INTERNET STREAMING : WHAT IS BEST WAY?

[josh]

 We are currently streaming using a computer and windows media encoder. We send the stream to Mainstream Networks which then distributes our stream to listeners.

    We are going to switch to flash player stream which can be listened to on droids, i-phones etc. 

      My question is this. Is the computer the best way to be sending the stream or would something like a Telos PROSTREAM internet streaming in a box be a better method?  Our considerations are dependability, sound quality and overall best buy.    You help is appreciated.   

        We know if we go with computer,  we're going to have to buy a new, faster one than the one we're using. Also, we hava e to buy SAM Cast for about $200 (a little more high end and dependable)  and we plan to use our Digigram sound card.


             Thanks for your help!  josh

[Bill DeFelice]

We are going to switch to flash player stream which can be listened to on droids, i-phones etc.

You may want to re-think that. Flash is not available on the iPhone/iPad platform and Adobe recently announced it will no longer port Flash to portable devices. I believe they are also talking about other technologies to replace Flash as well.

[Lazy J]

The simplest way to get your stream on a mobile app is to add it to Tunein Radio app. Go to tunein.com and click the "Broadcasters" link at the bottom right. Then search your call letters and when you find your station simply fill in the info (including the URL to your stream) and hit submit. It can take a few hours to show up in the app, but it works great and it's completely FREE. Just tell your listeners to download the Tunein Radio app, find your station, and add it to their presets.

As for the stream itself, I run 3 streams from one computer. We use the edcast encoder (that's what the stream service requests) and I have 3 sound cards (one for each station). It uses HE-ACC encoding and I think it sounds great for just a 32kb stream. The stream service provides the URL to the web player and I can log in and customize it.

[Sgeirk]

Previous builds of Edcast are highly unstable.

Apples and iphones will decode AAC...some do a better job than others.

Flash players are not supported on apple handsets.

[xmusicmatt]

If you want a really cheap option... Winamp w/the shoutcast DSP configured with a HE-AAC v2 32kbps stream is also a good choice.

[Goran Tomas]

If you want a reliable, set it, forget it and it just works approach, then something like the ProStream is the way to go. By the time you buy a solid PC, professional sound card, processing and encoding software, you'll probably be over the list $1995 anyway...

Windows can be made to be reliable but it takes some knowledge and effort to do it. With a streaming appliance like the ProStream, there are no worries about memory leaks, hang ups, anti-virus software, system updates, etc.

Unlike Edcast (which btw, is not licensed encoder and as such you shouldn't be using it for commercial purposes) ProStream and software like Omnia A/XE supports AAC as well, not only HE-AAC. Just mentioning, in case you want to be able to give your on-line listeners some proper audio quality....


Regards,
Goran Tomas

[josh]

     Thank you for all that have offered me help !!! 

        Any other recommendations are also appreciated!

        I do have a call in at Telos.   We are looking for maintenance free  or as close to that as possible, reliability,  and the best sound quality that can be acheived.    We are willing to spend a little extra money for peace of mind.

        Our windows encoder has worked fine but it can't be heard on mac, etc.  thanks again!  josh

       

[stephend2]

I'm using simplecast running on a windows xp PC that also runs audiocompass which we use for remotes.  it works great, I had to put together a script to take text and feed it to the simplecast encoder for titles, I'm also running an app for our RDS encoder on this box which works great as well.

It has been stable and I'm hosting the stream at my day job. I'm using an m-audio delta44 card for the stream audio as well as well as audio for remotes.

http://www.vicksburgv105.com

click listen now

[josh]

 HI stephend2,

          I like your station's website!  It looks like you're doing a lot of great thing there!

           We also broadcast high school games though not as much as we probably should.

            I have heard of audiocompass and considered it.  We are using ustream.tv and upgraded the account so we don't have commercials interrupting the games.

             Also, I appreciate your advice regarding streaming.  Josh

                 http:/www.liftfm.com

[stephend2]

not really "my" station, I'm just engineer, on a contract basis. 

If you need some more help on the streaming, I can help. 

Sam Bushman at audiocompass is great to work with, he wrote the software and does all support himself.  I had a few issues early on and it can be less than stable on a  cellular 3g connection.  We have quite a few schools in the state now that have good internet access available and that has worked great.  We run 44.1khz apt-x where possible, its so clean if not for the background noise it can't be distinguished from in-studio.  I have some audio clips from games we have broadcasted.  this setup is also used for remotes around town, where possible, my day job sponsors the remotes by dropping in a wireless link to the location.  The station also buys service from us so it stays on net which really works great when the round trip time from remote to studio is < 6ms.

I'll post a link to some audio clips when I get back into town.