Professional Grade Streaming Made Easy with Tascam’s VSR-264 Video Encoder/Decoder

Noisegate recently ran a Livestream for Source Audio’s launch in Australia and Tascam’s new VSR264 Livestream AV encoder/decoder was the heart of the production.   

The VSR264 is a professional streaming unit the encodes and decodes audio and video together for a variety of streaming platforms in multiple streaming formats. It was used to combine video from a DSLR camera with audio coming from a pair of AKG C451 microphones for dialogue, direct outputs from a Blackstar amp for electric guitar and an Aguilar amp on the bass, and direct output from a Modal Argon8 Synthesiser through a Source Audio Collider all running into a Tascam Model 12 mixing desk. 

The VSR264 syncs the audio and video automatically making the set up quick. Once both audio and video were connected it was just a matter of grabbing the stream link and key from Facebook, entering it into the VSR control web page and making sure the settings on the VSR matched the compatible formats for Facebook. Each streaming platform uses one of the multiple streaming protocols that each have their own specific audio and video parameters. The VSR264 control page (Tascam Discovery) is user friendly and easy to navigate and setting up the correct audio and video parameters took no time at all. 

Once this was all set up, we hit ‘go live’ and we streamed without any issues. The ability to use a mixing desk for the audio was a massive boon as it gave us the ability to mute the dialogue microphone while Tim, Steve, Tristan or Christian played their instruments – this muted the room sound in so it would not interfere with the playing and showcasing of the pedals. The audio ran into the VSR264 using an unbalanced split TS into 3.5mm cable from the sub outputs of the Model 12. When using an unbalanced input, it is important to minimise any electrical cables running parallel with the input as this can cause interference and we made sure that we had a good separation between audio and electrical cables. The VSR264 does have balanced euro block inputs but we chose the unbalanced input.  

Facebook saves your live streams when they are done, although with the VSR264 you can record directly to an SD card or a USB drive for an uncompressed and higher quality version of your streamed session. This can also be linked to server storage. Great for when you need to refer to your content and do some additional editing on your preferred platform in post-production. 

Check out our Facebook Live stream here:

The VSR 264 does all the heavy lifting during a Livestream and is intuitive once the correct streaming platform information has been entered. The VSR 264 encodes all your audio and video together seamlessly but can also split the audio and video back into separate parts on the other side of the stream (using a different VSR 264) for presentation in auditoriums, lecture halls and other AV installations. Organisations and established streamers who need an easy way to sync their audio and video together and have it encoded in one box would benefit from the fully-featured VSR 264 — we did and can highly recommend it. 

Expect to pay:
AUD$2799 (SSP)– find your Australian dealer here.
USD$1499 (MAP)

Note: Australians, please be aware that US prices do not include shipping, GST or customs duties. Be sure to check exchange rates and associated fees with your chosen payment portal when buying in foreign currency – It’s quite often better to buy local!

Tascam is distributed by CMI in Australia