Overview

AAC / HE-AACv1/v2 / aacPlus Live Streaming Encoder for Professional Applications

The Absolute Highest Quality AAC/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2 Encoder

NOW SUPPORTS:

• RTMP Adobe Flash Media Server
• RTMP Wowza Media Server
• RTSP/RTP Apple QuickTime Streaming Server/Darwin Streaming Server
• RTP Real/Helix™ Mobile Server
• HTTP/ICY SHOUTcast™ / Icecast2 Servers

• Reach more players and devices than any other encoder.
• Supports direct MPEG-4 Adobe Flash live stream encoding without packet conversion servers.
• Supports streaming to ALL multimedia mobile phones.
• Supports streaming to Apple iPhone / iPod Touch and iPad.
• Uses standards-based AAC/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2 codecs and protocols.
• CDN compatibility without the use of proprietary protocols.
• Achieves the best audio quality using Dolby / Coding Technologies AAC/HE-AAC.
• Achieves the most cost effective streaming.
• Achieves the best streaming reliability.
• Supports standards-based realtime PAD metadata injection.
• Supports Microsoft Windows® XP / Vista / 7 / Server 2003 / Server 2008 32/64-bit.
• Ultra reliable encoder-server connectivity.
• Secure DMCA compliant live streams, pursuant to DMCA § Subparagraph (C)(vi).
• Files are NOT written to client computers/devices.
• Licensing included with codec, unlike ongoing MP3 licensing.

Opticodec-PC is the first MPEG-4 AAC/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2 aka 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/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2 aka aacPlus™ is changing the way streaming audio and netcasting is perceived. For a given bitrate, it sonically outperforms any other codec currently available. It is perfect for crowded Intenet infrastructures and mobile streaming.

The software lets streaming providers supply content encoded with the Coding Technologies® AAC / HE-AACv1 / HE-AAC v2   / aacPlus codec, widely acknowledged as offering the highest available audio quality at the lowest possible bit rate. Streams encoded with Opticodec-PC can be experienced through several players, including Adobe Flash, RealPlayer®, Winamp, Apple QuickTime and iTunes, and many iPhone Players such as Tuner2 HiFi. Streams can be listed on Tuner2, a Directory service for AAC / HE-AACv1 / HE-AAC v2   streams. This allows Opticodec-PC Streaming Encoder to deliver and reach the largest high-fidelity audio audience available.

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 1101, a professional PCI sound card designed for streaming media, provides "genuine radio"™ audio processing for Internet broadcasters for professional smooth consistent level controlled audio. With three on-board DSP's providing equalization, AGC, multi-band compression, and look-ahead limiting, Optimod-PC 1101, especially when combined with HE-AAC/aacPlus encoding technology, delivers a polished and produced stream that has the same loudness, consistency, and punch as major-market FM radio.

Opticodec-PC is available for Microsoft Windows® XP / Vista / 7 and Server 2003/2008 32/64-bit. 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®, the popular standard HTTP/ICY free Nullsoft SHOUTcast™ and Icecast2 servers, available for Microsoft Windows®, Linux®, FreeBSD®, and Sun Solaris®, and Adobe Flash servers, Adobe Flash Media Server and Wowza Media Server Pro.

Opticodec-PC also supports the injection of realtime PAD (Program Associated Data) and PAG (Program Associated Graphics). This can include such information as program name, description, song artist and title, as well as logos and cover art using several standards-based protocols. Your audience gets superb sonics with useful live program information.

In addition to sound card and audio processing functionality, Optimod-PC 1101 is two separate sound devices, and also a capable mixer, having one stereo analogue input, two AES3 / SPDIF digital inputs, and two wave inputs, all of which can be mixed or switched. Thanks to onboard sample rate converters, the two digital inputs can accept and mix asynchronous sources. In practice, the five inputs might be used for a local feed, a network feed, a voice channel, and two wave players, making Optimod-PC the heart of a "desktop netcasting studio." Thanks to separate "processed" and two "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. Since 1101 is two separate Sound Devices, content insertion systems, such as commercial replacement no longer require two separate sound cards. It can all be done with Optimod-PC 1101.

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 HE-AACv2 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."

Features

General

• FREE software players include Adobe Flash, RealNetworks RealPlayer, Apple QuickTime, and Nullsoft Winamp, among others.
• True streaming providing content security - not progressive downloads from a web server.
• Hardware players include Apple iPhone/iPod Touch, Terratec Noxon2, Roku Soundbridge, Chumby.
• Most efficient audio codec currently available.
• Most natural sounding lossy audio codec currently available.
• Provides higher audio quality for a given bitrate than other audio codecs.
• Fewer audible coding artifacts for a given bitrate than other audio codecs.
• Dramatically superior to MP3 and WMA.
• AAC is the choice for the number 1 music download service: Apple iTunes.
• HE-AACv1/v2 aka aacPlus is the choice for standards-based 3GPP mobile streaming.
• Minimizes network bandwidth costs.
• Maximizes network reliability minimizing buffering.
• When used with Optimod-PC, Opticodec-PC provides true entertainment-grade audio quality.
• Accurate peak-hold audio level metering.
• Robust network connectivity with auto-reconnect.
• Packet optimization for increased efficiency.
• Extensive, flexible metadata support using direct connect, Serial or Ethernet interfaces.

PE Version - Professional Edition

• Microsoft Windows XP/Vista and 2003/2008 Server Application.
• Graphical user interface uses standard Microsoft Windows menu structures for ease of learning and use.
• Supports batch file execution to enable easy launching and automation.
• Must be used with Optimod-PC professional signal processing sound card.
• Up to 128kbps bitrate using HE-AAC / aacPlus codec.
• Up to 320kbps bitrate using AAC codec.
• Unlimited number of encoder instances per stream.
• MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 / 3GPP / RTMP Enterprise Class Streaming

Opticodec-PC is also available as part of complete pre-configured computer systems with Optimod-PC for encoding and streaming applications.

Specifications

COMPATIBLE PLAYERS:

RTMP Flash

Adobe Flash Browser Plugin

AAC/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2

Tuner2 HiFi iPhone/iPod Touch

AAC/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2

RTSP/RTP

RealNetworks® RealPlayer® 10 and above

AAC/HE-AACv1 / aacPlus v1 Audio Streams

Apple Computer® QuickTime® Player 6.0 and above

AAC Audio Streams; Currently does not support HE-AAC/aacPlus

Will currently play AAC portion of HE-AAC/aacPlus streams

HTTP/ICY

Nullsoft Winamp 5.05 and above

AAC/HE-AACv1/HE-AACv2

PE Version - Professional Edition

COMPUTER

Minimum System Requirements: Recommend Intel CPU and Chipsets.

Microsoft Windows XP (Windows NT 5.1) 32/64-bit - Processor 233 MHz 32-bit (x86)/1GHz recommended, RAM 128MB/256MB recommended.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (Windows NT 5.2) 32/64-bit - Processor 133 Mhz 32-bit (x86)/1 GHz recommended, RAM 128MB/1024MB recommended.

Microsoft Windows Vista (Windows NT 6.0) 32/64-bit - Processor 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)/2 GHz recommended, RAM 512MB/1024MB recommended.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (Windows NT 6.0) 32/64-bit - Processor 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)/2 GHz recommended, RAM 512MB/2048MB recommended.

Microsoft Windows 7 (Windows NT 6.1) 32/64-bit - Processor 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)/2 GHz recommended, RAM 512MB/2048MB recommended.

This provides the minimum recommended CPU power to control an arbitrary number of Optimod-PC cards with external audio sources.

Audio player and/or encoding software will require additional CPU power.

Processor and Chipset: This software has been tested and qualified with Intel CPU and chipsets.

Sound Device:

An Orban Optimod-PC 1100/1101 audio processor / sound card must be installed in the host computer in order to run the Opticodec-PC PE application.

Interface:

Graphical User Interface (GUI), standard Microsoft Windows

May be executed from command-line using configuration file for each stream.

Codec Parameters

aacPlus Configurations

AAC Configurations