Using the AoIP audio type in Z/IPStream X/2

Scope

Version 1.25.07 introduces a new type of audio called AOIP Driver. This document covers the configuration and use of this new audio type.

As of this writing, this is a very new feature and is only lightly tested in a few environments. We will try to add any known issues to the end of this document. However, you should expect the are some issues.

Description

The idea behind the AOIP Driver is to be able to broadly receive, process, then send AOIP signals directly. The following instructions will show you how to create an AOIP Driver source, process it, then send it out again as an AOIP Output.

Unlike Livewire, there is no network clock required. The output rate is determined by the input rate.  More on this later.

Adding Audio Sources

1. From the main X/2 Control Panel, click on Audio Sources

2. From the Add audio source drop-down, select AOIP driver

   

3. Specify the following information

   1. Friendly Name - Any name to help you define this audio source

   2. Address - This is the multicast address of the audio source.  Only valid multicast addresses are accepted here.

   3. Port - UDP port used for multicast receive.  Default is 5004

   4. Payload type - must match the payload type of the received stream.  Default is 96

   5. Interface - Select the network interface used for this receive channel

   6. Sampling rate - only 48,000 and 44,100 are supported

   7. Bits per sample -  only 16 or 24-bit sources are accepted

   8. Channels - only two-channel streams are accepted

4. Click Save

Your new source will appear in the list of Audio Sources

Create some instances from this new Audio Source

In this example, we are going to apply some audio processing and then add a Nielsen watermark. You may add or remove these processes as needed.

Add a Processed Audio Source

Processed audio Sources (as opposed to normal Audio Processing are INTERNAL only. Meaning creating a Processed Audio Souce will show up as a Source you can use elsewhere in your configuration.

1. From the Main Control panel, click the New button

2. Pick Processed Audio Source

   1. Add a Name

   2. Pick the audio channel created in the previous steps

   3. Pick a processing method and preset

   4. Click Save

   5. Click the play (start) button and verify you have audio.

Add a Nielsen Watermark instance

1. From the Main Control panel, click the New button

2. Pick Nielsen Radio watermarked audio source

   1. Add a name

   2. For Audio Source, pick the Audio processed source created in the last step.

   3. CBET mode and CBET step aside should not be changed.

   4. Add your CBET id (provided to you by Nielsen)

   5. Add your CBET check digit (also provided by Nielsen)

   6. Click Save

   7. Click the play (start) button and verify audio is present

Create an AOIP output

1. From the Main Control panel, click the New button

2. Select AOIP Driver Output

   1. Add a Name

   2. Select the audio source. In this case, our Nielsen Watermarked source just created in the last step

   3. Pick the correct Source Mapping

      Source mapping is important. The sample rate and clock rate of the output are determined by whatever you choose for Source mapping. This would normally be the same. Meaning, you would receive from and send back to the same Network. Make sure you are choosing accordingly here.

   4. Set the output multicast address

   5. Set the output UDP port

   6. Set the output Payload type

   7. Set the Dealy packet count

      The Dealy packet count is used to account for jitter in the host machine. Because we are typically dealing with AES67 packets a delay packet count of 100 will add 100ms of delay before sending the audio. If latency is a factor, only set this high enough to achieve a stable output. On my test system, that number is between 100 and 125. 100 is the default.

   8. Click Save

   9. Click the play (start) icon

Known Issues

As of version 1.25.07 the following issues are known

• stopping any instance downstream of the source also stops the source. Workaround - stop all instances associated with the source and the source input. Start them in order.

• Trying to start an instance where the source before it is not started creates an error message. This is normal. For example, for the Nielsen instance to start, the audio process source before it must be started.

• When editing the AOIP driver output, the Source Mapping list will default back to the first item in the list rather than the one you picked. Workaround - each time you edit an AOIP Driver Output make sure the correct Source mapping is selected.