The Injector is set-up to react to the automation system data in REAL TIME.  Given that, there are two types of “chops” that could potentially occur.  To determine which type you’re dealing with, make sure to monitor the station and make a specific note about the type of clipping that is occurring.

If on air programming content is being chopped or clipped and inserted ads are starting to play a few seconds before the on air content finishes (with the stop set itself, once in the stop set, sounding clean and tight), 99% of the time this means that the on air data is getting to the streaming PC BEFORE the on air audio is.

In most cases, the clip or chop will be an even 3, 5, or 7 seconds.  The reason for this is that most stations that run on air audio in delay, run those delays in 3, 5 or 7 second blocks. 

To resolve the issue, just run pre-delay, rather than post-delay audio to the streaming PC.

Once the Injector is receiving coordinated audio and data it's real time reactions will allow ad injection to start and stop exactly when the on air station is going to break.

It is strongly recommended that all stations run their streams with pre-delay audio.

If, when the station is IN A STOP SET you are hearing a second or two of an ad while in a stop set (the in’s and out’s of the stop set are clean and tight, but there are time offsets or clips occurring IN THE STOP SET or between spots in the stop Set) and one ad gets clipped right as another inserted ad starts playing, then this is most likely due to one of two other issues.

First, if the station is using Target Spot in stop sets, then most likely, this segment of an ad that is being heard actually isn’t a clip or a chop.  Target Spot works with audio files the same way that the old grade school transparency system used to work.  If the teacher draws a red line on a transparency that is three inches long everyone in the class sees it when it’s put on the screen.  If the teacher then overlays another slide on top of the red line slide, and this new slide has a 2.75 inch blue line.  Then, the classroom sees a 2.75 inch purple line (red and blue make purple ) and a.25 inch red line.

The same thing is happening with Target Spots.  If you are hearing the beginning of one ad for just a fraction of a second and then another ad starts to play and it plays in its entirety, the “clip” you are hearing is probably the Target Spot under ad saved in your station inventory.  Target Spot uses very constrained durations of :30 and :60.  So, to resolve this, just check the Injector Manager Inventory screen for the station in question and replace any target Spot placeholders that are .3 less greater than :30 or :60.  All under ad placeholders should be between 30.000-30.300 and 60.000-60.300.

If all of the Target Spot ads fall in this range, then 99% of the time, the timing offset you’re hearing WITHIN the stop set is a result of mismatch Grids.

To check if this is the case, simply open the Cart Trigger Editor and see if BreakSchedules is being used as the Delivery Command for any active Cart Triggers.  IF so, then click Back to Inventory and then click the Template Designer link.  When the page loads, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Go To Grid.

When the Grid loads, highlight the first trigger and click Change.  When the screen loads make sure that all the letters in the grid match for ALL triggers.  You can verify this, by highlighting the next trigger and clicking Change again.  Note the difference between this screen and the screen for the previous trigger.  Set all grids to match for all triggers and that will resolve the issue.

Should you need any further assistance or have any questions, please submit a ticket through the link at the top of the screen and our support staff will help you ASAP.