NCH Technical Support NOT Replying to My Support Question

jerry498

Hi Guys,

I just joined the forum.

I purchased 2 of NCH softwares (Broadwave and ExpressTalk).

Both of them comes with the Gold Support plan.

But NCH support team does not reply to any of my emails regarding my questions about how to configure the software.

How am i suppose to get a response from the technical team? I am quite disappointed as I did paid for the support plan for both softwares.

Anyway, I will post my questions here, hopefully you guys may help me with some advise and pointers.

How can i make this work ?

I got 2 systems stationed in 2 different locations.
System 1 (A dedicated server) will act as the broadcasting server where Broadwave has already been installed in the server.
System 1 will receive voice data from System 2 which is in another location via ExpressTalk.
System 2 (A windows PC) will act as the mixing studio and the final output would call system 1 (Dedicated server) over ExpressTalk and fed to Broadwave with a Line In cable to be broadcasted.
The final output from System 2 will be AUX-in and fed to Broadwave installed in System 1.

I hope by now you would have an understanding of what my proposed system works.

There are a lot of questions i have in mind (some might sounded just stupid, please bare with me for i am a newbie in the internet live broadcasting business):

Do i need a sound card installed in my dedicated server?
Do i have all the hardware requirements on my dedicated server for Live Broadcasting to work?
Do i need to install ExpressTalk in both of the systems?
Do i need a speaker installed in my dedicated server to receive the audio from the mixing studio and then capture the voice using a microphone for broadcasting ? or is there an easier way?
Why there is an error message that constantly pops out every time the web server starts :
"Error accessing stream Broadwave Live 1 from [Default Sound In]"

I have full control over the server. But i am managing the server through Remote Desktop Connection and i have not physically seen the machine.

From the system check through RDC, there is not sound card installed in the server.

I have installed Broadwave on the server with all the default settings.

Uploaded an audio file into the server and Tested the streaming by clicking the link generated when i clicked "Connect".

The audio stream works.

Now i need to figure out how to make Live Broadcast work from the server.

I might be cramming a lot questions into one topic, that is because i still have a very vague picture on how the system would work, or does it even going to work.

Hopefully the you guys could make my life easier by sharing some of your thoughts and advise with me.

Looking forward to hear from you guys soon.

Thanks.

Regards,

Jerry

kentraco

Anyway, I will post my questions here, hopefully you guys may help me with some advise and pointers.

Good luck, Jerry.

I've been waiting over a month for someone to answer my questions here.

KenA

Hi,

I'm just a user too, but I try to help where I can, though I only come and read the board perhaps once a week or so.

I haven't used ExpressTalk, so I can't help with that, but you can test whether the Broadwave part works by simply playing a MP3 music file with Win Media Player or Winwamp (etc) and you should see the Live 1 bar graph moving. The input to Broadwave is selected using Windows Recording Control Properties. Select "Stereo Mix" or similar for the sound from the MP3 playing, or select Aux In for the aux in jack on the PC. These may be named differently on your config, but the principle is the same. See other replies for more detail, for example here: http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=13101

Anyway, once the Live bargraph is moving, Broadwave is serving a stream.

The next step is to check you can connect to the stream from another PC using Winamp (etc). Start with one on your local network, checking the IP address and port number are correct, and also double-check Windows Firewall (or other firewall) to make sure the correct port number is open, don't assume it is. I've written up how this is done on Windows 7 here http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=13099 and elsewhere for XP.

Once both of these bits are working, then you can move on to ExpressTalk.

jerry498

KenA wrote:

Hi,

I'm just a user too, but I try to help where I can, though I only come and read the board perhaps once a week or so.

I haven't used ExpressTalk, so I can't help with that, but you can test whether the Broadwave part works by simply playing a MP3 music file with Win Media Player or Winwamp (etc) and you should see the Live 1 bar graph moving. The input to Broadwave is selected using Windows Recording Control Properties. Select "Stereo Mix" or similar for the sound from the MP3 playing, or select Aux In for the aux in jack on the PC. These may be named differently on your config, but the principle is the same. See other replies for more detail, for example here: http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=13101

Anyway, once the Live bargraph is moving, Broadwave is serving a stream.

The next step is to check you can connect to the stream from another PC using Winamp (etc). Start with one on your local network, checking the IP address and port number are correct, and also double-check Windows Firewall (or other firewall) to make sure the correct port number is open, don't assume it is. I've written up how this is done on Windows 7 here http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=13099 and elsewhere for XP.

Once both of these bits are working, then you can move on to ExpressTalk.

Hi KenA,

Thank you for the explanation on how to use Broadwave Live Stream. I am now having a better understanding on how it will work.

First thing first, i need to install a soundcard in my server.

Once i installed the soundcard, i will begin to test it following the guidance that you explained.

I've finally got a reply from NCH Technical Support and they have advised me that instead of my current method or connecting both system using ExpressTalk to Broadwave, it will be better if i use Broadwave to Broadwave to connect the 2 systems.

The idea goes like this :

install Broadwave on both system.
The system that produce the music on the other end will then stream the music only to the server.
The server could connect to the streaming computer and play the music. (using something simple like internet explorer and media player to play the stream).
Then you could get a cable to connect the 'sound output', to the 'line in' input. Then the broadwave on the server, can re-stream the live music to everyone else.
With this setup, the computer that is running the first stream will only have one connection from the server.

This is what the technical support team had suggested.

Right now what need to do is to install a soundcard in my server and test whether this theory works.

Do you think it will work ?

Jerry

jerry498

n_c_h_dj wrote:

Hi Jerry,

Apologies as your first support ticket made it's way into our SPAM bucket and was inadvertently deleted as SPAM by an administrator. You should have received a response to your follow-up ticket and detailed information by now - please send me a PM if you have not so I can look into the matter.

DJ

Hi DJ,

Thank you for your concern about my issue.

Yes, NCH technical support has attended to my questions and we are working out the solutions currently.

Haven't really tested the solution yet because i am still waiting to for the installation of soundcard into my server.

Regards,

Jerry

KenA

Hi Jerry,

I'm not sure that you need the cable. On a single PC it's possible to use something like Winamp or Windows Media Player to "listen" to the stream from elsewhere (in your case the other system), and then relay that with Broadwave live by selecting the "stereo mix" in the recording control. The stereo mix selection is actually whatever Winamp or WMP is listening to.

Rgds

Ken

jerry498

KenA wrote:

Hi Jerry,

I'm not sure that you need the cable. On a single PC it's possible to use something like Winamp or Windows Media Player to "listen" to the stream from elsewhere (in your case the other system), and then relay that with Broadwave live by selecting the "stereo mix" in the recording control. The stereo mix selection is actually whatever Winamp or WMP is listening to.

Rgds

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the tip.

My apologizies, more questions

You are saying that i might not need a male to male cable to stream the audio?

But what happens if i did connect the cable on the soundcard?

Do I even need a soundcard on my server for the stereo mix selection function to work?

Regards,

Jerry

KenA

Hi Jerry,

I looked again at your diagram, and here's how I would do it. I've also set out my assumptions, if they are wrong, please shout.

System 2 (mixing studio)

I assume this is simply a means of converting the analog input to a data stream?

If this is correct, then connect your sound source to AUX-IN.

In Windows Recording Properties, select AUX-IN as the active selection. This will make Broadwave stream AUX-IN to the Live output. Use the AUX-IN level control to set the level - watch the "led meter" in Broadwave as a guide.

You will also be able to monitor the sound locally using normal PC speakers connected to AUX-OUT, and should be able to operate the playback volume control independently of the stream level.

You will need to follow the usual rigmarole of setting the port number in the firewall and checking you can connect to the stream, firstly locally, then remotely after you've set port forwarding in your router at site 2.

System 1 (Dedicated Server)

I assume this is a distribution server which will allow any user to connect to its stream to receive the audio. You are doing it this way simply to limit connections and bandwidth to site 2.

You will need an audio card, any old one, as you cannot set sound properties without the sound driver being loaded.

I suggest you use Winamp (or your favorite media player) to connect to the stream from site 2. Usual advice applies. However, if the stream is interrupted for any reason, receiving will stop. So how can we get round this? Well, I suggest creating a playlist in Winamp, and putting two identical entries for the same stream (use the format

http: // public IP of site 2 : port / broadwave.mp3 - without the spaces

Now when the stream is interrupted, Winamp will just move to the next item in the playlist, and will thus try to connect again to the same stream.

Now that you've got the sound into System 1, you need to stream it out with Broadwave. Just select Stereo Mix in Recording Properties, and the Broadwave Live 1 stream will listen to whatever Winamp is listening to.

Same advice re IP address and ports apply here too, and need to be tested independently. Speakers or headphones in the server's sound card will confirm you are receiving audio, and Broadwave's meter will confirm it's available for streaming.

Let us know how you get on.