RadioBOSS 4.8 [beta]

[dave-t]

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to join the beta testing program and a big thank you for the great enhancements you have made.

1. Vastly improved accessibility
2. Major improvements to Scheduling
3. Great developments in the PlayList Generator Pro

Love them all  8)

I would really like to join the 4.9 Beta testing next Spring 

Hope you guys can put your feet up for a few days and enjoy Christmas

Regards

Dave

 

[pety]

Error!
In attach

 

[Casey]

Casey
If Asio4All causes problems, I'm afraid RB cannot do anything about it... I think it's better to use cards which have native ASIO support.
Using a cheap USB card for prelisten is a good idea.

When I started up the computer today..  Asio4All causes lots of problems! RadioBOSS was unusable. Distortion on main (output) SC and the Monitor SC wouldn't work.. Spent some time trying to get it working again bit had no luck at all.. 

I had no time to pursue this further as I want to switch over to using the RadioBOSS system on air for my Christmas broadcast which started today.

I did try the USB SC for prelisten for a while but the sound on it got distorted after a while..  I finally went with just using 2 soundcards, 1 for output and the other for monitor.  This works good other than the lag that develops between SCs after a while..  I will have to work on that later.

Not likely that I will be getting any ASIO support soundcards in the near future.. I run a very low budget, non-profit operation, more of a hobby..

Using RadioBOSS 4.8.0.12 - all is working well! 

Casey

 

[Casey]

Beta testing is over. Big thanks for everyone who participated!

Is beta testing ever over.. 
It just continues on is other forms as you move to the next version.. 

It has been interesting being a part of making a great program even better!

The last software project I worked with lasted over 12 years It is coming to an end, the author of the program has stopped working on the project. He has decided to make his source code open source.

When do we start on ver 4.9?  ;D

Best wishes to all for the Christmas season and a Happy New Year!

Casey

 

[djsoft]

Hope you guys can put your feet up for a few days and enjoy Christmas

I hope that too, but as always there are minor bugs found just after the release

When I started up the computer today..  Asio4All causes lots of problems! RadioBOSS was unusable. Distortion on main (output) SC and the Monitor SC wouldn't work.. Spent some time trying to get it working again bit had no luck at all.. 

Probably Asio4All needs to be configured... I can't help much on this, as we test RB only on native ASIO cards w/o using Asio4All.
I'd start with checking sample rate frequencies - they should match the ones selected in RB's playback settings.

Error!
In attach

Oops... thanks for reporting. An update will be released shortly.

Is beta testing ever over.. 
It just continues on is other forms as you move to the next version.. 

That's true. There's always something that can be improved or fixed But at least non-betas doesn't have critical (show-stopper) bugs.

When do we start on ver 4.9?  ;D

4.9 is planned for April 2013.

 

[djsoft]

Update RadioBOSS 4.8.0.13: several minor bugs were fixed

http://dl2.djsoft.net/radioboss_setup_4.8.0.13.exe

 

[Joshua]

Hello,

that was one of the best beta test I've seen. fast response, very good cooperation. Thank you! 

Merry Christmas @ all

Greeetz
Joshua

 

[Casey]

Probably Asio4All needs to be configured... I can't help much on this, as we test RB only on native ASIO cards w/o using Asio4All.
I'd start with checking sample rate frequencies - they should match the ones selected in RB's playback settings.

An update on the soundcards not staying in sync..  - Not a big problem now! 

The SC setup is with 2 soundcards, 1 for output and the other for monitor and prelisten.
After running 10 hours, the 2 SCs are not perfectly in sync but very close.

Another early morning job, getting the system fine tuned.. I played with buffer sizes but in the process also changed to RadioBOSS 4.8.0.13, when you released it. I was getting very tired by this time. I am not sure if it was fixed by getting the right buffer sizes or something you changed.

Also to add to my morning excitement! LOL  ;D

I was really taken off guard when RadioBOSS shut itself down with no warning.  ???
At first I thought it had crashed..

Then RB wanted the registration code.. this had me confused.. It was 4:30 in the morning  almost to early to be thinking. I shut down RB and restarted.. it let me get back on the air, in demo mode.

At this point, I was not sure what to do. I had to try something so I entered the registration code I had.. This fixed it RB and I were both happy!

I checked Help > About.. and see that you have thing well under control!
Thank you 

4.9 is planned for April 2013.

I will be here as long as nothing out of my control comes along.

Casey

 

[djsoft]

that was one of the best beta test I've seen. fast response, very good cooperation. Thank you! 

Thank you too!

Another early morning job, getting the system fine tuned.. I played with buffer sizes but in the process also changed to RadioBOSS 4.8.0.13, when you released it. I was getting very tired by this time. I am not sure if it was fixed by getting the right buffer sizes or something you changed.

Nothing changed in the software regarding playback (changes in playback code require extensive testing and therefore are never done in one day). It looks like buffer sizes was the issue.
For cards to be in sync, buffer sizes should be:
- as low as possible
- same size for both cards

I was really taken off guard when RadioBOSS shut itself down with no warning.  ???
At first I thought it had crashed..

Yes, this happens sometimes with beta tester codes... Please check your e-mail.

 

[pety]

I installed RadioBOSS 4.8.2.1 yesterday at RVE Sibiu. I already find a very sorious BUG.
When I resized length of Control Panel (make some fast moves to check it) the track wich was played at that moment was interrupted few times.

 

[pety]

I installed RadioBOSS 4.8.2.1 yesterday at RVE Sibiu. I already find a very sorious BUG.
When I resized length of Control Panel (make some fast moves to check it) the track wich was played at that moment was interrupted few times.

Do not forget about this too, THANKS!

 

[djsoft]

I installed RadioBOSS 4.8.2.1 yesterday at RVE Sibiu. I already find a very sorious BUG.
When I resized length of Control Panel (make some fast moves to check it) the track wich was played at that moment was interrupted few times.

Does it happen every time or it was a one-time problem? If the latter, I don't think there's much we can do about it.

 

[pety]

The PC was on for about 4-5 days. After restart RB works great, without any problems. Sorry for false alarm. 

RB works great!

 

[DJSTU]

Now that we heading for Version 9....
Are we getting any closer to getting mixing done by db level ?

For me to seriously look at using RadioBoss as a broadcasting system this is one feature that HAS to be implemented first before I would even consider it. Time mixing is just too basic and crude, and to be blunt, not professional.
Altho I pick on some aspects, you have other features which are excellent. However it just isn't there yet as a first class system. But it is not going to take much more work to see your system head in a more professional direction.
Flexibility of layout and more colorization is needed, skins will certainly help. But these can be worked on, just so long as the major operational aspects are there.

You did mention (on the mixing) when I have asked previously that you had it on your list to be implemented.
I am not opposed to time mixing remaining for those who wish to use it. I just want db level added as an optional choice.

 

[djsoft]

Crossfades based on db level are planned for RB 4.9. I agree that in most cases dB crossfading will be better.
Beta version will be released in March. I'd be glad if you take part in beta testing and maybe make some suggestions regarding this feature when it's added.

You mentioned layout flexibility - do you have any specific request? Skins are technically possible, you can see it in RadioCaster: in the menu click RadioCaster->Style and select a style. But as RadioBOSS has color/font settings I don't think skins are necessary there...

 

[DJSTU]

I would be more than happy to take part in Beta testing and give you feedback on same (as we have done in the past when you have made changes at our suggestions). I have been lurking and watching, but have really been waiting for you to instigate the db level mixing, so I can stuck into giving you further ideas for possible changes.

In regard to layout I am meaning "box areas up" and have the ability to move that whole box from fixed positions, as they are now, to a position where the user would like them to be.
Example: The main Playlist, I would like to click and grab that area and move the whole thing to the left hand side.
The same with the Play/Stop/Next buttons etc.
The Log I still want, but not in my face, put it somewhere I can click to quickly bring it up instead.

The Date/Time, Last Track, On Air, Coming Up next - The ability to move each one individually to where I would like them.

Just the ability to be able move things to where you want them to be as a user is principally what I am getting at.

Colorization.
I know you love your grey, and shades of grey. But to be honest its a bit bland. :-\
Lets just pick on one thing for the moment. The PLAY button. Have the button triangle BLUE. But when its clicked on, lights up as tho an LED is behind it with a light green to show the button is pushed on. The blue triangle stays blue, but the rest goes green.

I have heaps more ideas too. But will save these for when the beta testing starts.

 

[djsoft]

UI with movable boxes is a nice approach. But I know many users of RB are glad that UI is not complicated with thinks like this... I think we can find a sort of solution which is good for everyone. I'll assign it to the future RadioBOSS 5.0 for now. Feature list for upcoming 4.9 is already full.

About buttons, I agree those should be changed. From time to time people ask about this. This is planned for 4.9. Away from buttons, you can change window and font colors in Settings->View.

 

[dave-t]

About buttons, I agree those should be changed. From time to time people ask about this. This is planned for 4.9. Away from buttons, you can change window and font colors in Settings->View.

YES PLEASE  8) 8)

As far as the UI is concerned the only issue I really have are the tabs on the left hand side. I often want to be able to see schedule and the FX window at the same time - It would be nice to have one or the other as a separate pane

Looking forward to seeing the list

My hopes and wishes are

PGPro

Adding filters for Genre, Rating, Date

Music Library

Include/exclude field
Stripping converting & re-writing ID3V2.4 tags   

Really fancy stuff

Twitter integration - (Optionally) Tweets when a schedule is run

 

[DJSTU]

dave-t has outlined a classic example of what I mean by making UI flexible movable boxes.
Of the 7 Tabs, he only wants 2. And those two he wants to see in full all the time. The rest could be hidden, but brought up at the click of a button from the menu.

Yesterday I could not find where to change the color in spite of spending half an hour going thru the menus and help file. So now you have pointed out where, I have found it. :-[
Yes...it does improve things noticeably.
But I think we need to do more. More choice of what and where.
Surround a box (say like Playlist for example) with a band that is say 3mm thick of a color of choice. So as to define that this area does what sort of thing. This is instead of the thin grey line. Defining will be important once the boxes are made movable.

 

[djsoft]

As far as the UI is concerned the only issue I really have are the tabs on the left hand side. I often want to be able to see schedule and the FX window at the same time - It would be nice to have one or the other as a separate pane

That would be possible in the future. As you already probably know, there's a so called "Second work zone" was added in RB 4.8. You can activate it by pressing Ctrl+2 or from the menu: View->Work Zones->2.
For now it can host Search, File Explorer, Cart Wall and Web browser.
It's just a matter of time when Scheduler and some other features can be hosted there as well.

What do you use FX tab for by the way?

Regarding feature requests, most of them will be implemented in the RB 4.9.

Yesterday I could not find where to change the color in spite of spending half an hour going thru the menus and help file. So now you have pointed out where, I have found it. :-[

During search, did you look at the Settings window and just didn't notice the View tab?
It could be a problem with Settings window - it has too many sections (and couple more will be added in the next version), buttons, checkboxes, etc... Probably it makes it hard to find stuff there. Currently I don't see an easy solution for this one. Probably adding a HOW-TO topics to the help file would help.

Surround a box (say like Playlist for example) with a band that is say 3mm thick of a color of choice. So as to define that this area does what sort of thing. This is instead of the thin grey line. Defining will be important once the boxes are made movable.

What about changing playlist section background?
Thin grey line is used to resize sections. I think its color could be made changeable too.