The DRS 2006 On Air Radio Studio (05/22/2002)
Radio Automation at its finest, incorporating every possible feature a Programme Controller/Director needs for full control of a broadcast. With additional safety features included, your broadcast will remain on the air uninterrupted. 

The all new GUI is your ticket to success. It has been totally redesigned. All functions are laid out in a logical order to be right there at a click of a mouse, or your fingertips for those using a touch-screen system.

This module incorporates the new LED Radio Clock, familiar to many. Turning to the color yellow, 30 seconds to the hour, gives you that added reassurance you will get your on-the-hour bulletins out on time.

Colored time indicators are also a new feature, giving the Jock that perfect edge, along with the Best Pick feature, ensuring a track is never repeated, unless of course you want to ;-)


Information Display

No Artist/No Title: Here will be displayed the Artist and title of the track.

Full Time: Displays the full playable time of a track, if it were to be played on its own, without a track following.

Position: Shows the current position of the track playing (Ascending).

To Cue: Displays the current position (Descending). The last 10 seconds of the track will change color to yellow. (Please note also a visual indicator to the right of the To Cue time, showing the user, how this track will end - either C, F, CF).

Intro: This 2 digit display allows the jock to perfectly time those links into a track, also changes color to yellow last 10 seconds of Intro.

Date: Um the date ;-).

Radio LED Clock: A neat little feature, which changes color to yellow 30 seconds to the hour.

Virtual Faders: A visual indicator as well as providing functionality allowing the user to fade out a track manually. The "H" button is a Pause feature, literally pausing the track for a Jock comment or insert. To resume playback click the "H" again.

Tracker: Green, Yellow and Red, is a quick visual indicator of the current position of the track playing, will progress left to right.

The Functions
Here we will describe the various functions and how to use them for optimum efficiency.

Playlist Slots: Not to be confused with the cart slots within On-Air DJ, these slots do allow you to alter the contents, but are primarily driven by a pre-set playlist or rotation.

You will notice immediately three differences between the first three slots, the green 'On Air' slot is the actual playing slot, whereas the gray 'Last Title' is the previously played title, and the blue 'Next Title' speaks for itself. The timings on the left show the exact time that a track will start, you will notice that the time increases.


Slot Functions
By clicking any of the slots or the buttons underneath the time indicator to the left, it will highlight the slot allowing the user to use a function associated with that slot. (Please note not all functions work for every slot, for example you cannot move the bottom slots item down, therefore, arrow pointing down in the symbols board will not show, but instead you will see the words 'Not Available'.)

The Symbols Board: (Top to Bottom)

Figure 1

Figure 2

(Figure 1)
Info and prelisten: (See Prelistening Engine section further below).

Insert DJ Break: Will stop the playlist at the end of your chosen track, allowing for the jock to comment etc.

Remove DJ Break: Changed your mind? Don't wish to speak here? Press this button.

Replace: Will replace the current item with one of your choice from the Database Search Engine.

(Figure 2)
Insert: Allows the user to insert an item from the Database Search Engine.

Remove: Removes an item from the playlist.

Move Up: Will move an item up the playlist.

Move Down: Will move an item down the playlist. If the button is marked 'Not available' this indicates that the bottom slot has been highlighted and the item cannot be moved down.


Silence Detection/Events
Silence Detection
When silence detection is activated in the Setup it will upon a non-jock generated silence, countdown your set time, and will either activate the next item in line of a playlist or and item from a category of your choice, should a playlist fail, or an item fail to play. This gives you the added reassurance that should you return to the studio in the morning DRS 2006 will still be playing items from your database.
Click on the button marked 'Silence Detection' in the lower left corner of the screen to bring up the Silence Detection dialog box.
The default setting for the Silence Detection is 25 seconds. This value can easily be changed by repeatedly clicking either the left or right green arrow until the desired value is reached.

Activate Silence Detection: check / uncheck to turn the Silence Detection on / off.
Do Not Activate At DJ Breaks: will when checked stop the silence detection from activating.
Only Activate if Output is DRS 2006: exactly what the name implies.
Emergency Category Rotation: should a playlist fail an item from this category will be played.

Events
Displays the list of upcoming Events that have been set via the Music Scheduler, for example, a news insert at a specific time.


Cart Slots

Incorporating the tracker, for a quick visual indicator of the items position during play.

Drop Next: Will drop the sound level (default 75%) next item to play in the playlist slots, so that you may speak over the incoming item, example during an intro.

Drop Now: Will drop the sound level (default 75%) so that you may speak over the item at any point - ideal for intros. To speak over an outgoing item and an incoming item, be sure to hit both the 'Drop Now' and 'Drop next' buttons.

Cart 1, 2 & 3: Incorporated as a rough singular Jingle, Bed, and Sweeper player, give the user the additional function of playing one of these individually or over a track, even an outgoing and incoming track (Crossplay). It has three settings:

Loop: Will loop continuously the item within the cart.

Cart mode: Will automatically drop the level of the main mix to 75% (Default) so an item can be played above the main item. It will also highlight the 'Drop Next' function should this item be required to be played over two items. Once complete it will return the main mix back to 100% volume. If you choose to end the item earlier than its predetermined time, simply click it once more and it will return the main mix to full volume. (This is useful for Fade End items)

Please note: You may at any time during the playing of this item, fade out the main mix.

Bed mode: Acts in a similar way, however this item will play at 75% (default) and will not drop the main mix volume or highlight the 'Drop Now'/'Drop Next' functions.

Please note: You may at any time during the playing of this item, fade out the main mix, but please note that the Silence Detection will start its countdown, also note that you may start a playlist at any point during any of the carts playing.

Stop: Press once to tell DRS 2006 that you wish to stop the playlist at the end of the current item. Pressing twice will fade out the item straight away and also activate the Silence Detection; this second part is a safety feature.

Start: ;-)


More Functions

Audio Setup: Pressing this buttons will cause the 'Audio Settings' dialog box to appear on your screen. This dialog gives you additional Audio Settings, allowing you to set your desired fade out seconds, drop level and percentage of volume drop.

Silence Detection: (see the Silence Detection section above).

Audio Plugin: If the DRS 2006 Broadcast Processor is installed on your system pressing this button will open either the DRS 2006 Broadcast Processor Std or DRS 2006 Broadcast Processor Pro settings dialog.

Set Studio Mode: this will open a dialog box where you can select the studio mode: either 'Real Time Scheduler', 'Pre-Scheduled', 'Simple Rotation' or 'Simple Playlist'. Up to now only 'Simple Rotation' is available.

Simple Rotation: The 'Simple Rotation' mode provides an easy way to automate your playlists. The dialog box is devided into three parts: a list showing all 'Available Rotation Categories', a second list showing the 'Used Rotation Categories', and an area in the lower portion where the control buttons are located.

To add a certain category to your rotation select it from the 'Available Categories' list and press the 'Move to Rotation' button beneath it. Do this as many times as needed until the 'Used Rotation Categories' list shows the rotation you wish to play. If you want to move a category up or down in the list use the 'Move Up' / 'Move Down' buttons. 'Remove' / 'Remove All' will remove either one or all categories from your list.

If you're satisfied with the rotation press 'Start Rotation' and DRS 2006 will play the rotation until you tell it to stop. Of course you can also save the rotation or load one you've previously created.

Note: All information like Cue Points, Intros etc. will be taken from the data you entered in the Audio Manager.


Set Output: This will open the 'Output Control' dialog box on your screen, allowing you to determine which output feed(s) to use. Possible choices are DRS 2006 (wave), Line Feed, CD Audio, Microphone or a combination of either one of them. Use the check boxes marked 'Activate' beneath the fade controls to select which feed to use.

You will also have to select the name of the device from the drop down box below the 'Activate' field. For example if you activate Line Feed the name should be something like "Line-In", depending on the sound card / device drivers installed on your system. The names you select here will automatically be saved so you will only have to select them once.

The drop down box 'Mixer ID and Destination' refers to the sound card you want to use. If you have only one sound card installed on your system the correct setting will usually be "0".

To best understand how this feature works you should try it out yourself. For example if there is another DRS 2006 On Air Radio Studio running on a computer on your local network that is connected to the input of your sound card and you've activated 'Line Feed' press the button marked 'Fade to Line Feed' to fade from your currently running playlist to the one running on the other machine. Click Fade to DRS 2006 to fade back to your own playlist. :-)

You can do the same thing with your CD Audio device. Start playing an audio CD and click 'Fade to CD Audio' to fade from DRS 2006 to CD Audio and back.
Of course you can also fade back and forth between all four devices.

Remote Mode: not yet available :-(

Quick Cart: Pressing this button will bring up yet another dialog box. This dialog box allows you to play an item that is not integrated into your DRS 2006 database. Browse to the directory where the audio file you want to play is located, select it and press the 'START' button to begin playing the item. This feature is very useful for one-time audio files.

Note: the selections you have made in the 'Set Studio Mode', 'Set Output' and 'Remote Mode' dialog boxes will be shown on the status screen located to the right of the control buttons.


Prelistening Engine

This small, yet amazingly advanced PFL unit gives the user the ability to listen to a chosen playlist item and items within the search engine window. But it does more than that, allowing authorized users to write any changes back to the database for future use. In essence it is a miniature version of the DRS 2006 Audio manager. Accessed by the 'Info & Prelisten' and 'P' buttons, the audio is carried via a second soundcard or dual output soundcard on your system.

The clear and easy to read display gives accurate mp3 tag information, encoding properties, the full time of the item, and the current position.

Cue Fade In: By moving the slider or big green arrows on the right you can set how the song will fade into a mix. Can be set by the second or tenths.

Cue Fade Out: Exactly the opposite effect of Cue Fade In.

Intro: Once set advises the user of the countdown time limit before an artist begins to sing (for example). Can also be set on-the-fly by clicking the "Set" button at the exact moment you choose.

Cue In: If, for example, an item has a silence at the beginning, you can set the Cue In to get rid of this unwanted silence, so in essence the track will fire at the point which you set, or you may wish to fire the track at any point of your choosing. Can also be set on-the-fly by clicking the "Set" button at the exact moment you choose.

Cue Out: Exactly the opposite of Cue In, but also ensuring you have that perfect mix by setting the time the track will end. The next track will fire at the point set. Can also be set on-the-fly by clicking the "Set" button at the exact moment you choose.

Tracker: A visual indicator of how far through the track you have prelistened.

Jump To End: Will, once pressed, jump the tracker to the last 10 seconds of the track (by default), a time saving feature, so you may review an ending.

F, C, CF: Once set will show the user, in the main display, how this particular item will end: F = Fade, C = Cut End, and CF = Cut Fade.

Current Slot: Indicates the playlist slot you are prelistening to, you may choose any of the items in the playlist slots by clicking the arrows.

Drop Others: Will indicate to DRS 2006 that this item is for example a Voice Insert, and will drop the volume of an item following it so that this item will play over the top, without the audio being drowned out. When a drop others item is inserted within a playlist, it will once fired, simultaneously fire the next Playlist item. This option prevents your softer sounding items from being drowned out by a more aggressive element in the playlist. You will use this often. To activate, check the box.

Preferences, Toggle Playlist/Equalizer: Provides Winamp functionality.

More Information: Will open the Information dialog, providing further details of Album, Sound Code, and Comment etc.

Write To Database: If the user has had rights to use this function set in the DRS 2006 Administration Kit, He/She may write any changes made to an item, back to the database. Please be careful assigning rights to use this feature.

Save & Exit: Will, once you have completed your alterations to an item, temporarily save those changes to the item, when the item is played, it will use those changes, one time only. When the item is cleared it will revert back to the settings held within the DRS 2006 Database.


Search Engine Database Features

Category Filter: Allows for quick and easy access to the few or many categories of music you may have within your database. By typing "All" in the category filter box, will display all your database items in the search engine window. For example if you choose "Rock" it will display only those items pertaining to rock, which have been set via Audio Manager. To refresh this screen and return to view all database items click "Reset & Refresh".

Sort After Column: Again the same for this filter, giving you the option to view songs by year or intro for example, displaying those in the search engine window.

Text Search In Current Columns: By entering a few characters of a title or artist of a song, the DRS 2006 powerful search engine will immediately display all songs that have those characters contained within the filename. For example typing: auto, will display Automatic Taxi Star - She's a bit, and any others containing the word auto. Can't remember the Artist, no problem; just type in what you know and let DRS 2006 find the matches for you. It is worthy to note to activate the search you must click the "Search" button below the Filtered items digits.

Best Picks: This is a very neat feature allowing the user to see at one glance what would be the best item to play next.

For each category, DRS 2006 sets up a Priority Index consisting of 9999 entries. Each time an item is played in one of the DRS 2006 modules (expect the Audio Manager) this item is put at the very beginning of the Priority Index list. The entry showing the highest number, i.e. 9999, indicates that it would be the best item to play next while an entry showing the lowest number indicates that it has just recently been played. Pressing the 'Best Picks' button will display the entry currently showing 9999 in the Priority Index column. If 'All' is selected from the 'Category Filter' box you will see several entries numbered 9999 - one from each category.

Note: You can achieve the same result by selecting 'Priority Index' from the 'Sort after Column' box.

To best understand how this feature works you should try it out yourself. Once you start playing an item you can see how it is automatically being moved to the beginning of the list and a new item has been moved up to position 9999.