XSplit Broadcaster

XSplit Broadcaster is a tool of my favorite kind - neat, fast and useful. It's a program for audio and video mixing for online streaming, and what makes it particularly appealing is the utilitarian approach to functionality.

After installing the application and launching it, you gain access to a simple well-built interface, if only a bit dark in color, that lets you do pretty much anything a broadcasting session needs done. XSplit Broadcaster can set up and adjust the video parameters, notifications send-outs, change the settings of Twitch, which is the broadcasting platform XSplit Broadcaster works with. It's refreshingly nice to be able to access options without having to open the web page and visit the site. Every broadcasting parameter is basically available in one window, which makes the program extremely comfortable to use.

Unfortunately, the interface lacks a proper chat window, but this is not that big of a deal to me. However, there is a feature that makes up for any flaw: you can launch the program in an optimized mode, accelerating broadcasting speed by about 10%. Combined with the fact that XSplit Broadcaster doesn't particularly freeze or slow down, this is almost to good to be true. But not perfect, of course. The abundance of options and extensive potential for setting up a perfect broadcast is also the cause of automated setup being pretty bad. You will have to go about adjusting settings, whether you want it or not.

Overall, despite some minor flaws, XSplit Broadcaster is still the go-to instrument if you want quality broadcasting. It's easy to use, complex and fast.