real-time interaction, and so on. I want it to sound as if we were both in the same studio. How can we do this? Will Skype or other VOIP applications do this without the result sounding 'tinny' (like a phone connection)? Are there other apps that will do a better job?"

VOIP

[rlp]

I listen to a lot of podcasts on my daily commute. Most use some form of VOIP. Usually sounds fine (as long as they're not doing CPU or Net intensive tasks in addition to VOIP). Some of the podcasts do interviews with non-techy folks in which case they digitize an analog phone line or use VOIP through a gateway (Skype). For off-site interviews, podcasters use various types of digital voice recorders.

Two podcasters that have info about their podcasting technology on their sites are: Leo Laporte (http://www.twit.tv) and Glenn Reynolds (http:/www.instapundit.com).

Re:ISDN

[denali99755]

I don't know what your system looks like, but if you have Pro Tools or any software that will run as a VST host, you can use Source-Connect [source-elements.com] to stream broadcast-quality audio from one of your systems to the other. Source Elements, the company that makes the software, claims that you need at least 300kbps down for it to work, although I would recommend going higher than that, personally.

The catches are that a. it costs $400 for the basic version (only allowing you a connection to one other user at a time), and you'll need an iLok [ilok.com], and b. there can be up to a second of latency. Due to the latter problem, I wouldn't recommend using it in a live broadcast setting, but you should be able to edit out the latency and keep it sounding natural if you're putting a podcast together for later distribution.

Hope this has been at least somewhat helpful--this is a fairly exciting new technology that's just making its way into commercial voiceover production, and once they iron out the latency issue (it is kind of annoying, especially for actors trying to do dialog) I could see it saving everyone a lot of money by doing away with ISDN entirely. And good riddance.

Professional?

[rueger]

"Thanks to the advice of fellow readers from a previous Ask Slashdot, I now have a PC system optimally configured to produce professional on-air radio programs" Hmmm... I remain skeptical, esp. when you're seeking advice from Slashdot. To your question, no, you're not going to use Skype or VOIP for a "professional" broadcast, for any of a dozen reasons. As noted, you need a Telos Zephyr or similar product. There are broadcast quality units designed to transfer audio back and forth over an IP connection, but Skype isn't it. Don't waste time here, check out a few radio trade magazines. [beradio.com] And, uh, "professional" is much less about gear than about talent and proven broadcast skills. [airmedia.org]

Ventrilo VoIP

[WidescreenFreak]

I use Ventrilo every weekend with my nephew about 20 miles away and friend about 500 miles away during our network gaming nights. The sound is really good, it's completely "in conference" where anyone who knows the IP address could join in, and I've never heard the drop-offs or digital skipping that occurs frequently in Skype or Google Chat.

Apparently, Ventrilo also allows different sampling rates, so you might be able to pump through a higher bitrate to make the vocal quality better; however, I've never played with that function, so take that with a grain of salt. The default setting works well enough and doesn't sound like a telephone.

It's also available on several platforms. I run the server on my Sun Blade 100 with Solaris 9, but the three of us use the Windows clients for gaming.