trinity-users@lists.pearsoncomputing.net

Message: previous - next
Month: April 2019

INTERNET RADIO - a bit of shameless self-promotion

From: William Morder <doctor_contendo@...>
Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2019 15:09:54 -0700
Check out my Internet radio station! 
KCB-SF
direct streaming links
http://s8.voscast.com:9660
-or-
http://74.50.122.103:9660

I torify the stream using xmms on my desktop computer. For smartphones, I 
recommend VLC (which also works well over Tor). I also want to create an 
onion link, if possible, because, you know, some people might not want the 
Man scrutinizing what music has got them so totally hypnotized. (I am also 
looking for users' testimonies about what media players work best on Windoze 
and the Rotten Apple, since my listeners are mostly not Linux geeks.) 

My evil twin, Dr Mojo Contendo, is the DJ, station manager, technical expert, 
janitor, and so on. Please give it a try, if you are so inclined. Our 
playlist is VERY BIG, and extremely diverse. If you don't like what you hear, 
keep checking back, as we play *almost* any kind of music imaginable. I have 
at last got it to the point where I have uploaded enough music to the server 
to make the music varied enough to sustain attention, and my audience is 
slowly growing. 

We are still running on AutoDJ, which is described as "imperfect"; though I 
believe that is far too generous a term for how it sort of half-works. I hope 
to start live streaming from my own playlists within the next few weeks; but 
I need some help. 

**********

Well, so, actually, it's not quite just self-promotion; I'm also looking for 
some help and suggestions. This is not really specific to TDE; however, I am 
interested in using Trinity software if available. Since it probably is too 
far off-topic for this list, I will be glad if anybody wants to email me 
privately, or if they can recommend resources that are better than what I 
have. 

I've been studying all these online manuals about live streaming Internet 
radio, but as it turns out, there are a gazillion different ways to do it, 
and they seem to contradict one another at times. Having read pretty much all 
the guides & how2s that are out there, my problem, if anything, is that I am 
overwhelmed with too much information. 

So, 3 steps, from what I can tell: 
1. I *want* is to use ezstream from command-line to do my live streaming, 
because then I can just point it to a playlist. Then I only have to edit my 
playlist, rather than physically copying or moving files. 

2. For live broadcast (which is probably down the road even farther), I was 
intending to use darkice or darksnow. 

3. For the server itself, I already have icecast. 

We have already taken the trouble to license the music for playing on the 
radio; so I only really need help with the technical stuff. 

Getting them to work together is a bit confusing. Also, I am worried about 
streaming at too high a bit rate and incurring charges. They seem to imply 
that files must be converted beforehand to the right bit rate; but I never 
would convert files to 64 kbps for myself! I only deal in lossless quality 
for myself and my own music on my own system. But this is how it works, so I 
have to deal with it. 

If I stream at a higher bit rate, ezstream can convert to the proper bit rate, 
but it stresses out the CPU (or so I read); the way to do it, they say, is to 
convert them first. Also, I would like to play an ogg stream, not mp3, but we 
need to get a different server first. 

Right now we are using Voscast; which I hate for more reasons than even all 
the time in the world will permit me to describe. Let's just say, it does 
everything that I don't want; and the only thing that it can do is sometimes 
to play the music that I specify. In fact, it plays only about 5% (just 
guessing) of all the music I've uploaded; and some artists get played over 
much, considering I've only uploaded 15 songs from that album; whereas I 
uploaded whole catalogues of music by some jazz and soul artists, and they 
haven't played ever, not even once. 

I believe that maybe Voscast filters uploads (maybe due to all this new stuff 
that's going on, with trying to stop piracy, etc.?); but there is no rhyme or 
reason, if that's the case. They filter some things but not others, and it 
makes no sense, and I can find no common denominator; except, maybe, the 
artists or record companies want to push some material, and the other stuff 
gets rejected because it doesn't sell. Anyway, it's very annoying; I waste 
endless hours uploading music that doesn't get played, and I have no idea 
why, or if it's filtered or rejected or suppressed or whatever. 

If anybody knows of a better service for streaming music, that would also be a 
great help; at present, cost is a factor, and until we get more listeners to 
justify spending more money, we seem to be stuck with Voscast. At present, it 
costs about $17 a month for 64 kbps, which is the lowest quality stream that 
plays in stereo. I would like to bump it up at least to 128 kbps, maybe even 
192 or more, as I see other streams out there now that are much higher 
quality. But all in good time; that will cost a lot more. 

(I say "we" because I have a business partner, who handles the ugly stuff like 
paying bills and talking to the Suits; whereas I, the celebrity DJ, just 
manage the music and only ever talk to other musicians.) 

Thanks for any help or suggestions. 

Bill