DJ from Mac?

Anyone out there doing the DJ thing from a Mac??

I know SL suggests Nicecast which would work out great going out of my iTunes library. However, I need a server to go to. Anyone using Nicecast to Shoutcast (or another server).

My gig is in one week... HELP!

-DaveZ

Yes, NiceCast connects and plays nicely with Shoutcast, Icecast (both 1&2) and even Live365 server types. Do you have any more specifics about what server type you are trying to use? As long as you have all the connection details in the right place in NiceCast it does a great job connecting to just about all the server types I can think of. I've been using it heavily to do live performances and regularly connect to all of the aforementioned server types (though Icecast has only been Icecast 2 for me).

The biggest "gotcha" I found was with IceCast servers - the account login/user on IceCast2 servers is always the same, it's the mount point and password that determine access. Shoutcast servers are pretty straight ahead. Live365 is usable in SL but much trickier due to their subscription model.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the information! It sounds like Shoutcast might be the way to go then eh?

I have no idea about server type. Should I look at what's servers are available from Shoutcast? I know with Live365 there's a charge; is there one with Shoutcast?

Any more information would be beneficial; or a point in the right direction for tips. I'm not a complete novice.. just haven't done live broadcasting before.

-Dave Z

Excellent.. I was looking for info on broadcasting to a shoutcast server from a mac too. I"ll be sure to try nicecast

Thanks for the help. My gig went very well!! Didn't get the mic working though (worked for our practice session).

Server/Steaming machine
Nicecast
Powerbook g4 (Summer 2005) 1.5 ghz, 1 gb RAM
OS 10.4.6

My client machine was a Mac Mini running Win Xp

I use the Mac all the time, I use nicecast to control the feed, Megaseg to control the music and garageband for voice effects with a mic. Remember if your going to use a mic with nicecast you need to setup a application filter, either a mic filter or what I do is I use a application filter which I link to garageband so I can have a better control of the mic sound.

Hmmm... How do I find out more about this? why do I need a filter?

Sorry if these question are noob... but that's me right now

Nicecast does all its inputs with filters. They are really like plugin's more then anything else but they call them filters. For example if you want to stream music using Itunes you would use the application filter which point to Itunes once that is done when you start up Nicecast and start the stream it will load up Itunes and be ready to go. If you want to use a mic with this you create a filter such as a voiceover filter and have that point to a mic input. This is how I do it,
Nicecast has 2 filters
Filter 1 is a application filter that points to Megaseg
Filter 2 is a application filter that points to Garageband
When I startup Nicecast and select my server and start the stream, Megaseg will start up for me as well as Garageband. Once they are loaded I will set the Garageband filter to off and only turn it on when I want to use my mic which I run as a vocal instrument in Garageband so I can adjust the way I sound. When I want to use the MIC I activate the filter say what I need to say and turn it off again.
If you purchase Nicecast you will find there are many filters that do many different things so read the manual while you look them over you might find something you will like to use.
To check the software out that I use you can visit www.nicecast.com and www.megaseg.com Garageband comes with the mac so you should have that.

Nice Cast Works great.. need more info on setting up or DJ questions.. check out the forum here.. or give me a shout will do my best to help answer..

http://clubspaceradio.forumcircle.com/viewforum.php?f=7

http://clubspaceradio.com

Wow, and I thought I was all unique!!

I've been DJ'ing in SL with an iBook G4 and now a MBP since May now and have been doing it exclusively with Nicecast which is a great piece of software.

It's interesting to see different solutions though. I too have used MegaSeg for DJ duties (come on Jason, get us a Universal binary would ya!) and ran into the mic trouble others have described. My solution was to make about a 10 effect chain. I hijack from my input box (an M-Audio Firewire 410) so it is that box that is being hijacked. From there I run my vocal effects -- AU Compressor, AU Matrix Reverb, Nicecast EQ, then I put in the application hijack from MegaSeg, followed by AU MultiBand Compressor, Nicecast EQ, Level Indicator. I tried running two parallel chains but could never get it to work right.

The idea of using Garageband for my voice and then hijacking MegaSeg directly like Ninja is doing is a solution I hadn't though of. This would work extremely well I would think and allow me to better process my vocals and the music separately instead of in the same chain. Definitely going to give that a try.

I consistently get raves on my sound quality being the best they have heard, I guess it helps using a $500 Shure KSM27 for my mic the the Firewire 410. If you want to do serious audio, Mac always has you covered and SL is no exception.

I never like to be in world on the same machine so lately I've been DJ'ing from the iBook G4 and In World on the MBP, would be interested in what other folks do on that front. I used to be in world on a Windows box but I've since moved that box upstairs to my son's room. I'm a bit concerned about being able to do Garageband, MegaSeg and Nicecasst all at the same time though.