Opticodec-PC

“Genuine Radio”™ AAC / HE AAC / aacPlus Streaming from Orban — The World Leader in Transmission Audio Processing for Radio, Television, and DBS Broadcasting

NOW SUPPORTS:
RTSP/RTP QTSS/DSS Servers
RTP Real/Helix™ Mobile Servers
HTTP/ICY SHOUTcast™ / Icecast2 Servers
HTTP/UVOX Ultravox™ 3 Servers

NEW!! v 2.2— Edition:
PE - Professional Edition
Improved User Interface

    * Savable Configurations
    * Launch from Command Line or Batch
    * Highly Optimized TCP/IP for Robust Network Performance
    * Packet Optimization for More Efficient Streams - PE Only
    * More Metadata Features/Options
    * Internal Server for Direct Connect Applications
    * 3GPP Support for Mobile Devices - PE Only
    * More Multicast Options
    * More Server Types

Opticodec-PC is the first MPEG-4 AAC/aacPlus™ encoding software for high quality streaming audio. Opticodec-PC offers the most important feature that the basic netcaster is looking for in an encoding product — entertainment-quality sound at economical bit-rates.

AAC/aacPlus™ is changing the way streaming audio and netcasting is perceived. For a given bitrate, it sonically outperforms any other codec currently available. It should make Robert Metcalf very happy.

The software lets streaming providers supply content encoded with the Coding Technologies® AAC / HE AAC / aacPlus codec, widely acknowledged as offering the highest available audio quality at the lowest possible bit rate. Stations encoded with Opticodec-PC can be experienced through the new RealPlayer® 10 or Winamp 5.08 and can be listed on tuner2.com/opticodec.net, a new directory service for Opticodec-PC streams.

For the last 30 years, Orban’s patented Optimod technology has helped radio and television broadcasters everywhere shape their sound to grab and hold their listening audiences. Orban’s Optimod-PC 1100, a professional PCI sound card designed for streaming media, provides “genuine radio”™ audio processing for Internet broadcasters. With three on-board DSP's providing equalization, AGC, multi-band compression, and look-ahead limiting, Optimod-PC 1100, especially when combined with aacPlus encoding technology, delivers a polished and produced stream that has the same loudness, consistency, and punch as satellite and major-market FM radio.

Opticodec-PC is available for Microsoft Windows® 2000/XP/2003 Server. It supplies streams compatible with the open standard RTSP/RTP free Darwin Streaming Server, available for multiple platforms including Linux®, FreeBSD®, Sun Solaris®, Microsoft Windows®, and Apple Macintosh®, and the popular standard HTTP/ICY free Nullsoft SHOUTcast™ and Icecast2 servers, available for Microsoft Windows®, Linux®, FreeBSD®, and Sun Solaris®.

Opticodec-PC PE is offered solely in a premium package coupled with an Optimod-PC and can encode multiple simultaneous streams at bit rates from 8 to 320 kbps, and additionally can encode streams targeting 3GPP mobile devices. Optimod-PC ordinarily processes the resulting stream or file for consistency and punch, but it also comes with presets that allow it to do simple protection limiting.

In addition to sound card and audio processing functionality, Optimod-PC is also a capable mixer, having one stereo analog input, two AES3 / SPDIF digital inputs, and one wave input, all of which can be mixed. Thanks to onboard sample rate converters, the two digital inputs can accept and mix asynchronous sources. In practice, the four inputs might be used for a local feed, a network feed, a voice channel, and a wave player, making Optimod-PC the heart of a “desktop netcasting studio.” Thanks to separate “processed” and “unprocessed” mixers, any of the inputs in any combination can be processed or passed directly to the input of Opticodec-PC without processing — the user can always choose how much processing (if any) to apply to the audio.

Compared to MP3, Opticodec-PC's aacPlus codec provides a better than 60% improvement in audio quality versus bit rate, reducing network streaming bandwidth requirements and costs accordingly. At 32 kbps, Opticodec-PC streams offer close to FM quality, without the phasey, watery character of other popular codecs operating at this bit rate. Many listeners prefer the audio quality of 48 kbps streams to FM and other codecs.

The marketplace has been screaming for broadcast quality from low bit-rate Internet streaming and audio file serving. For the first time in this young industry, combining Optimod audio processing with Opticodec-PC makes it possible to offer the sonic texture of major-market FM broadcasting via the Internet. Streaming is red hot, and Opticodec-PC is the fuel that puts you ahead of the pack.

“Streaming has just become profitable,” said Rusty Hodge of netcaster SomaFM after first hearing the aacPlus codec at 32 kbps. Netcaster and respected broadcast engineer Gary Blau described it as “the quality breakthrough we've been waiting for.”