ControlReady/RRS - Radio Reading Service, Books on Tape Recording & Storage

Hardware Recommendations for ControlReady/RRS™

Satellite Automation | Music on HD | More Recommendations | VISTA Warning

Satellite Automation

Windows 2000 or XP Pro (XP Home will work too)
1Ghz minimum processor speed
512 - 1024 MB minimum recommended RAM
RS-232 SERIAL/COM port(s) to connect to switchers or controllers
Sound cards - equip with as many channels/audio inputs/outputs as you require
We work with all Windows MME/WAV compatible sound devices
We recommend balanced audio cards when budget allows
Use any brand, analog, AES, etc
Storage - use what you need, we store everything uncompressed WAV
RAID/hot-swap, recommended but not required
Rundundant power supplies, recommended but not required
Monitor - 17" minimum for walk-away/unattended, 19" for live assist
The larger the monitor, the easier it is to read all the metadata and other info in the screens.
Battery backup/UPS surge/uninterrupted power supply is STRONGLY recommended for computer and all accessories
System can restart automatically after power loss IF your BIOS is set to start after power loss, but a UPS prevents the computer from being damaged during brown outs, lightning strikes and power outages.

Music on HD with Voice Tracking

Windows 2000 or XP Pro (XP Home will work too)
2Ghz or faster processor recommended
Avoid Celeron, go with P4, PD or Core2Duo (or better). NOTE: Core2Duo is so fast, anything faster is a waste of money.
2 GB RAM recommended
RS-232 SERIAL/COM port(s) to connect to switchers or controllers
Sound cards - equip with as many channels/audio inputs/outputs as you require
We work with all Windows MME/WAV compatible sound devices
We recommend balanced audio cards when budget allows
Use any brand, analog, AES, etc
Storage - use what you need, we store everything uncompressed WAV
(every 1000 songs is typically 35-40GB)
RAID/hot-swap, recommended but not required
Rundundant power supplies, recommended but not required
Monitor - 19" minimum - consider a 22" screen for live assist
Battery backup/UPS surge/uninterrupted power supply is STRONGLY recommended for computer and all accessories
System can restart automatically after power loss IF your BIOS is set to start after power loss, but a UPS prevents the computer from being damaged during brown outs, lightning strikes and power outages.

More Recommendations

On-air/Production/Backup Systems:
Most stations use the same on-air computer which plays over the air to also be used for background/autorecording. It is not necessary to setup a separate computer to autorecord unless you're trying to autorecord multiple things at the same time (however, even recording two things at once while playing over the air isn't a big deal on today's typical computers).

Most stations have two identically equipped computers and have our software installed on the 2nd computer which is used primarily for production (this is where you run your 3rd party digital audio editor, CD-ripping program, do your CD/DVD copying, burning, etc). While nothing stops you from doing anything you want on the on-air computer, most stations do not let people browse the Internet, do email or even multi-track edit on the on-air computer for obvious reasons.

When a production machine has the software installed, you can setup the machines to SYNC within our software so production and on-air maintain the same inventory, logs, playlists, etc for operational redundancy.

Some stations take this to the extreme having two on-air computers, plus one or more production computers.

Editors:
All *.WAV compatible production/editing systems (MAC or PC) are compatible with our software.

Servers:
Servers are not required, however...
Some stations also use a central server for central storage. We support this. Our system can play audio over LANs from servers, and we can be setup to automatically cache files down from central servers to local mahcines where the playout actually occurs. These are independant of the software and strictly a user configuration decision.
For under 10 machines, stations often just dedicate an extra computer to their central server. Some stations buy true servers with server operating systems, other use NAS devices. We don't care. They all work. We're happy to source/supply whatever you need, or we'll use whatever you buy locally. True servers and NAS devices can support more than 10 machines.

VISTA WARNING:

We do not recommend VISTA at this time. The software can work with VISTA, but testing shows that VISTA runs considerably slower than 2000 and XP and has double if not triple the processor and RAM requirements in our opinion. Moreover, we have found that basic audio playback and recording is not as efficient in VISTA as in previous operating systems and that most audio card manufacturers, even in 2008, still have not provided drivers that we are comfortable with. Moreover, assume that all old/existing sound cards that have been out for a few years or more will not have VISTA drivers. While VISTA allows you to choose classic menus and controls to ease the learning curves, it has several new features that are not easily disabled and can lead to extra headaches in our opinion.

MICROSOFT DOWNGRADE RIGHTS WITH VISTA:
Any machine you buy that has Vista Business or Ultimate legally gives you the right to use an old 2000 or XP Pro install CD to use the older operating systems on that new machine. You use the original COA/code to install the old OS, and when you activate (in the case of XP) you use the phone option and give Microsoft the COA that came with your VISTA license and tell them you are exercising your VISTA DOWNGRADE RIGHTS and wish to activate the old copy of XP. This makes it genuine.

XP END OF LIFE:
The official end of life for XP is not until 2014 at the current time, so even though you will not be able to obtain new XP retail media as of June 2008 (or soon after) and OEM copies on or soon after January 2009, as long as you retain or can locate an original XP CD-ROM with its original COA (Microsoft and resellers will not provide old media), you can continue to use XP Pro for mission critical machines like automation for the foreseeable future.

For WireReady built machines after January 2009 (or when our original XP media stocks run out), we will begin licensing VISTA BUSINESS with new machines, but using downgrade rights to install XP and we will be providing restore disks that allow customers to restore the system should they have a catastrophic loss of data and have not retained a backup (or are not running RAID based storage systems).