Shoutcast Streaming MP3 Stations
Shoutcast is a method of Streaming MP3 across the internet. Sites that stream mp3 audio are called (strangely enough), Stations. There is also an alternative to Shoutcast, called Live365 which uses the same streaming engine. Shoutcast works with WinAmp 2.2 and now FreeAmp! Mac folks can now use SoundJam to play Shoutcast, IceCast, and Live365 audio.Since its MP3, its ultra high quality sound - noticeably better than RealAudio. The server bitrate is variable. So, you can connect at the best speed. For myself with a quality 56k connection, I usually connect to the 24 or 36kbps servers so that I can surf and listen without skips.
To tune into a Shoutcast station first stop into the Shoutcast, Live365, or IceCast, web sites and pick out a station to listen to. Then just copy the url into the playlist of Winamp, or play a url from the Winamp options menu.
MiniBrowser
Another cool feature, is the ability of WinAmp to pull a URL out of the audio stream. The url will be the homepage of the particular shoutcast server you are connected too. Just open up the MiniBrowser (off the WinAmp options menu) and WinAmp will automatically connect to the associated website. cool.
How to use the MiniBrowser With Shoutcast?
At the bottom of the Minibrowser is a toolbar. The two icons on the left are back and forward arrows that work just like a browser. The red button is a stop button. The circle arrow reloads the current page.The up arrow opens a menu of additional minibrowser options. The `Update Links' menu item updates the links on the minibrowser's start page. The `Open Internet Location' item opens a dialog box where you can type in a URL to open directly.
Skip Protection
When searching for new Shoutcast servers, you should always notice what bit rate the server is broadcasting at. If your on a 28,8 line, don't try to connect to a 128kps server - it will just skip up a storm.You can correct some of the skipping by setting a larger pre-buffer. Open up the WinAmp options and look under the output plugins. Edit the NULL SOFT MPEG input decoder. Under the STREAMING option you can increase the amount of pre-buffering and the size of the buffer to reduce skip.
It is also fun to look at the output statistics. Options then Output, then Nullsoftwavoutplugin, and check out the stats to see what has and hasn't been buffered.
Streaming Shoutcast to Disk
WinAmp will *NOT* allow you to stream Shoutcast broadcasts to disk because of copyright issues. However Freeamp *WILL* allow you to dump the stream to disk. The reason you may wish to do this is so that you can download a high quality station without skips.Shoutcast is a variable quality format through a variable bit rate set by your connection speed. Typical servers broadcast on (24kpbs, 56kbps, and 112kpbs). If you have a 56k modem, the best you can do is about 48-50kbps - your never going to be able to play 112kbps even with the largest buffer set. Sooner or later you run out of download speed and the buffer underuns resulting in annoying skip.
By using Freeamp and buffering the stream to disk for later playback, you can connect to those higher bitrate servers and get full 100% mp3 quality without skips.
There is also a version of FreeAmp available for Linux - compile it on your webhosts T1+ server and stream 128kbit quality audio to your shell account for later downloading over your slow 56k connection :-)
Browser Configuration
Configuring your web browser to automatically launch Winamp when you click on a Shoutcast link is fairly easy. The trick is to associate Winamp with the .PLS file extension. Start Winamp, go the the Preferences, Setup Tab, and select PLS in the associations list box.
Internet Explorer v 3/4
Clicking on a PLS (Shoutcast link) shoud dialog prompting to to open or save the file. Click OPEN and uncheck the tick 'Always ask for this type of file'. That should do it.
Netscape 3/4
Same as IE, click a link and you should be prompted to save, or Open the file. Take the Open option and you should next be ask what program to open it with. Then just type in your path to Netscape.
Opera 3
Almost the same as the previous two. When you click on a Shoutcast link, you should be prompted what to do with the file. Select Open with App, and then find WinAmp in the directory/file selector. That should be all there is to it.
Streaming Support
- Icecast Is a free project which produces a Shoutcast compatible streaming MP3 server, encoding programs, directory server, and live interaction tools.
- MP3Spy - a utility that interactis with Shoutcast servers while providing an IRC Chat environment and shoutcast server selection. ($10 shareware).
- Shoutcast Server Download Tools you need to run a Shoutcast server.
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