Posts

Showing posts with the label SAMBC

How To: Destroy a Software Company

Image
For the past 13 years I've been trying to get across to people just how Flaky Spacial Audio software is. Fact: SAM Broadcaster Pro Crashes A Lot! My Blog posts have saved users from the Hell that is SAM Broadcaster I used SAM Broadcaster from 2001 to 2010 and believe me I know all of its little QUIRKS and ISSUES Rather than take the Criticism of SAM Broadcaster on board Spacial Audio appear to have completely retreated into a corner. I've never known another Software company who are so outwardly PARANOID They've built a wall around them and won't help people or enter into conversations about how AWFUL their software offerings are. AFAIK Spacial have only 1 developer when they do a release its for stuff thats stopped working in previous versions. Spacial Audio rarely introduce new features into SAM Broadcaster Pro I'm utterly amazed people still buy into SAM Broadcaster

SAM Broadcaster Pro Crashes on Windows 11

Image
I've been watching tweets from a SAM Broadcaster user who's been having stability issues with SAM on Windows 11 Hey @spacial when are you going to fix Sam Broadcaster Pro? It crashes on Windows 11 over-and-over-and-over again when I am running my show! Its the same story with SAM Broadcaster when a new operating system comes out its either NOT compatiable or it crashes. Whereas I've tested Radio DJ over-and-over-and-over again on Windows 11 and it does EVERYTHING I ask of it. Reasons to Use RadioDJ: Once installed it's stable and works for days/weeks without needing to keep an eye on it Great Music library support add as many categories & subcategories you require RadioDJ doesn't require online activations or registration keys RadioDJ sounds Professional with the BASS sound engine RadioDJ is 100% FREE and has ZERO restr

You Cannot Run Multiple Instances (SAM Broadcaster Pro)

Image
One of the biggest bug bears of mine is the you cannot run multiple instances of certain radio playout software. Even if You attempted to run 2 copies of SAM Broadcaster on the same machine you'd have issues with the PC. I once attempted to run 2 copies of SAM 2.7.9 on an old XP computer 20 years ago and the machine kept freezing and crashing. One of the problems SAM suffers with is MEMORY LEAKS an issue which hasn't been addressed in over 20 years. If you run LOTS of PAL SCRIPTS your computer will be sluggish and sometimes unresponsive because of the leaks. Theres a topic on the SAM Broadcaster Forums telling you how to run multiple instances It the does state in the SAM Broadcaster EULA from 2017 that you cannot run more than 1 instance on the same PC. SAM Broadcaster is YESTERDAY'S Technology and isn't worth the $$$ Spacial Audio ask for it. Save your self the headaches of software cr

I Rely On SAM Broadcaster Pro To Make a A Living

Image
Came across a guy venting on Spacial Audio's social media feed. I bought SAM Broadcaster Pro recently I was having issues and was told to upgrade to the newest version Now I have no working SAM Broadcaster No way to contact anyone Refused support via email Give me back my money! I rely on SAM for Income No Doubt that comment will end up hidden from other users Spacial have a nasty habit of hiding negative feedback. Then theres this recent comment on the SAM Broadcaster Forums. I am having random problems with SAM Broadcaster freezing Along with "This program has crashed press OK" messages Yet again I'm only relaying what I see on the Internet. Spacial Audio have a RAFT of unhappy fed up users in their wake. The Activation requirement in SAM Broadcaster keeps locking genuine licenced users out of the software as they're just about to go LIVE. Update: September 21st 2023: Spacial Audio appear to have done some work on the SAM su

You Shouldn't Have To Keep Reinstalling Software (SAM Broadcaster Pro)

Image
One of the BIGGEST bug bears I have about SAM Broadcaster Pro is that when something goes wrong it goes BADLY WRONG. When SAM goes Boom & Bust you have to prat around uninstalling and reinstalling the software just to get it to function. Almost ready to go LIVE again SAM Broadcaster reinstalled Database rolling and adding music files & Jingles AGAIN I witnessed SAM Broadcaster do a disappering act many a time in my 10+ years of using the software. Because SAM Broadcaster Pro doesn't come with a database backup tool you have rebuild your song database and categories. Googling the error suggests a Delphi problem SAM is written in Delphi The fact it is still happening in the 2021 versions should be sounding alarm bells to anyone thinking of purchasing SAM. This little nugget was recently shared on the Spacial forums: SAM Broadcaster Pro crashed after four hours of use Just for the record the record Uptime for Radio

SAM Broadcaster Won’t Open After Reboot

Image
I recently saw a post on the Spacial Audio SAM Broadcaster Forums SAM Broadcaster Pro won't open after reboot! When I restart my computer SAM Broadcaster won’t open SAM Broadcaster going wrong is nothing new its been an issue for over 20 years. In the past I've had to uninstall and reinstall SAM Broadcaster after the program went wrong. What causes SAM Broadcaster and it’s program files/database structure to become corrupted during a reboot of the computer is anyone’s guess. This has happened on different operating systems from XP to Windows 10 Another SAM user said it turned out to be an issue with the core or GUI XML being corrupted by an improper shutdown of the software. The SAM Broadcaster database tables became corrupted after a reboot of the computer which required a reinstall of the software. I was having to reinstall SAM Broadcaster at least once a Week The problem was even worse if your PC was s

SAM Broadcaster Product Activation Offline

Image
Saw this in amongst the search terms on Google analytics recently… SAM Broadcaster Product Activation Offline The Spacial Audio activation server fell over recently which in turn left users struggling to get SAM Broadcaster activated. Users having issues getting SAM Broadcaster activated are nothing new. The activation system says that SAM Broadcaster is activated on 3 PC’s When the user has deactivated the software before they went to reinstall The activation servers have been causing users grief ever since Spacial Audio changed how people have to unlock the software. Before users just needed a key code to unlock all the features in SAM Broadcaster Spacial Audio introduced Software Activations in September 2009 to cut down on the amount of pirated versions. Activation errors have meant some radio DJ's missing their regular online shows. Things like that should NEVER happen with radio playout software. It’s j

Memory Leaks Are An Inherent Problem SAM Broadcaster Pro

Image
As the title of the post SAM Broadcaster Pro suffers with Memory Leaks. More so If you are running PAL = Playlist Automation Language Scripts. Memory Leaks are an inherent problem of how the PAL engine is designed If you design bad PAL scripts you get memory leaks It's easier to design a bad PAL script than to design a good one It's not like Memory Leaks were an unavoidable problem They've had years to get the code in SAM Broadcaster Pro BUG FREE give or take a few GUI changes its the same as it was 20 years ago. When I first tried running PAL scripts in 2002 SAM would regularly do a disappearing act or it would stutter and FREEZE. This is a from a user who is having issues with the latest 2021 version. [CORE] Unhandled exception (Out of memory while expanding memory stream) I stopped some of the scripts and the problem still occurred The memory leak PAL Script crashed SAM Broadcaster The PAL Scripting inter

Taken For A Ride Year after Year? (Spacial Audio)

Image
Its nearly the end of 2021 and YET again Spacial Audio haven't done a lot with their software this year. This is the 2021 SAM Broadcaster Changelog: -v2021.6 (13 December 2021) * Fixed issue with PRO DJ Keys. * Updated several URLs to use HTTPS. * SAMReporter can now be started with /INSTANCE={instance_name} for multi-instance installations. v2021.5 (10 November 2021) * Upgraded build chain. v2021.4 (20 July 2021) * Fix read of BPM from tag and updating of BPM field in database when changed. * Updated dates and information on various windows. v2021.3 (18 June 2021) * SAM Reporter now detects best port to use. (Ports tried in this order: 80, 81, 8080, 8081, 10080) * SAM Reporter improved support for MariaDB. * Auto-updater support for secure downloads & certificate checks. v2021.2 (7 May 2021) * Updated digital signatures to SHA256. 2021.1 (25 March 2021) * Improved MariaDB detection and installation. As you ca

The User interface Gives Me A Headache (SAM Broadcaster Pro)

Image
A user recently put in a feature request on the SAM Broadcaster Forums. I'm using Sam Broadcaster and I am getting very tired eyes from the White background of the interface. I Would appreciate a DARK MODE The interface of SAM Broadcaster Pro has always been hard on the eyes. I couldn't stare at the Interface for long periods myself without getting a headache. This where RadioDJ is better because in the 2.x.x. versions you can change the colours of the Interface. This is a theme I came up with a dark barkground with Geen and Red I don't find myself getting eye strain and can look at the RadioDJ interface for longer than I ever could SAM. The user complaining about eye strain won't be getting a dark skin for SAM Broadcaster anytime soon. Its RARE Spacial Audio introduce new features into their software. They DON'T listen to their user base. So i

You’re Just Making Stuff Up? (SAM Broadcaster Pro)

Image
I’ve been accused of lying about the problems that SAM Broadcaster suffers from. I am NOT lying or making anything up things really are as bad as it gets with SAM Broadcaster The problems documented on my Blog are just a few of the reasons as to why I think SAM Broadcaster software isn’t worth the $$$ Spacial Audio charge for it I used the program for over 10 years so I know all of it’s ANNOYING QUIRKS SAM caused me no end of stress. IF SAM was coded properly and was a reliable program then my blog posts about the Issues wouldn’t have needed to be written. The program freezing, encoders buffering, random crashing issues were part of my Imagination? SAM Broadcaster Pro/Studio are as UNSTABLE as people say they are I've tried running SAM Broadcaster on several computers and operating systems over the years. With pretty much the same results everytime we’ve gone to install and use the program. SAM crashes after 10/15 minutes often ta

The Perils Of Activation Servers (SAM Broadcaster Pro)

Image
Since December 2007 Spacial Audio have required users to activate SAM Broadcaster Pro and all their other software. However the Activation Servers can sometimes have issues with how many active activations a user has. When I try to reinstall SAM I am getting an error message stating I am over the allowed number of activations. I only had it installed on one machine Hundreds of SAM Broadcaster users have had the same issue since the activation requirement was hard coded into the software You are entitled to 1 license for this program 1 licence = 1 registration key which activates the program You are permitted to activate the program on different 3 systems You can only run 1 copy of SAM Broadcaster Pro per licence and you CANNOT run multiple copies. Its another reason that SAM Broadcaster Pro sucks the way Spacial Audio LIMIT usage of their software. The SAM activation server has a nasty habit of locking users out of the software, sometimes as t

Make your Station POP! With SAM Broadcaster Pro?

Image
Seen a couple of posts on social media where users claim you can make your radio station sound great with SAM Broadcaster Pro REALLY? I don't think so somehow! I used SAM Broadcaster for over 10 years and was frustrated time and again by audio distortion. My music files were ripped at the same audio levels and bitrates but despite this my music sounded CRAP in SAMBC. You CANNOT make your station POP with SAM Broadcaster as the audio output is AWFUL and amateurish at best. The last thing YOU need as a DJ is piss poor sounding audio your listeners will tune out if it doesn't sound right. It didn't matter what sound settings I tried my stream always sounded piss poor with SAM Broadcaster The audio quality from the bass sound engine really does make RadioDJ sound PROFESSIONAL. I can play different genres of music through RadioDJ & everything sounds GREAT with the above settings. Download RadioDJ and install it and you should not