This intelligent and highly recommended piece of software makes radio automation effortless with store, search and playback control on your audio that can be run by auto pilot, leaving the radio DJ’s chair vacant
Simian 2.1 is a fully featured, professional radio automation and computer playout system for Radio, Internet and Satellite Broadcasting.
Simian 2.1 PRO is an advanced automation system for use by Radio Broadcast professionals and Advanced Internet Broadcasting. It has all the features of our Simian LITE program plus features specifically for the more demanding Radio Station environment.
Radio Automation Software doesn't come much better than Simian. The complete automation and radio playout system from BSI, with advanced capability and a solid reputation for reliability and world-class support.
Simian is very easy to operate. Just record or transfer your music onto a hard drive (250 GB will store 5,500 Linear PCM songs) and Simian's dynamic database will automatically add the files to its database. Use the easy search and filter options to drill-down to Title, Artist, Album, Year - find songs easily. Simian will run entirely automated (our tests have achieved in excess of 250 days) or as a
live-assist playout system.
Simian uses Microsoft standard audio files (compressed or non-compressed), MP2, MP3 files (via CODEC), and TM Century files. You can even run other programs on the same PC while you're running Simian.
Features
Closure handling for satellite rebroadcast
Relay control for outboard devices
Incoming and Outgoing Serial communications
16 configurable pass-through mixers
Record Decks for timed or on-the-fly records
Backtime and FlexTime Features
Ability to retrieve and announce weather and forecast information
69 available Automation Macros for ultimate versatility
For peace of mind, we strongly suggest that you consider a fully configured system direct from BSI that is ready to operate out of the box (we can even pre-load a Music Library from our MusicStore for you).
While Simian 2.1 uses no proprietary hardware, just an ordinary Microsoft Windows XP professional® or Windows 7 Professional® equipped PC, it is very important to have off-the-shelf machines configured and optimized professionally for multimedia performance.
If you are sourcing your own computers & hardware, please ensure that all the hardware is fully compatible with the motherboard - and pay particular attention to memory and cooling.
Pitfalls to Avoid:
We have put together a list of some of the major pitfalls to avoid when building your own system:
Any server based operating system (including Windows 2003); our supported operating systems are Windows XP professional with SP2 or newer, and Windows 7 Professional 32bit. No other operating systems (including Windows XP Home or Media, or any of the Vista versions) are supported.
File should be played off the LOCAL PC's hard drive, not across a network or from a file server
A file server is neither desired nor required, may decrease performance and introduces a single point of failure. We supply configuration instructions for a fully redundant networked system, with software file-mirroring suitable for an Air and production system, or multiple workstations.
Windows 7 64-bit - Although Simian is supported on the Windows 7 Professional 32-bit OS, Windows 7 64-bit is currently undergoing extended testing by BSI, and is not currently supported. We currently only support AudioScience sound cards on the Windows 7 32-bit platform.
Intel Celeron or AMD PROcessors (or emulated PCs) - use Genuine Intel Pentium 4 or above CPUs
Disable Hyper-threading and, where applicable, Dual-Core CPUs . Neither are required nor utilized by Simian 2.1 and owing to the way in which they operate, can have a detrimental effect on long-term reliability.
SCSI or IDE drives - use SATA 3Gb/s drives for best performance; using seperate hard-drives for Windows and Audio Files can also help in a number of ways.
Software RAID Arrays - these can be detrimental to performance, place additional requirements on your computer system, and often make it more difficult to rebuild or restore a machine. They also do nothing to Protect against viruses or accidental deletion of files (our Second Copy software file mirroring keeps multiple copies of deleted files safely).
'Cheap' or non-branded memory - make sure you use a brand recommended by your motherboard manufacturer. 512MB is enough for basic operation on Windows XP, but we're now fitting 2GB as standard to the machines we supply.
Flimsy, thin cases with little RF shielding (often consisted mainly of plastic and with poor air circulation). A good technical ground is essential in a professional broadcast environment.
Consumer Grade Audio Cards - Simian 2.1 requires an AudioScience 6xxx series card to enable all available features.
Drivers or Software Updates not yet certified by BSI. Manufacturers will often make newer drivers and utilities available on their web sites prior to them being fully tested by BSI. You can find the latest recommended drivers and utilites listed in our Support Forum.
For optimum performance, we also recommend that for music-on-hard-drive stations, two PCs be used... one for Air, the other for production. When purchased together and configured correctly, the production license is enabled as a Hot Standby Redundant Backup that can be used for backup Air (as well as production) use, during the validity of your Tech Care Plan. If you do not renew your Tech Care Plan, the play decks will be disabled which will limit usage to basic production duties (including Voice Tracking) only.
BSI Simian 2.1 PRO Radio Automation Software datasheet