Software Broadcast Delay
Someone's about to say something they shouldn't.
Dumperator is a professional profanity delay that runs on the Windows PC you already have. Thirty seconds of protection, seamless crossfades, and one big button that dumps it all back to real time — instantly.
Free to download and fully functional · US$99 one-time licence removes the demo beep
A delay box is the cheapest insurance in radio.
A guest drops an f-bomb, a caller goes off script, a live interview takes a turn. Without a delay, that moment is on air forever, and the fine lands on your licence, not on the person who said it.
A purpose-built rack delay runs from around US$1,500 used to over US$4,000 new — another 1U, another power supply, another set of XLR runs. For a small station, a community broadcaster or a podcast studio, that is a hard number to justify. Plenty of shows just run live and hope. That works right up until the moment it doesn't, and one incident costs more than the box ever would have.
Hardware delays are excellent, and priced for network budgets. Dumperator does the core job on the Windows PC you already own.
- Maximum delay
- 30s
- Crossfade
- 1s
- Licence
- US$99
- Machines
- 1 PC
That is the whole product. Nothing below is a prerequisite for any of it.
| Typical hardware delay | Dumperator |
|---|---|
| Price | US$99 one-time |
| Hardware required | The Windows PC you already use |
| Delay length | Up to 30 seconds, set by your filler file |
| Entering delay | Seamless one-second crossfade |
| Dumping | Button, spacebar, or Left Ctrl + Right Ctrl (works even when another app is focused) |
| Setup | Download, pick two devices, go |
| Rack space | None |
| Upgrade path | None — the licence covers the version you buy |
On hardware pricing: real-world prices for broadcast profanity delays run from roughly US$1,500 for used units up to US$3,999–US$4,499 for new Eventide BD600-series boxes. Dumperator doesn't try to match a broadcast-grade rack unit feature for feature — it does the core job, on your PC, for US$99.
Three steps. One button.
Dumperator sits between your audio input and your audio output, holding a rolling buffer of everything you've said. Nothing reaches air until it's too late to take back. Listeners hear it thirty seconds after you did — which is the only amount of time that matters when the words are the problem.
-
Load a filler file
Choose an audio file — music, a jingle, a station ident, anything. Its length becomes your delay time. A 20-second bed gives you a 20-second delay; a 30-second bed gives you the maximum 30 seconds.
-
Hit START DELAY
Dumperator crossfades smoothly from your live feed into the filler, then slides into the delayed feed. Listeners hear music instead of a click, and your delay is now live.
-
Hit DUMP
When something shouldn't go to air, hit DUMP — the on-screen button, the spacebar while Dumperator is focused, or Left Ctrl + Right Ctrl together from anywhere on the PC. The filler and the delayed audio crossfade back to real time over one second, and the moment is gone. You're live again. Dumperator also writes an Audit Trail WAV of the previous 60 seconds to the folder you set in Settings.
throws the whole buffer away and crossfades to the feed in front of you. The encoder never sees the held-back seconds at all.
One slip, thirty seconds, one button.
A thirty-second delay played out second by second. The studio lane is what leaves the microphone. The air lane is what reaches the listener.
The rule: you have exactly as long as your delay, and not one second more. A twenty-second filler gives you twenty seconds of protection. Dumping early costs you nothing but the buffer; dumping late costs you the show.
Built for people who actually run a show.
Two controls, one of them a single key. Settings save locally; nothing leaves the machine; nothing to reconfigure on air day. No subscription, no account, no cloud.
Signal
- Delay length
- 3–30 seconds, set by your filler file
- Crossfade
- 1 second, equal-length, on every transition
- Audio path
- Real-time passthrough when not in delay
- Channels
- Mono or stereo, detected automatically
Operation
- Dump trigger
- On-screen button, spacebar (while focused), or Left Ctrl + Right Ctrl system-wide
- Audit Trail
- Each DUMP saves the previous 60 seconds of input audio as a WAV; folder chosen in Settings
- Devices
- Any input/output Windows exposes
- Settings
- Saved locally; no reconfiguration on air day
- Connectivity
- None required. No cloud, no account
Requirements
- Platform
- Windows 10 or later
- Hardware
- The PC already running your show
- Network
- Not required while delaying
- Licence
- One PC, one payment, no renewal
Device selection, buffer length and crossfade are set once and saved locally — there is no setup wizard on air day. Every sample is buffered and mixed on your own PC; the application opens no network connection while you are delaying. An operator can pick this up without a manual, which matters when the person pressing DUMP is standing in a studio at 11pm with a caller on the line.
How long should your delay be?
Longer isn't safer; it's a bigger target. Every extra second of delay is a bigger correction to make on a live mic, and a longer stretch of audio to throw away when you dump. Match the delay to how much your show can absorb.
| Show | Recommended | Window | Dead air if you dump | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music radio | 10s | 10s | 1s | Filler runs continuously, so nobody hears the gap. |
| Talk radio, two hosts | 15s | 15s | 1s | The other host covers. Most common setting. |
| Interview / live caller | 20s | 20s | 1s | Covers a caller going off script mid-sentence. |
| Podcast, edited after | 30s | 30s | None | Nobody is listening live. Use the maximum and cut in post. |
| Community / student station | 20s | 20s | 1s | Filler must be a clean loop with no vocal content. |
Window means the total time between a mistake being spoken and its scheduled air time — you must dump before that moment arrives. Dead air is what listeners hear while the crossfade returns you to real time; Dumperator's is one second regardless of delay length.
Try it free. Pay once if it earns its place.
One payment covers the licence for as long as you keep the PC. There is no subscription, no expiry and no per-show fee.
Trial
- Full, unrestricted delay functionality
- Up to 30 seconds of delay
- Seamless crossfades and instant DUMP
- Button, spacebar, and Left Ctrl + Right Ctrl dump
- Audit Trail WAVs with a chosen save folder
- An audible beep every 15 seconds
Licence
- Everything in the free version
- The beep is gone — permanently
- Licensed for one Windows PC
- No subscription, no renewal
- Not eligible for future version upgrades
How buying works: download Dumperator, open it, and register from inside the application. There's no checkout page and no account to create — you pay once and the beep stops. Your licence is tied to a single Windows PC.
Straight answers
How long a delay can I actually get?
Up to 30 seconds. The exact figure is set by the length of the filler audio file you load — Dumperator calculates the duration of the file and that becomes your delay time. Load a 12-second jingle and you get a 12-second delay; load a 30-second music bed and you get the full 30.
The 30-second ceiling is deliberate. It keeps memory use predictable so Dumperator can run safely alongside your playout software on the same machine.
Does the file size matter, or the length?
The length, not the file size. Dumperator reads the audio and works out how many seconds it plays for. A short file with a high bitrate is fine; a long file is not, even if it's small.
What do listeners hear when I'm in delay?
Your filler audio. When you press START DELAY, Dumperator crossfades from the live feed into the filler over one second, then moves into the delayed audio. Listeners hear your chosen music or ident while the buffer fills — no dead air, no click.
What happens when I hit DUMP?
Dumperator crossfades from the delayed audio back to the live feed over one second and drops the delay. Whatever was in the buffer never goes to air. You're back to real-time passthrough and can start a new delay whenever you like.
You can trigger DUMP three ways when the button is armed: the on-screen DUMP button, the spacebar while Dumperator has focus, or Left Ctrl + Right Ctrl pressed together — that last one works even when another application is focused, so you can dump from playout, chat, or the encoder window without alt-tabbing.
Every DUMP also writes an Audit Trail — a WAV of the previous
60 seconds of input audio (DUMP_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.wav) so you can
review what was said. Choose the save folder in Settings → Audit Trail
(Desktop by default).
What is the Audit Trail?
When you hit DUMP, Dumperator saves the previous 60 seconds of input audio to a WAV file for later review. That recording is the Audit Trail — useful for compliance checks, training, or confirming what was dumped off air.
Set the destination folder in Settings → Audit Trail. The default
is your Desktop. Files are named DUMP_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.wav.
How do I dump when I'm looking at another app?
Press both Control keys at the same time — Left Ctrl and Right Ctrl together. That chord is global: it fires DUMP while delay is active even if Dumperator is in the background. Release both keys before it will fire again. The spacebar only works when Dumperator itself has keyboard focus.
Why is there a beep in the free version?
So you can try the whole thing properly before paying. The free version is fully functional: full delay, full crossfades, full DUMP. It plays an audible beep every 15 seconds, which makes it unusable on air. Registering removes the beep permanently.
What do I get for US$99, and what don't I get?
You get a permanent licence for one Windows PC, with the beep removed. It's a one-time payment — no subscription and no renewal.
What it doesn't include is upgrades. Your licence covers the version you buy. If a future version is released, it isn't included and would need to be purchased separately.
Do you offer special pricing for community radio stations?
Yes. Community, community-access and non-commercial stations can get Dumperator at a reduced rate. If that describes your station, email [email protected] and we'll come back to you directly.
Can I run it on more than one computer?
The licence covers one Windows PC. If you need it on a second machine — a studio machine and a backup, say — you'd need a second licence.
Does my audio go anywhere?
No. Audio stays on your machine — nothing is uploaded, streamed, or stored off-site, and there's no account to sign into. On launch Dumperator sends only an anonymous install id, version, and approximate location to stats.rxtx.mx for usage counts.
What audio devices can I use?
Anything Windows exposes as an input and an output — physical interfaces, mixer feeds, and virtual audio cables. Dumperator detects mono or stereo automatically and shows you what it found.
One thing to note: your input and output devices generally need to use the same audio driver type (for example, both WASAPI). Dumperator warns you clearly if the combination won't work.
Put a net under your next live show.
Download Dumperator, pick your input and output, load a filler file, and you're protected. Free to try for as long as you want.
Download