General Questions about streaming

I know that this should be extremely simple, but I just can't seem to get it going correctly.

I have DJ'd for close to 10 years and have opened up for many world renowned DJs. I have become friends with many of them so the sharing of music is quite common. So for my question.

What is the best and most cost efficient way to stream music into SL? I have read the tutorials and the SL information, and even more forums. However I just cant seem to find a quick'n easy for setting up a stream. I have a domain ready that goes directly to my system. I would also like to be able to use the line-in as well as recorded medium to play.

I have looked into winamp, oddcast, and others... Network configuration on ports to allow connections would be very simple as I am very experienced with that portion. It is just getting the audio to stream on that port with a server software to accept clients.

Any information would be greatful, plus I know that everyone has their own opinion on what is "best" so if everyone just put up what has worked for them then that would be great. I can figure out almost any software, but for some reason this has been escaping me.

SAM Broadcaster is probably the most common internet DJ software... little expensive but a lot of people try to go free first and then end up migrating to it in the end. SAM streams to an actual stream broadcaster like icecast or shoutcast.

As far as serving from your own machine, that may or may not be possible. You need a LOT of bandwidth, more than most people have available. You can hit 3-4 people maybe from a decent home internet connection. But if you want 30-40... probably have to look into a rebroadcasting service. They charge by the bandwitch you want to use. I get I think it was 25 people at 96k for $15 a month.

I have a simple setup tutorial at my DJ shop:

Yeolmae: 10,20,80

or if you IM me I'll send it to you

And, I rent streams at $3800L a month
128kbps stereo max / 100 listeners max

Using winamp and oddcast is just for streaming out to a server. You'll need the server as well to handle incoming listening connections.

Shoutcast http://shoutcast.com/download/serve.phtml
and Icecast http://icecast.org/download.php
will both do the trick for free.
Setup the server on your machine if you have enough bandwidth, then in the broadcasting plugin (oddcast), give it the address and port of your server (most likely 127.0.0.1).
If you have a mac with OSX, you should be able to use nicecast to handle the broadcast and the serving.

If you're short on bandwidth (64kb/s per listener minimum for good quality) then look for icecast or shoutcast hosting/rental.

If you get stuck there is a handy page here on streaming music in second life, middle way down there are steps for setting up winamp + shoutcast plugin.

http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=083

Hope that helps

Jamie
Steaming Live Audio - Shoutcast / IceCast Hosting HQ (Bisque 245,155)

My SL business partner rents streams out at 192kbs max 100 listeners and 99.8% uptime guarantee - complete with control panel for you to manage your own server connection.

SAMbroadcast is indeed the best method of streaming your audio from your PC to a server (for SL use at least) and you can also stream live music the same way.

IM me in world if you would like me to put you in touch with my business partner to negotiate a price for the server.

Kind Regards

Leanne Karas