The mysterious nature of creativity
Creative insights can make us happy even when they don't seem useful.
独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转
Simple Media Streaming with VLC and IceCast
The number of streaming platforms has exploded over the years.
and so many more.
I added experimentation of SoundWire on my to-do list. In the meantime, here is a good article on SoundWire.
At one point, I decided to stream my music over my network. It wouldn’t be much work to create an actual public station. I am not interested in listening to music as opposed to paying royalties.
You want to do your own streaming with your own music. I am going to describe the steps I performed to do my own streaming of music.
Icecast is a great free streaming media server. Although free, it can be feel clunky and overwhelming as there isn’t really any UI. Instead, there is an XML file that needs to be updated using your favorite text/XML editor.
The first step is the configuration of Icecast. The XML file containing the configuration settings can look complex. But there are really only a few lines that need to be changed.
First Change - Hostname
Let’s start with the setting of the Hostname. The hostname can be a domain name, hostname of the PC, or the IP Address. The IP Address is subject to change if using DHCP.
Second Change — Password
Security is important. Uninvited guests should not have access. So let’s set a password for the source. If desired, feel free to change the username and password for the Admin logs as well.
Third Change — IP and Port
Save the XML file. That’s it for the configuration of IceCast. Start the IceCast server and see the window below.
For those that use Chocolatey, VLC Media Player has a Chocolatey package. choco install vlc
Start VLC Media Player.
We need to select the audio to be streamed. Click on the Media menu (top-left) and select the desired option. For your collection of audio, select “Open File…” or “Open Multiple Files…”
Let’s select the audio/video to be streamed.
Look at the very bottom of the window for the Play button. Click the down arrow beside the word Play. A list of options will be displayed. Select the Stream option.
At this point, we are using the wizard in VLC Media Player to configure the streaming output. Click the Next button.
We need to configure the destination. VLC Media Player offers a variety of choices. HTTP, RTSP, RTP, and more. Since we are using IceCast, let’s select the IceCast option.
We need to enter the data for the IceCast server. Think back to the configuration of the IceCast server. There were a few lines of XML that were updated. To make things simple, here is a list of the values.
Address = <bind-address>
Port = <port>
Mount Point = stream
Login:pass = username is source and password is <source-password>
Click the Next button.
The Transcoding Options refer to the audio format for the stream. Again, VLC Media Player offers a variety of options. I like to use MP3 so I use the default.
At this point, we are ready to stream the audio to IceCast. The last step is to press the Stream button.
At this point, I am able to connect to the stream on any computer or mobile device that has an audio player that supports streaming. I went into VLC on my laptop, select the option for network, and entered the following URL.
Just to recap, the streaming is only on my network. If I am sitting in my office at work, I cannot connect to the stream.
My setup wasn’t quite as smooth as described in this article. I had issues with my audio card as well as web server issues. The biggest issue for me was the web server as I didn’t have IIS properly configured.
If you have issues, don’t give up. A quick google search is an excellent way to resolve the problem. If you had the issue, it is likely someone else had the same issue.
Related posts:
Tempest Restore
I bought the Tempest cab from a friend of a friend Justin R. It was my second machine. The first, an Asteroids Deluxe, I had also bought from Justin a few months earlier. I felt as though it was…
Tips and Best Practices to Use Color in UI
There are many factors that come into play that keep people using the products they love. One of them is color. Have you ever thought about the emotional impact colors have in a user interface…
Un cartello
Il tram arriva da destra, viaggia lento, quando si ferma i pochi passeggeri scendono pigramente, un’anziana signora ricurva con un basco color panna appoggia il suo bastone a terra prima di reggersi…