Rivendell Audio Sample Rate Recommendations

The most common and recommended sample rates for the Rivendell Radio Automation System are:

Sample Rate	Recommended Use	Notes
44.1 kHz	Traditional music/CD workflow	Best when the majority of source audio comes from CD rips
48 kHz	Modern broadcast and streaming	Preferred for FM, streaming, JACK/PipeWire, and modern processing chains

Rivendell supports multiple PCM sample rates, but the most important rule is consistency across the entire audio chain.

Keep the Entire Audio Chain Matched

All major components should run at the same sample rate:

Important: The Rivendell System Sample Rate should be selected before importing audio and should not be changed later on an active system.

Recommended Format

Why 48 kHz?

Recommended Format

Best suited when the majority of source material originates from audio CDs.

This minimizes resampling during import, although modern broadcast chains generally benefit more from maintaining 48 kHz consistency end-to-end.

Avoid using the following sample rates for normal radio operations:

These dramatically increase:

...while providing essentially no listener benefit for radio broadcast or streaming applications.

A stable modern Rivendell broadcast chain typically uses:

Component	Recommended Sample Rate
Rivendell Audio Store	48 kHz
JACK / PipeWire	48 kHz
Stereo Tool	48 kHz
Liquidsoap Internal Processing	48 kHz
Streaming Encoder Input	48 kHz
Final MP3/AAC Stream	44.1 kHz or 48 kHz

For most modern broadcast and streaming systems, maintaining a consistent 48 kHz workflow minimizes:

This results in a cleaner, more stable, and lower-latency audio chain.