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Old 10-17-2018, 12:38 PM   #1
cyrano
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Default Recording Skype and other VOIP sources

I needed to get a solution to record Skype and found this German software:

https://studio-link.de/

Up 'till now my preferred solution was running Skype on one Mac and doing the recording on a second Mac.

Studio link shows "Skype mic", "Skype speakers" and "Stream" as options in System preferences/Sound. Very easy to select those as input our output in Reaper.

But that's just a start. They also build a hardware solution for VOIP in general and also offer sip services.

Most of it is free. The program "Studio link" is free and use of the VOIP server is free for incoming calls. The hardware obviously isn't and neither are outgoing calls. But these are affordable, like 2,4 cent/min for most European calls and 1,9 cent/min for the USA. See:

https://www.sipgatebasic.de/

This software seems to work flawlessly with "Ultraschall", a theme/setup for Reaper to make podcasters' life easier. I'm not a podcaster, but it seems to reflect what I do closely enough to cover my needs too. You can find Ultrachall at:

https://www.ultraschall.de/

Biggest disadvantage is that fora and documentation are mostly in German. The software itself and installation instructions are in English.
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Old 10-17-2018, 03:28 PM   #2
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Skype for business lets you record right from the app. It's pretty handy.
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Old 10-17-2018, 03:33 PM   #3
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New URL for Ultraschall: https://ultraschall.fm/

Ultraschall requires Reaper v5.40 specifically. That's why I passed on it 2 years ago. And that seems to be around that last time it was updated.

Nein, danke.
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Old 10-17-2018, 03:48 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jerome_oneil View Post
Skype for business lets you record right from the app. It's pretty handy.
Thx for the suggestion. Didn't know...

But still, thuis does most other VOIP sources too. Pretty universal...
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Old 10-17-2018, 03:50 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMaartian View Post
New URL for Ultraschall: https://ultraschall.fm/

Ultraschall requires Reaper v5.40 specifically. That's why I passed on it 2 years ago. And that seems to be around that last time it was updated.

Nein, danke.

I'm using it with the latest Reaper. No problem.

The latest version of Ultraschall dates a few months back. A new one is on the way. We're at 3.1 by now and a newer one will be released next spring...
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Old 10-18-2018, 09:16 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cyrano View Post
I'm using it with the latest Reaper. No problem.

The latest version of Ultraschall dates a few months back. A new one is on the way. We're at 3.1 by now and a newer one will be released next spring...
Good to know, but why does their website specify 5.40? Must be that that's the version it was developed and tested on.

Heaven knows I wouldn't want to have to a full compliance test for each new Reaper released version.
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Old 10-18-2018, 11:58 AM   #7
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I'm not sure.

I found a forum post in which the main developer states that Ultraschall will be disabled if it detects anything but Reaper 5.40.

So now I'm left with the questions...

Am I running a crippled version? It sure doesn't look disabled. Or have they changed something?

They aren't against newer versions, they are actively testing them. It seems they go into Reaper's API so deeply that they need to freeze to one version. I could understand that, since there a lot of Reaper releases. But I have no idea if this is necessity or stubbornness. Maybe a bit of both.

Anyhow, Ultraschall is very stable. I heven't found one gotcha yet. And usually, it just takes me a few hours with audio software to find some weirdness.

TBH, a podcaster doesn't NEED to run the latest version, as the additions are probably far more important than the newest tricks in Reaper. Most podcasters don't use MIDI, fi.

Another strange thing is that IIUC, the number of simultaneous mixed/streamed tracks is limited to 23. Not much, and a weird number.

Still have a lot of reading to do. Hopefully, it makes my German a little less rusty...
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Old 10-18-2018, 02:14 PM   #8
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I still just use Soundflower to route audio between apps. Assign system audio to Soundflower. Pick it up in Reaper and record audio from any app. Still seems like the fewest steps. Am I missing something?
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Old 10-18-2018, 02:50 PM   #9
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First of, Soundflower is old and might not work with recent OS versions.

Second, Ultraschall with Studio Link offers a lot more. The Studio Link server offers it's own VOIP communications. Besides Skype, it works with any other system, like FaceTime, or Mumble. All of that is routed straight into Reaper. And that allows even multiple sources.

I use RME's TotalMix to route Skype atm. But we don't always have an RME available.

I have dedicated hardware for telephone connections, but that doesn't work for VOIP, or for YouTube streaming input or output.

It's hard to explain, als Ultraschall is Reaper but with so much customisation it feels like another DAW. One that's aimed at podcasting, or radio, or theater. It's lots of little things, like the soundboard, witch is a djingle machine on steroids. Or the noise suppression, which is Reaper's, but tailored to podcasting.

I wish there were more solutions out there like Ultraschall. It would make Reaper even more powerful!
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Last edited by cyrano; 10-18-2018 at 03:05 PM.
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