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Rocket Broadcaster Changelog

What's new in Rocket Broadcaster 1.3.43

Feb 28, 2024
  • Audio Input volume control now saves across restarts
  • System Audio Capture can now be disabled in the Preferences dialog.
  • Improved compatibility with high DPI displays and display scaling. Rendering is greatly improved on 4K displays with display scaling.
  • Improved the way soundcards are enumerated, to improve device compatibility and fix some bugs:
  • Fixed a bug causing some MME sound devices to open in mono.
  • Fixed some inconsistencies with devices that differed in capabilities depending on the selected Audio API.
  • Fixed a bug causing the Broadcast Wizard settings to not apply.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.3.37 (Feb 28, 2023)

  • Changes include:
  • Added CPU usage monitor for encoders linked to Radio Mast.
  • Added support for Smarts Broadcast Skylla metadata format
  • Added support for "Hyphen Delimited" metadata format.
  • Added "%ignore%" token for Window Title metadata capture, to allow ignoring certain parts of a window title.
  • Network optimizations
  • Fixed rare instability caused by the "Link to Radio Mast" feature.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.3.34 (Jan 11, 2023)

  • Improved reconnection logic, optimized for high reliability platforms like Radio Mast.
  • "Generic INI file" metadata format parser, allowing INI files to be parsed for metadata.
  • Metadata remapper: In the Metadata Processor, there is a new "Advanced" button which can be used to remap metadata fields. This is particularly useful when parsing generic INI files, allowing you to map various key/value pairs onto standard fields like "artist" or "title".
  • Bugfixes and other tweaks include:
  • Allow @ symbols in Legacy Shoutcast 1 Passwords, and warn about forbidden characters.
  • Fixed a bug where muting a channel could cause distorted audio over time
  • Fixed a recording bug where leftover audio could sometimes be saved when splitting files or toggling recording.
  • Disabled Audio Output (for local monitoring) by default, to reduce likelihood of misconfiguration

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.3.27 (May 12, 2022)

  • Improved WASAPI compatibility with some soundcards with limited sample formats. This should fix the dreaded "Audio Device Error" with some finicky soundcards.
  • Fixed compatibility issue causing distorted output with some ASIO devices
  • Fixed ASIO input volume control and master monitoring

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.3.3 (Jan 29, 2020)

  • Soundcard Compatibility Improvements:
  • Audiophiles will be pleased to hear that we've improved support for high-end soundcards. We've also added support for mono inputs, which is particularly useful if you need to capture many streams from a single soundcard (via multiple instances of Rocket Broadcaster Pro).
  • Added ASIO Support:
  • Improved compatibility with high-end soundcards via the ASIO audio API. ASIO can now be chosen in the preferences, and supports up to 96 kHz.
  • Improved support for UAD soundcards.
  • ASIO channel names are now shown, which is especially helpful on soundcards with many inputs.
  • Reintroduced Windows MME and DirectSound audio APIs, to improve compatibility with certain legacy soundcards with older drivers.
  • Added mono input support. This allows you to capture from individual mono inputs on a soundcard, and automatically handles upmixing to stereo if needed.
  • New Metadata Ingestion:
  • Metadata can now be ingested from more automation and metadata systems:
  • Added Artic Palm CSRDS XML metadata support
  • Added Enco DAD XML metadata support
  • Other Improvements:
  • Fixed saving Shoutcast 2 artwork and "private stream" preferences
  • Increased the max number of saved recordings
  • Download the Update:
  • Free Edition - Download the latest update here!
  • Pro Edition - If you're a Pro Edition user, click the download link in your purchase confirmation email again to get the latest update, or visit My Products in the Oscillicious Shop.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.3.0 (Nov 21, 2019)

  • New Features:
  • Recording to Disk
  • Record your broadcast to any supported audio format / codec, not just the format you're streaming.
  • Automatically remove old recordings when there's low disk space or when there's a certain number of recordings.
  • Manually split recordings on-demand
  • Automatically split recordings at the top of the hour
  • Master Output Monitoring: Added the ability to listen to your master output (Options-Monitor Master Output). This is particularly useful when tweaking VST effects.
  • Added a button to "Clone" a stream in the Streams window.
  • Added option to auto detect the character encoding with the Text File metadata ingestion method.
  • Bugfixes:
  • Improved FLAC encoding compatibility (eliminated glitching) and optimized bandwidth. (FLAC works great with the newly released RSAS 0.18 too!)
  • Fixed FLAC and Opus streams disconnecting after sustained silence.
  • Removed an old DLL that could cause intermittent metadata connectivity issues on certain systems with wifi.
  • Fixed remote encoder monitoring connectivity issues the "Link to Radio Mast" feature.
  • Failed metadata updates are now logged.
  • Fixed tab order in Streams dialog.
  • Fixed muted VU meters appearing unmuted after opening the Preferences window.
  • When using a custom metadata output format, the fully formatted metadata is displayed in the main window.
  • LINK metadata for RCS Zetta Lite XML format is now parsed.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.2.14 (Sep 2, 2019)

  • Rocket Broadcaster 1.2.14 is now out! This new release can ingest metadata from even more radio automation software, and includes a number of bugfixes. We'd like to thank many of our customers for working with us to develop metadata support for these additional automation systems.
  • Here's what's new in this release:
  • PRO: Capture Metadata from RCS Zetta, RadioBOSS, Arrakis Digilink Xtreme (Live365 XML), Audisi GML, and iMediaTouch
  • Rocket Broadcaster Pro can now receive and parse metadata from a slew of new radio automation suites, including:
  • RCS Zetta
  • RadioBOSS
  • Arrakis Digilink Xtreme (via the Live365 XML export)
  • Audisi GML
  • iMediaTouch (LMIV format).
  • Rocket Broadcaster can read metadata from the applications via TCP, UDP, or via an XML file (depending on the automation software).
  • For a full list of radio automation software and formats that Rocket Broadcaster can ingest and embed in your stream, see our list of Compatible Radio Automation Systems.
  • Other Automation Software:
  • Need to ingest metadata from other automation software? Let us know and we'll do our best to support it.
  • Other Recent Improvements and Bugfixes:
  • Fixed a rare crash that could occur if you edited your stream settings during a reconnect.
  • Opus: Fixed invalid Opus samplerates being allowed, and force hard CBR mode.
  • Shoutcast 1: Fixed extra rn being sent when connecting via Shoutcast 1 Legacy protocol.
  • Shoutcast 1: Fixed Shoutcast 1 (non-Legacy) protocol not being able to connect with SID > 1.
  • Shoutcast 2: Improved timeout behaviour for Shoutcast 2 protocol.
  • Shoutcast 2: Fixed Shoutcast 2 encoding of special HTML/XML characters.
  • Metadata: Improved UTF-16 metadata compatibility.
  • Metadata: Read multi-line TCP metadata.
  • FLAC bitrate is reported as 1500 kbps, to avoid confusion.
  • Fixed spurious "your streams have pending changes" message.
  • Minor soundcard compatibility improvements.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.2.6 (Jun 3, 2019)

  • Changes in this release:
  • Bugfix: Text File metadata ingestion reworked for better resilience when the file is on a network share. (Falls back to polling once per second.) Prior to this update, temporary unavailability of the network share could result in the metadata no longer refreshing.
  • Added an option to ignore blank text files.
  • Liquid Compass metadata: Added support for ingesting Liquid Compass metadata (tilda separated fields).
  • Omnia metadata: Added support for ingesting Omnia "line parser" and XML metadata formats.
  • Character encodings - The character encoding of ingested metadata can now be specified. This can fix garbled characters with non-Latin characters.
  • Bugfix: Fixed a spurious "You have unapplied changes..." message.
  • Bugfix: Opus encoder was incompatible with some Windows installations.
  • Bugfix: Fixed duplicate metadata with Shoutcast 1 Legacy protocol.
  • Also included are a slew of improvements to soundcard compatibility:
  • Improved compatibility of "Other Applications" audio capture.
  • Fixed a rare issue causing the wrong "Other Applications" device to be opened under certain circumstances.
  • Added "Device Default" as the default samplerate. This improves hotplugging compatibility and is the recommended option.
  • Disabling audio input device - Added an option to disable the audio input device, to improve compatibility on PCs with no input devices.
  • Improved error messages when there's no available audio input or output devices.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.2 (Jan 22, 2019)

  • Shoutcast 2 Support:
  • Rocket Broadcaster Pro can now stream to Shoutcast 2 servers using the Shoutcast 2 protocol (also known as Ultravox 2.1). Providing the best performance with Shoutcast 2 servers, this new protocol also supports adding station artwork to your stream.
  • The Free Edition of Rocket can stream using this protocol for up to 30 minutes, so everybody can try it out.
  • Improved Shoutcast 1.x Support
  • While we were at it, we also improved our existing Shoutcast 1.x protocol support, which can be used on both Shoutcast 1 and 2 servers. This is a little confusing, but it turns out there's really three separate variants of the Shoutcast protocol and so we've split them up inside Rocket:
  • Shoutcast 1 (Legacy) - Compatible with Shoutcast 1.x servers only. Does not support the SID or DJ username field.
  • Shoutcast 1 - An extension that's compatible with Shoutcast 2.x servers only. Adds the SID and DJ username fields.
  • Shoutcast 2 - A completely different protocol that provides slightly better performance, and supports more metadata. Supports SID, DJ username, and station artwork.
  • Rocket Broadcaster Pro now supports all of these. However, we did discover a couple quirks in the Shoutcast 2 software during testing, so if you're setting up your own server, be sure to read our Streaming Server Compatibility Notes.
  • Other New Features and Bugfixes:
  • Accidentally unplugged your USB soundcard? No problem - Rocket now detects an unplugged sound device and automatically restarts streaming when it's plugged back in.
  • Improved reliability of the "Window Title" metadata capture method. Fixes not being able to grab metadata from VLC.
  • Added an option in the preferences to show a large label on the window with the project name, to make it easier to identify what's being broadcast in multi-instance setups.
  • Improved audio device error handling
  • Fixed advanced metadata fields not saving.
  • Duplicate metadata is now ignored when captured from an external source (TCP/UDP/Text File)
  • Text file metadata capture: Blank text files are now ignored.
  • The feedback dialog no longer prompts if the application exits during system shutdown or for multi-instance setups.
  • Fixed a benign error message after automated Windows restarts.
  • Fixed text file browse dialog filter being applied incorrectly.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.14 (Sep 19, 2018)

  • PRO - Capture Metadata from RCS Nexgen Digital and Scott Studios SS32:
  • Rocket Broadcaster Pro can now receive XML metadata from the RCS Nexgen Digital radio automation software. We've also added support for receiving metadata from SS32, via our new Metadata TCP Client. We've found SS32 works best in "Host Mode", and we've added a TCP client in Rocket Broadcaster to support it.
  • PRO - Multiple Instances on one PC:
  • You can now officially run multiple instances of Rocket Broadcaster Pro on one PC. Multiple instances of Rocket can be used to stream separate audio for different stations, if you've purchased multiple licenses.
  • To set up extra instances, click Help->License->Add Additional Installation... in the menu in Rocket.
  • PRO - Remote Control and Monitoring through Radio Mast:
  • Do you ever need to change your stream settings or check on Rocket Broadcaster while you're away from the studio?
  • With our new Radio Mast platform, you now can. If you run a radio network, Radio Mast lets you centrally manage and monitor your Rocket Broadcaster installations to save you time, from anywhere in the world.
  • Compact View:
  • A new compact user interface mode has been added. This is especially useful if you're running multiple instances of Rocket on one PC and you want to fit all the windows on one monitor.
  • Other Recent Improvements and Bugfixes:
  • Revamped AAC encoder, now with support for the HE-AAC v1 codec.
  • Added ability to restart individual streams (right-click on a stream and select "Restart")
  • Added a hint when you have changes to your streams that are unapplied.
  • Revamped stream panel - The mount and hostname are now visible for each stream.
  • Simplified the set up of multiple installations on one PC - (Help->License->Add Additional Installation...)
  • Improved soundcard compatibility
  • During a Windows reboot, Rocket will no longer show any prompts.
  • If your PC reboots after a Windows Update, Rocket will now automatically start back up.
  • If no username is specified for Icecast streams, it now defaults to "source" (by convention of the protocol).
  • iMediaTouch track durations are also available as a nice human-readable string via the %DurationHuman% template variable.
  • Bugfix: Recording devices now refresh immediately when changing the Audio API setting in the preferences.
  • Bugfix: Reconnection logic improved.
  • Bugfix: Ignore GENERICMSG tags in TRE XML metadata.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.12 (Jun 11, 2018)

  • We're pleased to announce the release of Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.12! This is another cumulative update, including performance improvements, bugfixes, and a couple new features. These new changes were designed in close collaboration with a number of FM and digital broadcast stations, and we'd like to thank our amazing broadcaster community for their feedback and direction.
  • Lower Latency, Improved Performance:
  • This new update significantly lowers the audio latency throughout the application, improving performance and synchronization between your audio stream and metadata. Broadcasters who have in-stream advertisements triggered by metadata will see a marked improvement in timing synchronization and precision.
  • PRO Capture Metadata from iMediaTouch, WideOrbit Automation for Radio, and The Radio Experience:
  • Rocket Broadcaster Pro can now receive XML metadata from the radio automation software used by many FM broadcasters, keeping your stream metadata in sync with your broadcast. Metadata updates sent by UDP are now supported too.
  • Need to ingest metadata from other automation software? Let us know and we'll do our best to support it.
  • Other Recent Improvements and Bugfixes:
  • Metadata read from a text file can now be in any of the supported formats.
  • Metadata sent to Icecast can now be customized to use any extra metadata parsed from XML via TCP/UDP. (Added the "Output Format" tab in the Metadata Capture window.)
  • Added option to remove your Pro license from a computer (Help->License->Remove License...)
  • Reduced soundcard latency, and latency between stream audio and metadata.
  • Added ability to receive metadata via UDP, for compatibility with more automation systems.
  • Added support for receiving XML metadata from iMediaTouch, WideOrbit Automation for Radio, and The Radio Experience.
  • Bugfix: Fixed automatic reconnection to Shoutcast servers failing during adverse network conditions.
  • Bugfix: Improved compatibility with certain VST plugins.
  • Bugfix: Improved compatibility with certain soundcards.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.8 (Mar 28, 2018)

  • [Pro] Capture Metadata over TCP:
  • Other software applications can now directly update your stream's metadata automatically and remotely using the new TCP metadata server.
  • [Pro] Capture Metadata from a Text File:
  • Stream metadata can now also be read from a text file, which can be updated by scripts or other radio automation software.
  • [Pro] AAC and AAC+ Encoder:
  • To support you in operating your radio station legally, we're pleased to announce this release includes licensed AAC and AAC+ encoders.
  • Other Recent Improvements and Bugfixes:
  • Improved error messages when loading invalid VST plugins.
  • Icecast metadata improvement: Stream genre and description are now configurable on a stream-by-stream basis.
  • Added 56 kbps as a supported bitrate.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.7 (Mar 28, 2018)

  • Windows XP compatibility (unsupported, but it works).
  • Added command-line options. Run rocketbroadcaster.exe --help for usage.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.5 (Mar 28, 2018)

  • Fixed compatibility with 32-bit Windows. Previously, 32-bit users would be unable to connect to Icecast or SHOUTcast.
  • Fixed an issue causing instability with long window titles.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.4 (Mar 28, 2018)

  • Fixed "Other Applications" audio slider not syncing with system volume level at startup.
  • Removed support for ASIO due to buggy drivers and the ASIO SDK causing instability. Microsoft's WASAPI audio API provides a low-latency, stable experience for every broadcaster, and we stand by it.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.3 (Mar 28, 2018)

  • Improved compatibility with PCs where "Other Applications" audio is unavailable.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.2 (Mar 28, 2018)

  • Improved compatibility with certain VST plugins.
  • Fixed a bug connecting to Icecast servers using passwords that include punctuation.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.1.0 (Dec 2, 2016)

  • VST Plugin Support:
  • Process your radio's sound with your favorite effects and DSP plugins. Rocket Broadcaster now supports 32-bit VST 2.x plugins, the leading standard for audio effects plugins, and has been tested extensively with Stereo Tool, a broadcast mastering processor used by over 1,000 FM radio stations. VST plugin support is available today for all Pro Edition users, and if you're a Free Edition user, you can still try out VST plugins for 10 minutes at a time to hear how good your broadcast could sound.
  • Looking for some good VST plugins to try out on your station? Check out our list of top VST plugins for radio broadcasters.
  • Process your radio station's audio with world-class DSP processors like Stereo Tool.
  • PRO Auto-Start Broadcast on Launch:
  • Professional broadcasters running Rocket 24/7 or in Windows server environments can now automatically start broadcasting each time the program is launched. An option is available in the preferences to toggle this behaviour.
  • High DPI / Retina Display Support:
  • For Windows users with high resolution displays and display scaling, Rocket Broadcaster now looks better than ever with improved visuals and High DPI support.
  • Rocket Broadcaster scales seamlessly and stays crisp on high DPI displays.
  • Master VU Meter:
  • To help you visualize the effects of a VST plugin, Rocket Broadcaster now includes a master VU meter. For example, if you're using a compressor/limiter VST plugin with sufficient makeup gain, you should be able to see your master sound levels peaking near the top more often. You might also notice there's a small (~100ms) delay between the input and master stages in Rocket, and this is due to the input and output processing being fully decoupled and protected with extra buffering, to enhance streaming stability.
  • Other Tweaks:
  • Increased the default buffer size to 2048 samples, which improves performance on older PCs.
  • Added extra buffering to "Other Application" audio capture, to improve stability when your system is under load.
  • Fixed a rare condition that impacted stability at launch for a small number of users.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.0.9 (Oct 25, 2016)

  • Can't connect to a stream? Yeah, we've been there. And there's so many potential causes that it's not usually clear what's wrong. We've got good news though - This release adds a couple new features to help broadcasters out when troubleshooting streaming issues. The new Stream Diagnostic Test aims to give you a better clue about what's wrong and some suggestions on how to fix the problem. You can run the diagnostic by clicking "Test Stream" in the "Streams" screen.
  • Here's a breakdown of what's new:
  • Stream Diagnostic Test - In the Streams dialog, you can now test each stream, and Rocket Broadcaster will run a suite a tests to ensure your stream will work correctly. If there are any problems found, Rocket Broadcaster will tell you what they are and some hints on how to fix them, which should hopefully make stream troubleshooting easier.
  • PRO Logging - For Pro Edition users, Rocket Broadcaster now logs information about each stream to a log file located in your My Documents/Rocket Broadcaster folder. This is particularly useful for seeing a history of how long each stream stayed connected for, and seeing if there were any disconnections. The logs are rotated every couple of megabytes to ensure they won't consume too much disk space.
  • Some minor tweaks to the Radionomy broadcast wizard were made to further improve compatibility with some stations.

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.0.8 (Oct 12, 2016)

  • Today's update introduces the new Broadcast Wizard, which simplifies stream setup for new users, and includes 60 minutes of free streaming in case you don't have a streaming provider yet.
  • New Features:
  • Added the Broadcast Wizard, which is shown on first run and is accessible at any time from the File menu.
  • Rocket Broadcaster now comes with 60 minutes of free streaming, so you can still broadcast right away even if you don't have stream hosting or are new to internet radio broadcasting.
  • Usability:
  • You can now right-click on streams in the main window to edit them or copy their streaming link.
  • The "Broadcast Now" button has been split into separate "Start Broadcast" and "Stop Broadcast" buttons.
  • Creating a new broadcast project automatically opens the Streams window.
  • The Streams window now remembers which stream you were viewing last.
  • Better feedback is provided if you try to start a broadcast with invalid stream settings.
  • Other:
  • The mount and username fields are disabled for SHOUTcast, since they aren't used for that protocol.
  • Improved artwork

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.0.7 (Oct 7, 2016)

  • This update further improves compatibility with a range of soundcards, and should fix issues some users encountered with stuttering or distorted streams.
  • Here's what's new:
  • Comprehensive samplerate conversion support. The internal engine now processes at the playback samplerate for higher precision. You can now mix and match playback samplerate, recording samplerate, system audio samplerate, and stream samplerates.
  • "Other Application" volume is now linked to your Windows master volume, due to some technical restrictions.
  • Some minor user interface improvements - more to follow soon.
  • Fixed manual metadata updates when using automatic metadata capture.
  • Barring any surprises, the next update should include some user interface improvements and possibly the addition of the Broadcast Wizard, to make getting started easier for new users. Stay tuned!

New in Rocket Broadcaster 1.0.5 (Oct 7, 2016)

  • Thanks to everyone who's tried out Rocket Broadcaster and sent in their feedback. A number of issues were identified and a couple of small updates were released in the past few days to fix them. This new 1.0.5 releases includes all those bugfixes, plus a few more.
  • Here's what's new:
  • Improved Shoutcast compatibility (especially with Radionomy).
  • Improved UTF-8 handling for Icecast metadata.
  • Added more bitrates to the Pro Edition, going down to 32 kbps now.
  • By popular demand, the Free Edition is now fixed to 128 kbps instead of 192 kbps, for better compatibility with certain stream hosting providers.
  • Fixed a crash due to an incompatibility with the system audio capture format, and improved that format's compatibility to work on more PCs.
  • Fixed a confusing bug where audio would be choppy with the "Windows Default" playback device. Ditched support for the very old WMME API in favour of only WASAPI and WDMKS, which are better in every way anyways.