Radio Feed and Scanner settings

Hey there. I was just wondering if someone would be able to send me a couple pictures or give me some examples of the settings they are using for their feeds. My audio appears to be horrible on the VHF side but my P25 Trunked Radio 700 mhz is clear. I listen to other feeds and the audio just seems to be so much better and clear. I am wondering if I have the audio settings wrong or volume up to high or low etc...

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Which one of your feeds is giving you problems?

Pictou County Public Safety. I find on the VHF side of things the audio starts out really loud and scratchy then it clears up kinda after a few seconds.

The P25 works great I find.

Have a listen or if you have access to the archives take a listen around 6:20pm Atlantic time, 5:20 eastern. That's when all the FD VHF pager tests went on.

Other feeds in my area of Nova Scotia such as Kings County Fire seem to be so much more clear. Just want to try and make mine that way.

Thanks in advance!

I always found when I provided my feeds that having the PC recording volume at about 25-50% and the scanner volume at about the 10 o'clock position.

Takes a lot of toying around to get it sounding right.

Res21cue said:

Pictou County Public Safety. I find on the VHF side of things the audio starts out really loud and scratchy then it clears up kinda after a few seconds.

The P25 works great I find.

Have a listen or if you have access to the archives take a listen around 6:20pm Atlantic time, 5:20 eastern. That's when all the FD VHF pager tests went on.

Other feeds in my area of Nova Scotia such as Kings County Fire seem to be so much more clear. Just want to try and make mine that way.

Click to expand...

Understood. I gave it a listen and pulled it into Audacity - the audio signal is too hot and the peaks are being clipped. A combination of turning down the scanner volume and adjusting the input level on the computer will fix it, but it will take some trial-and-error to get it right. This article from the wiki may prove helpful in getting it set:

Setting up your Broadcasting Station - The RadioReference Wiki

My experience has been that more volume is not necessarily better when it comes to feeds.

Are you using a line input or a mic input on the computer?

Thanks for the work on this.

I am using a Mic Input.

The first thing I'd check is whether or not you have the gain (sometimes called "boost") turned up for the microphone input. If so, turn it back to zero and then see what it sounds like. If the signal is still too hot, you'll want to turn down the scanner volume until the audio level is at a reasonable level.

The link above for Setting up your Broadcasting Station will give you some additional tips and tools you can use to get it dialed in the way you want it.

Turn Mic input level way down to 5-15 percent (no boost) and scanner to 50-75% volume you may have better luck with that. Is there a Line-Input available besides the mic?, because that's what is preferred. Radiofeed may want audio attenuated down at least 3db between -78 & -84 with no transmissions. Also, inside the scanner if you have Analog AGC turned on turn that off.

My feed has a PRO-197 for the digital local PD, and an old PRO-51 for the analog local FD. What I've found to be successful is to, as others have said, use the line input if you have one, and keep its level low to minimize noise, and adjust the scanner volume to achieve the best audio; but, don't overdrive the sound card input.

Also, this meter is fantastic: ORBAN Loudness Meter I try to keep my peaks between 0 and -2 dbFS.

And, as someone else said, grab your archive file periodically and analyze it with Audacity for ongoing quality control. It will be immediately apparent if you need to adjust levels.

Hope that helps!

darunimal said:

Radiofeed may want audio attenuated down at least 3db between -78 & -84 with no transmissions.

Click to expand...

What does this mean?

What does the moveable dial on Radiofeed mean? It has Left and Right Speaker and I can set it where volume wise but it gives me a db reading aswell. Right now I have both Left and Right set to -15db but only because its the middle and I have no idea where it should be.

Also, If I use the "Line in", the scanner audio comes out of the Laptop speakers which is not optimal for me and the current set up. If I turn the Line in Volume down on the windows controls to eliminate that, but leave the scanner volume up and the RadioFeed volume up...will the stream still work?

darunimal said:

Radiofeed may want audio attenuated down at least 3db between -78 & -84 with no transmissions.

Click to expand...

Res21cue said:

What does this mean?

Click to expand...

I don't know what it means either.

Res21cue said:

What does the moveable dial on Radiofeed mean? It has Left and Right Speaker and I can set it where volume wise but it gives me a db reading aswell. Right now I have both Left and Right set to -15db but only because its the middle and I have no idea where it should be.

Also, If I use the "Line in", the scanner audio comes out of the Laptop speakers which is not optimal for me and the current set up. If I turn the Line in Volume down on the windows controls to eliminate that, but leave the scanner volume up and the RadioFeed volume up...will the stream still work?

Click to expand...

The Capture (left side) controls should be set so that the connected (left or right channel) input is at 100% and the unconnected input at 0%.
The Playback (right side) controls are normally set in the middle for no attenuation or amplification. They don't have an effect unless the Loopback is on.

If you don't want audio out of the laptop speakers then check that the RadioFeed Loopback is off. If you still hear audio then the Windows Mixer Line In Properties "Listen To This Device" is probably on and needs to be turned off.

Im sorry guys but your talking in a language I do not understand lol. Here is some screen captures of my set up. All of these pictures are with no Audio across the stream and the cable is plugged into the Line In port. I am still unable to get the audio to stop coming across my laptop speakers however.

Also, with no audio passing through at the time, the - dB seems to contstantly jump from anywhere around -63 to -72 yet there is no audio passing through. Is that normal?

Scanner volume is set at 50%

Under your "Control Panel" in Windows you should have an icon for "Sound", under "Recording"s you should have a tab for "Line IN" hover over that area and right click your mouse and highlight "Properties", at the top you should have a couple of tabs "General, Listen, Levels" click "Listen", uncheck the box "Listen to this Device",

The picture represents the attenuation of audio i was talk about it should be close to -3 (in Radiofeed) with the Line_In Volume set really low(in Windows), then the Scanner does the Audio loudness with out having to hear the constant audible pop in the Scanner's audio amp every time a transmission happens, as well as there won't be constant static white noise on the Audio when no transmission occurs

Doing the complete obverse to the instructions here http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/RadioFeed_Setup_Instructions#Audio_Setup, Audio Adjustment Procedures when it comes to Audio set-up and there respective volumes has left me with a Icecast server that has great audio and no constant white noise or Scanner Amp "audible" pop. The 10 percent (from the instructions) comes into play when in Radiofeeds "Source Client" page you use -3db as a setting, that leaves headroom for extra loud audio but your normal to loud conversation should not being peaking above that.

With Line_In set to 100% you will get a constant white noise and the Scanner's Audio Amp pumping will be heard over anything but said white noise (you are basically pushing all the noise on the line, up to its fullest, and that's not what any of us are trying to accomplish)

In Radiofeeds "Source Client" page, if you have mono move 1 slider to -3 and the other unused to mute, if you have Stereo move both sliders to -3.

This is the feed we are talking about right?
https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6773, Pictou County Public Safety

Correct that is the feed. I am going to try those settings now. Once I have those changes made what volume level should the scanner be set to?

Also what is best. The External Speaker Jack or the Head Phone Jack? (Uniden 996XT)

I am unable to change the "Line in Volume" as it is greyed out. I did lower the "Recording" Volume to the level you suggested.

Have you already changed the settings because that's starting to sound better, a lot less white noise, some channels are still louder than others; remember there is the ability to use Channel Volume Offset (CVO) to use for Analog Channels to make them louder, or use CVO to make Digital Channels quieter. How to in the scanner: To toggle the Volume Offset for a Conventional/Digital Channel, Hold on the channel and press FUNC then 5(LVL) to toggle the desired offset. Press Hold to resume. The CVO settings can also be change in the Freescan or Butel Software (for many many channels quickly).

There is a constant click i'm pretty sure that's coming from one more setting, make sure that under the "Enhancement" Tab the "DC Offset Cancellation" box is checked, it will keep white noise down and possible ground loops from making there presence known (basic explanation).

After changing some settings in Window's "Audio Control Panel" Radiofeed may need to be "Disconnected" and "Connected" on the "Source Client" tab, or even Radiofeed may need to be "closed" and "restarted".

If you can give us a Complete and detailed wrap-up of what setting you used for all the various setting it would be great for future reference.

I did make the changes you noted that I was able to and the settings would allow me to make and I agree, it is already sounding better.

Where do I find the enhancement tab? Is that on RadioFeed? I am unable to find it.

Under your "Control Panel" in Windows you should have an icon for "Sound", under "Recording"s you should have a tab hover over that area and right click your mouse and highlight "Properties", at the top you should have a couple of tabs "General, Listen, Levels, Enhancements, Advanced" " click "Enhancements", check the box "DC Offset Cancellation"

I never could find that section actually. The only thing in Control Panel I could find was "Sound and Audio Devices" I checked all the tabs in there and nothing yielded what your describing. I also checked the Realtek HD Sound one and that only brings up the Mixer for Realtek I posted above

I'll have to pull out my XP Laptop and check things out to see if there is a way for me to bring up what I am seeing in Windows 7.