Re: web audio

I am on staff at my college radio station, and with a home-made NT machine
and an ethernet connection (10baseT, which is slightly slower than T-1 from
what I understand), we are able to stream our programming live. (You can
check it out at www.kwur.wustl.edu, but we're not broadcasting 24/7 now
since it's still winter break, so you may get dead air.) The whole setup
probably cost us less than $1000; thus, $1000 a month seems very, VERY
expensive. For less than $1000/month you could probably buy a dedicated
server and a high-speed line.

The problem with web radio is the number of streams you are able to have
going at one time. Last I heard, we were using the free version of
RealServer (www.real.com), and I think we're able to have 25 listeners on
the web at a time. RealProducer Plus G2 one of the hotter technologies I've
heard about, and it costs $150. According to RealNetwork's info, for 60
streams at 20kbps you would need a T1 and 78.4MB of memory. The more memory
you have, the more bandwith you have, the more streams (concurrent
listeners) you can have, up into the thousands.

There are a number of different technologies available, such as Emblaze
(http://www.emblaze.com/) and Microsoft NetShow
(http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/index/index/universalus/backoffice/
u.s/4308.asp), as well as browser-based technologies such as streaming java
applets. (A good resource is the About.com radio site -- they have info on
straming audio servers at
http://radio.about.com/entertainment/radio/msub24.htm.) I mention RealServer
because most people already have the RealPlayer installed and I've found
that it is relatively easy to set up, works well, and runs on many different
platforms.

My advice is to have your client set up a dedicated audio server (i.e. if
the client is hosting the web pages for these stations as well, have those
be stored on another server) and a T-1 (or more) line or equivalent. I'm not
sure how the radio stations would get their signal to the server -- if they
are local stations, the easiest thing would be to invest in a high-quality
digital tuner, thus saving them the cost of getting a DSL/Cable line.

I hope this information will point you in the right direction -- if I can be
of more help or if you have any questions, feel free to email me privately.

.jeff.

----- Original Message -----
From: Oleg Timofeyev <olegtim(at)2xdigi.com>

> I have a client who wants to setup a site for different radio stations to
> cast live their programs. I know that for that he will need a dedicated
> server and stations will need DSL lines or Cable. I found one provider who
> offers that exact service for $1000 a month. Have anyone ever worked with
> something like that, maybe you have any tips on how to do it or know of
any
> tutorials, also maybe know of any companies that offer that service? Thank
> you.

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