[Icecast] Icecast2 Station with multiple scheduled DJs?

Sat Sep 25 20:31:36 UTC 2010

is it free and will it work with my shoutcast server?

On 9/25/10, John List <johnlist at gulfbridge.net> wrote:
> At WXBH-LP we had a similar need, and we solved it using mpd (music
> player daemon) to coordinate our feed to icecast.
>
> mpd is a music player (supporting playlists, etc.) originally designed
> for local network streaming, but it has several attributes that make it
> suitable for other things:
>
>     * Items in its playlists can be local audio files or remote streams
>       (e.g. DJ streams).
>     * It can output a stream directly to icecast.
>     * As a daemon it can be controlled by various clients including ones
>       accessible from the command line, the web, and telnet/ssh. This
>       has allowed us to build a scheduling system around it to cause it
>       to play particular playlists at their scheduled times.
>
> Each remote DJ must generate his/her own stream to be picked up by mpd.
> We make this easy by defining multiple "remote" streams for their use on
> our icecast server. This has the advantage of letting them connect to
> the remote stream early so they and we can verify that all is well. At
> the scheduled time, that remote stream is then "played" from a playlist
> on mpd.
>
> We are a low-power FM station in the Louisville, Kentucky, area, and we
> are run collectively, so having a distributed architecture (allowing
> remote DJs) is important to us. Our mpd server, icecast server, and
> transmitter are currently in three separate locations. A computer at the
> the transmitter site subscribes to the icecast stream.
>
> Unfortunately, it looks like we will be scrapping this system in a few
> weeks in favor of a proprietary system (SAM Broadcaster) because it
> offers superior sound level compression (i.e. it plays stuff louder)
> which has a direct effect on the strength of our broadcast signal (which
> is important when you are limited to 100 watts).
>
> Until we switch away from mpd, you can learn more at our website,
> http://wxbh.org/OurStationSoftware.html and you can monitor the system's
> operation from http:// studio.wxbh.org/Console.html .
>
> If anyone is interested in what we've done, I'll be happy to tell more
> and share code.
>
> -John Hicks
> (For best results in communicating with me directly, substitute my name
> "johnhicks" in place of "johnlist" in my email address.)
>
>
> On 05/24/2010 12:10 PM, Patrick Bohnet wrote:
>> I have been playing with Icecast only for a couple of days, and I am
>> trying to figure out how to do something.
>>
>> I want a listener to have to only deal with one stream, but I want to be
>> able to switch the source of that stream between multiple sources (DJs).
>> The core idea is that the listener only deals with /live.mp3 while in the
>> background I can problematically switch between a series of live sources
>> (DJs) or an "Auto DJ Playlist" source - all based on a schedule for 24/7
>> content. The total amount of DJs is currently unknown (4+), as this is
>> just the planing stages.
>>
>> So far I only have two ideas, neither of which seams optimal
>> 1) use the move listener function to constantly shift users around to the
>> correct DJ stream.
>> 2) use a third party restream program, such as StreamTranscoder or
>> LiquidSoap
>> 3) use 4 dj mount points that fallback to each other and finally to the
>> autoDJ, and make the DJs pick a stream to take over when their show
>> starts. (this untested)
>>
>> (Long discussion on how I don't know how to do that, and ways that I have
>> tried)
>>
>> So far I have tried the following (this is on a Debian machine running
>> Icecast 2.3.2, all mounts are 128 kbs mp3, i can try a win32 version of
>> icecast2, but I assume there should be no functional difference)
>>
>> *******************************************************************
>> This was my first setup to familiarize my self with icecast
>> mount /EDH.mp3 is hidden  and not public - it has a source of Winamp and
>> edcast playing music from an old windows box I have
>> mount /live.mp3 has a fallback to /EDH.mp3 with a fallback override of 1
>>
>> If the listener connects(windows media player on a windows box) to
>> /live.mp3.m3u they hear the autoDJ until i connect to /live.mp3 with SAM,
>> afterwhich they hear me, until I disconnect... so far so good
>>
>> *******************************************************************
>> Next I tried the following, i wanted to try to swap the listener between
>> two live sources
>> mount /dj1.mp3 is playing music from Winamp/edcast on my old windows
>> machine (classical music)
>> mount /dj2.mp3 is playing music from Winamp/edcast on a second windows
>> machine (Ozzy Osborn)
>> mount /live.mp3 is setup with /dj1.mp3 as the fallback with fallback
>> override set to 1
>>
>> When a listener connects (using windows media player on a third windows
>> machine), they hear dj1
>> I then, via the web interface
>> (http://www.icecast.org/docs/icecast-trunk/icecast2_admn.html i.e.
>> /admin/fallbacks?mount=/live.mp3&fallback=/dj2.mp3 ), change the fallback
>> of /live.mp3 to /dj2.mp3
>> the listener still hears dj1 and does not hear dj2.
>> if i disconnect the listener and re connect, I still heard dj1 and not dj2
>> even though when I use /admin/listmounts i see that /dj2.mp3 is listed as
>> the new fallback.
>> If i change the /etc/icecast2/icecast.xml to change the fallback there and
>> then run /etc/init.d/icecast2 reload to reload the config, the listener
>> still hears dj1, even on a listener reconnect.
>> I even try a /etc/init.d/icecast2 restart and it does not change. only
>> when I do a stop/start does any new connections to /live.mp3 switch to dj2
>>
>> now, I am able to move listeners via the web interface from /live.mp3 to
>> /dj2.mp3 and they hear dj2. But if i try to move them back to /live.mp3
>> (thinking that it might then trigger the "new" fallback) they again hear
>> dj1
>> With some complicated checking, this might be a solution.
>>
>> *******************************************************************
>> Next i tried using two icecast servers
>> Server A
>> I remove /live.mp3 from server A, otherwise it is the same server as
>> before
>> Server B (second Debian box, same subnet as all the machines, otherwise
>> identical configuration as Server A)
>> I add a relay called /live.mp3 which is using /dj1.mp3 from Server A as
>> the source
>>
>> If a user connects to /live.mp3 they hear dj1
>> if i change the xml (since there does not seam to be a web interface for
>> editing relays) to point it to dj2 and do /etc/init.d/icecast2 reload
>> nothing changes. The listener still hears dj1, even on a listener
>> reconnect. If i do a stop/start only then does the listener hear the dj2,
>> but it forces a reconnect and interrupts the user.
>>
>> *******************************************************************
>> Finally I tried using a third party program to act as the go between
>> Server A
>> (still has /dj1.mp3 and /dj2.mp3 with no change)
>> Server B
>> changed /live.mp3 from a relay to a mount with a fallback to /EDH.mp3
>> added /EDH.mp3 to this server and used a third windows box with Winamp and
>> edcast to stream)
>> on server B, I am running streamtranscoder from oddcast to stream /dj1.mp3
>> to /live.mp3
>>
>> when a listener connects to server b /live.mp3 they hear dj1
>> when i stop the streamsstranscoder and run the one that points to /dj2.mp3
>> the user hears the autodj for just a second then they hear dj2
>> this solution does not actually need two icecast servers, i just had
>> things setup this way and did not want to move them around just for this
>> test
>> this solution is re encoding the mp3 stream, which is a loss of quality
>>
>> *******************************************************************
>> it looks like my best option might be to have the DJs broadcast in 256kbs
>> mount points that are hidden, and use liquidsoap to rebroadcast it to the
>> live stream in 128kbs mp3. I can then control liquidsoap via an external
>> programmatic interface which allows me to switch from DJ to DJ based on a
>> timer, or to manually switch to a different show outside of the timer. I
>> just don't like that it will reencode the audio.
>>
>> I was planning on using liquidsoap as the final auto dj (winamp/edcast was
>> just for testing) anyway
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Icecast mailing list
>> Icecast at xiph.org
>> http://lists.xiph.org/mailman/listinfo/icecast
>>
>
>

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