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To RDS or Not


testraub

  

39 members have voted

  1. 1. To RDS or Not?

    • RDS
      17
    • No RDS
      15
    • Don't Care
      7


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I AM getting a EDM transmitter this year and would like to RDS the song titles, etc. But I'm torn between the RDS model and non-RDS model. Currently I use a WHT 2.0 (and it works fine here, do so let's leave THAT subject alone), but want just a little more "reach" But the main question is "Do you use RDS or not" It's not about the transmitters, just RDS.

Thanks

Tom Straub

Edited by testraub
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I vote NO to RDS.

From what I've read, which admittedly isn't much because I usually skip those threads, is that it's a PITA to set up. I'll use that time better elsewhere.

But that aside, why in the world would you want someone to be looking at their radio instead of your lights?

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It's one of those features that I find is "COOL" but adds very little benefit. I tried RDS as well as changing my BetaBite scrolling message board every time a song changed. In the end all it did was give me more grey hair and I don't think nobody seen it or cared.

Lastly is just caused my sequences to load slower because it has to execute the windows command.

I think some of these things fall under the category "just because you can doesn't mean you should".

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I use the rds.But all i use is the radio text.All you have to do is enable the radio text in the tiny rds.Every 30 seconds it sends out the rds.You can have 4 lines of text total.I have the kids come up on the sidewalk and then we hand out bags of candy and glo bracelets to them.I also wish everyone a merry christmas.

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It's one of those features that I find is "COOL" but adds very little benefit. I tried RDS as well as changing my BetaBite scrolling message board every time a song changed. In the end all it did was give me more grey hair and I don't think nobody seen it or cared.

Lastly is just caused my sequences to load slower because it has to execute the windows command.

I think some of these things fall under the category "just because you can doesn't mean you should".

Not one person has ever told me they saw the RDS. So I do think its cool but completely worthless. But I would have to disagree on the load part. Are you using an 8086 computer?
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I'm a techno-geek, so I think IF I do a music synced show next year, I likely will have it, but I do not know if I will go to a music synced show next year.

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I personally think the RDS is a waste.. think about like this.. once they pull up and find your display they are so engrossed watching it that some of them don't even think about shutting their headlights off..

If they are looking at the radio display they are not interested in your show.. At least that is how I see it..

My 2 cents..

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I didn't think it was too difficult to setup. And I have had people comment that they noticed. I run the song info and the show times. To me it's worth it. I wouldn't upgrade the transmitter just to get it, but if you are already planning on buying one then why not

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I didn't think it was too difficult to setup.

Totally agree. It was not difficult to set up. I liked having it this year, and for only a small $ investment it was worth including as part of the show. The voting seems to be split down the middle on this, and that would be exactly how I'd expect it to go.

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  • 2 months later...

It's one of those features that I find is "COOL" but adds very little benefit. I tried RDS as well as changing my BetaBite scrolling message board every time a song changed. In the end all it did was give me more grey hair and I don't think nobody seen it or cared.

Lastly is just caused my sequences to load slower because it has to execute the windows command.

I think some of these things fall under the category "just because you can doesn't mean you should".

 

How much does it slow down loading sequences? fractions of seconds? seconds?

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It's not a matter of how fast the computer is.  When the windows command runs sometimes there are lags when it talks to the BetaBrite.  In my case 150' away. The lags may have only been 3-4 seconds in some cases but that's long enough when I'm watching that I start to think something is wrong.

 

I ran without using windows command except for at show start and show stop this year and it was nice to not have the headaches.

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I vote NO to RDS.

From what I've read, which admittedly isn't much because I usually skip those threads, is that it's a PITA to set up. I'll use that time better elsewhere.

But that aside, why in the world would you want someone to be looking at their radio instead of your lights?

im with George on this one

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We can't even get people to turn off their headlights because they get engrossed in the show.. I doubt they would even see the RDS..

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Thank you! Last question: Is the lag with the text going to your BetaBright sign? Or with the sequences? Meaning there would be a 4-5 sec "dead air" pause in between songs? (Which I don't want)

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The delay is waiting for the sign to update.  This happens between sequences so there is black space in your light show while it happens.  It's like the show goes dead, no lights, no music, nothing.

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I use a LOT of "unknown" songs to the typical listener..so being able to tell/show them what song they are listening to is beneficial..I think...

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I mentioned this in a thread many months ago, but instead of RDS I use another FM Transmitter close to the same frequency as the music and all it broadcasts is the song playlist in the exact order and what I do is mix the actual audio from the Light Show computer into my aux FM transmitter so if the viewer changes frequency he can still hear the song in the back ground, I get positive feedback on this from the viewers, I used to have a How Its Done thing, but the people were more interested in whats coming up

Edited by PMC
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I was able to get my RDS working with little trouble. I received my EDM-LCD-RDS-EP over the weekend and followed the RDS setup guide and got it work. Did a little testing, and there doesn't seem to be a longer wait in-between the songs, which I was fearing.

 

I think RDS is a nice bonus, not necessary, but a nice touch.

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