CyberNerd Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 I need a recommend for software to setup an inschool radio (maybe TV) station. Must be compatible with VLC, Must be Free, preferably OSS. Thanks
CyberNerd Posted January 19, 2007 Author Posted January 19, 2007 Thats where I started - glad I'm on the right track
webman Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 There's Shoutcast as well which I've used before, from the Winamp guys at Nullsoft.
AshF Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 IceCast is a pretty good free solution, and on a multitude of platforms... Whilst not free I feel obliged to mention SAM (http://www.spacialaudio.com) if the whole thing takes off, as it is the closest you will get in software only to the whole workings of an actual radio station that i've seen at an affordable price. Multiple decks, playlists, the whole shooting match, all music/etc is stored in a SQL driven database, and it's very easy to set up, and very robust. It also has some very nice scriptable 'autoDJ' options and provides all sorts of report of what was played, when, etc. I use it twice a week and it just makes my life so easy.
Geoff Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 Ran an IceCast in the past. It takes a little while to get your head round it but it's very good once you have sorted it out. The main issue is bandwidth.
CyberNerd Posted January 19, 2007 Author Posted January 19, 2007 The main issue is bandwidth. How much of an issue? Can I limit the number of connections? and whack the quality to low over the internet, but have good quality lots of connections internally?
AshF Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 You can, in theory, stream at one high quality, then transcode down other qualities. Or just run in multiple encoders. I'm not sure how easy/possible this is in IceCast, as its been a long time since I played with it. What are you planning to stream, incidentally, as licensing is a big thing now. Edit: There's also http://www.oddsock.org/tools/ which includes some transcoding tools and other useful plugins for WinAmp.
Geoff Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 The main issue is bandwidth. How much of an issue? Can I limit the number of connections? and whack the quality to low over the internet, but have good quality lots of connections internally? Each client uses X bandwidth. Yes you can limit the number. Yeas you can alter the bandwidth usage on a per client or per stream basis.
CyberNerd Posted January 19, 2007 Author Posted January 19, 2007 Thanks for the input, IMO Icecast looks the most probable - I'd like to stay clear of commercial software, simply because it is an added barrier for students who might get really interested in broadcasting in their own time. The support forums for Icecast are active and they release regular updates/improvements. As for content; music, interviews, school bands all the usual school stuff. We do have a broadcast license for in the school- If anyone knows the legality of streaming commercial music across the internet then it will save me a job researching. Probably we'll get things working internally using our external webserver so that we can then broadcast to the internet if it looks feasible/legal.
webman Posted January 19, 2007 Posted January 19, 2007 What about multicasting it, does that have a better/worse effect on the bandwidth?
Tempest Posted January 23, 2007 Posted January 23, 2007 Shoutcast is free, and tends to be very reliable once it is set up - I use it for a web based gaming community station I manage. There is a shoutcast plugin for winamp for the broadcasting side which is also free and works reasonably well. Just drop me a line if you want some more detailed advice.
Geoff Posted January 23, 2007 Posted January 23, 2007 If anyone knows the legality of streaming commercial music across the internet then it will save me a job researching. I'm fairly sure a school broadcasting license doesn't cut it. You probably need a commercial broadcasting license.
AshF Posted January 23, 2007 Posted January 23, 2007 I'm fairly sure a school broadcasting license doesn't cut it. You probably need a commercial broadcasting license. IIRC, you need to pay two sets of fees per song, performance and composition rights, which go to seperate organizations... I'm hazy on the UK legalities... I'm better at US legalities/DMCA.
johna Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 Hi What about the microsoft media services (I have been using this for about 8 years) it part of server 2000 and (unfortunatley in 2003 its part of server enterprise only). Reasonably easy to setup, $0 price works great on a network (need a pc and a mike) depending on your bandwidth works great on the internet.
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