Which solution is right for me?
One of the most frequently asked questions we get from customers is which solution better suits their needs, SAM Broadcaster Cloud or SAM Broadcaster Pro?
Both are excellent solutions, but when in doubt, ask. Our Help Desk will happily help you decide which solution best suits your needs OR you can use the table below for a quick overview of both solutions to help make your decision. If you are a DJ with an existing station, we recommend SAM Broadcaster Pro. If you do not currently have an internet radio station and would like to start one, we recommend SAM Cloud.
Still unsure? Try a free trial of both!
A Comparative Look at SAM Broadcaster Cloud & SAM Broadcaster Pro
SAM Pro
( Software Solution )Start Your Free Trial!
- IDEAL FOR:
- Beginners
- Seasoned Broadcasters
- Broadcasters who require a cloud solution that is always online (no hardware required)
- Terrestrial stations (AM/FM) (check our studio version)
- Broadcasters who require to set up a station quickly
- If you require a fallback solution for your radio station
- If you broadcast on a private network not connected to the internet
- You use the solution mostly as an advanced playback system
- FEATURES
- Live Streaming
- Cloud radio that is always online
- Manage multiple DJs and stations
- Ability to upload and manage thousands of tracks
- 120 listener slots at up to 128kbps are included in your subscription
- Automate station using set rotation rules, tasks and playblocks
- The ability to automate tasks via scheduled events
- Ability to automate your station with the dual deck
- Accessible from any web browser
- Seamlessly switch between live shows and the powerful cloud-based Auto-DJ
- Ability to stream to an existing server SHOUTCAST and Icecast
- Streaming in several different formats, including AAC, aacPlus, AAC-HE, MP3, mp3PRO, Ogg and Windows Media
- Advanced audio processing with AGC
- Cross and fading features
- Volume equalizer, 5-band compressor, gap killer
- Beat Matching
- Voice Tracking
- Stream Encoding
- Statistics Relaying
- Website integration (HTML and PHP templates)
- Free players and widgets for your website including listener requests
- Social Media Integration
- Mobile Application for Managing the Station
- Listener statistics and reporting
SAM Cloud
( Cloud Solution )Start Your Free Trial!
- IDEAL FOR:
- Beginners
- Seasoned Broadcasters
-
Broadcasters who require a cloud solution that is always online
(no hardware required) - Terrestrial stations (AM/FM) (check our studio version)
- Broadcasters who require to set up a station quickly
- If you require a fallback solution for your radio station
- If you broadcast on a private network not connected to the internet
- You use the solution mostly as an advanced playback system
- FEATURES
- Live Streaming
- Cloud radio that is always online
- Manage multiple DJs and stations
- Ability to upload and manage thousands of tracks
- 120 listener slots at up to 128kbps are included in your subscription
- Automate station using set rotation rules, tasks and playblocks
- The ability to automate tasks via scheduled events
- Ability to automate your station with the dual deck
- Accessible from any web browser
- Seamlessly switch between live shows and the powerful cloud-based Auto-DJ
- Ability to stream to an existing server SHOUTCAST and Icecast
- Streaming in several different formats, including AAC, aacPlus, AAC-HE, MP3, mp3PRO, Ogg and Windows Media
- Advanced audio processing with AGC
- Cross and fading features
- Volume equalizer, 5-band compressor, gap killer
- Beat Matching
- Voice Tracking
- Stream Encoding
- Statistics Relaying
- Website integration (HTML and PHP templates)
- Free players and widgets for your website including listener requests
- Social Media Integration
- Mobile Application for Managing the Station
- Listener statistics and reporting
Live Broadcasting Explained
SAM Broadcaster Cloud provides a free Live-DJ key to each DJ login for your service. Live-DJ is very similar to SAM Broadcaster PRO with only a few minor differences. SAM Broadcaster PRO can do everything SAM Broadcaster Live-DJ can do, but the reverse is not true.
Live-DJ Requires Cloud Login
To access the Live-DJ software, you are required to be logged into SAM Broadcaster Cloud and have an internet connection. The Cloud login is optional in SAM Broadcaster PRO and can work even without an internet connection.
Streaming
Live-DJ streams a single high quality audio stream to the Cloud which then gets re-encoded ( transcoded) to all the supported formats configured by you in the Cloud. This includes streaming to SHOUTcast, Icecast, Live365 and other compatible servers.
SAM Broadcaster PRO has the same capabilities, and can simultaneously stream directly to your own streaming servers, which takes a lot of quality bandwidth to do reliably.
Still Not Sure?
Check out our video guides with more information on best practices for using these solutions and to see how they can help your station succeed. Please feel free to contact us – we have helped thousands of stations run professional broadcasts and we can help you too.