cr08 Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I figure I'll use this thread as my intro since I have a big question I want to ask as well and get it all done at once. So with that said, hi all! I've been lurking around the internet broadcasting industry for almost a decade now. Not a pro by any means but know my way around quite well by now. Mostly into the technical side and station management/directing/programming than anything. My voice and habit of stumbling on my words without something scripted in front of me leaves a lot to be desired for any kind of DJ work. I am starting up an internet station that I had previously tried working on long ago. It died then mostly due to lack of funds and resources to keep all the necessary systems afloat. Now that has changed and I am very pumped about retrying this even though it is set to be a VERY niche station. Right now I am currently in the process of retagging and organizing my library so I have clean metadata going out (Not to mention I use SAM exclusively and plan to rely a lot on the web features, good tags are a must!). Get that done, get the website up and running, program SAM properly, and I'm golden. To my actual question: Right now I do my own stream hosting. I have a VPS set up for my website with 1TB of bandwidth each month and already have both icecast and shoutcast set up and operating. In the near future I plan to purchase a second VPS which will run Windows Server 2003 and have a direct 100mbit private network connection to the website box. This will run my main SAM instance and also give me access to Windows Media streaming. All in all I will have no limit of what I can do streaming wise in terms of what service I use, codecs, bitrates, etc.. What I want to know is what you would recommend for a good combination of these to have the best listener and player coverage. Right now I only have 64kbps AAC+ going to both icecast and shoutcast and pretty sure I should widen that when I go full power. My only concerns are a: If I can get away with just icecast or are there some players that notably croak on it? And b: I do want to stick to icecast in some way since I am running the KH branch for flash metadata support (and I plan to do some site integration with this). Thanks! Happy broadcasting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andhow Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I found that the best way is to experiment with different things and see what works best for you. That is what makes it all fun and worthwhile...to see what your hours, weeks and months of hard work can pay off to... Icecast, Shoutcast, Windows Media whatever target crowd you are looking to be your listener base. It is all part of the adventure of following your dreams to see what you can create on your own wiles. Different people try different things, based on their finance, imagination and personal preferences. There is no "baseline" streaming media radio station. There really is no right or wrong way to run your radio station. That is what is beautiful about the free, neutral and open internet. The only thing that limits you is your creativity and your mind! Good luck with your new station. You are just beginning what is a fantastic adventure. Oh...and don't forget to have fun... Reverend Aquaman | Station Manager | andHow.FM Where it's *ALL* about the music! A world-class, always eclectic, commercial-free, alternative, modern, retro, indie rock radio station. Jamming the free world, one person at a time since 1998. Got Indie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks for the response. I guess the main thing I am worried about is what players and servers play well together. Bitrates and codecs I could probably easily figure out on my own. But player compatibility is a whole other matter. I would like to stick solely to Icecast as it tends to be the most open, has nice features built in that I'd like to use, and most of all lets me run multiple mountpoints without having to run separate services for each one. But I have a sinking feeling there's going to be at least one player out there that is either commonly used or I would like to support (like a hardware based Internet Radio player) that is going to completely choke on it. And sadly I can't get a good feel from searches I have done on what does and does not play nice with Icecast. To make matters worse I see all kinds of references that Windows Media Player works but my own tests seem to disprove that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andhow Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 When I was trialling a new stream format, I found that Shoutcast was more reliable and had more features available than Icecast, as well as not having compatibility issues across the board. We originally streamed in RealPlayer in 1998 and then Windows Media for 10 years after that. We are currently streaming via Shoutcast, Windows Media & AAC+ but we have a generous budget to play with. I have also managed a few other FM radio station/internet streaming projects and Shoutcast seems to be the flavor of choice. If you are looking to reach the most listeners for the best price then I would recommend you go with a Shoutcast encoder/Shoutcast server via port 80 or stream host that offers port 80 streaming. This will allow people at work and universities who are behind firewalls to listen. I work professionally in the IT industry and firewalls are usually configured to block non-standard ports in these establishments. An .mp3 stream is pretty widely used on a wide variety of desktop media clients and/or their respective operating systems. It is also compatible with Flash players. Most mobile devices these days play .mp3 streams as well. All of the hardware streaming media platforms that we are currently listed on, play our .mp3 stream quite well, as it will also play in Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, VLC, WinAmp, iTunes, etc. Some people claim you can get away with a 96kbps stream with the right codecs, but I prefer a 128Kbps stream. There are some radio stations that stream in "HD" 192Kbps, but if you are streaming 128K mp3 files, then you are wasting 64kbps in bandwidth. I would also recommend to stream a high (128Kbps) and a low bandwidth (64 Kbps) option as some mobile devices will buffer like the clappers with a 128Kbps stream. Additionally, you can also stream exclusively Windows Media, but that would require a separate encoder and streaming server. I use SAM Broadcaster for automation and some live shows, and it has a wide range of encoders available for streaming built-in. (WMA, AAC+, MP3 (Icecast/Shoutcast), OGG, MP3Pro) Now that I have responded, I am sure that everyone and his dog will be jumping in and giving their two cents worth, but at the end of the day...it is your radio station and your decision. Good luck with your station! Have fun! Reverend Aquaman | Station Manager | andHow.FM Where it's *ALL* about the music! A world-class, always eclectic, commercial-free, alternative, modern, retro, indie rock radio station. Jamming the free world, one person at a time since 1998. Got Indie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andhow Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 ...additionally...if you want redundancy in your stream and 100% availability. Then get a second streamhost and put the rollover IP address in your playlist script. Reverend Aquaman | Station Manager | andHow.FM Where it's *ALL* about the music! A world-class, always eclectic, commercial-free, alternative, modern, retro, indie rock radio station. Jamming the free world, one person at a time since 1998. Got Indie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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