Shoutcast 1.9.5 review

Shoutcast is a streaming audio system for Unix platforms and Windows & MacOSX also

License: Freeware File size: 57K Developer: Nullsoft Inc.

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Shoutcast is a streaming audio system for Unix platforms and Windows & MacOSX also. At the center of the system is the SHOUTcast Distributed Network Audio Server (DNAS).

The DNAS is responsible for accepting a broadcast feed from Winamp and the SHOUTcast Source DSP plug-in, and repeating the broadcast to listeners connected to this SHOUTcast DNAS.

Once your source content is being fed into the SHOUTcast DNAS, it will also list itself with the SHOUTcast directory so listeners can locate your broadcast.

Requirements:
Enough bandwidth to run the server. If you want to broadcast to 100 listeners at 24kbps, you'll need about 24kbps*100 = 2,400kbps = 2.4Mbps of bandwidth. That's about 2 T1 lines worth of bandwidth. Trying to push 100 128kbps listeners down your 768kbps cable modem isn't going to work.

If you want people on the internet to be able to hear you, you also need a clear connection to the internet. No firewalls, NAT devices, web caches at the ISP, proxy servers, or internet sharing devices. In some cases you can make a workaround but if you intend to provide a quality streaming service you have to invest in a quality connection. Naturally, if you just want to run a private server locally on a LAN, you don't need this at all.

If you want to list this server on the SHOUTcast directory, you will need a working DNS server configured as well. You can verify DNS is working by pinging www.yahoo.com, or pulling up a web browser and visiting www.shoutcast.com. Note that you can't ping www.shoutcast.com, because AOL blocks ICMP traffic.

A broadcast source. This is usually in the form of a computer running Winamp (can be the same computer running the DNAS), and the SHOUTcast Source Plugin. This is available in the I wanna be a DJ section on SHOUTcast.com.

If you don't have some/any of the above, you can still broadcast a station, but you'll have to pay someone for the privelege of hosting a SHOUTcast server for you, and you won't need this piece of software. To find good providers, visit the SHOUTcast forums on www.shoutcast.com and hear what others say about the growing number of streaming audio providers.

What's New in This Release:
An exploit was fixed.