Can Shoutcast Handle Stereo AND Mono Streams Simultaneously?

[mweiss]

It seems to get confused when I have the DNAS set up for two different formats on two different encoders.

I have encoder 2 set for 56K mono and encoder 4 set for 112K stereo.

Listeners are getting audio only in the left channel. Right channel is silent.

Oddly enough, the intro file that plays before the stream is coming through BOTH channels.

Does Shoutcast handle a mix of mono and stereo properly, or should I forget about trying to have two streams on my webcast?

[dotme]

You can have two streams, as long as you only send one stream per SHOUtcast server. For example, if you host your own station, you can run *two* instances of SHOUTcast. Just copy everything from C:\Program Files\Shoutcast to C:\Program Files\Shoutcast2.

After the copy, you need to edit the ini file on the second SHOUTcast folder and change the ports. (1 can run on 8000, and 2 on 8100, for example)

Once you've made that minor change, run the exe in the second folder and you now have 2 instances of SHOUTcast running. In the Winamp DSP, set Output 2 for mono at whatever bitrate you want, and point Encoder 2 at Shoutcast2 using Output 2.

On your site, have two links - one to the Stereo pls and one to the Mono pls (Labeled "Broadband" and "Dialup") and you're good to go. The SHOUTcast yp will also happily list both streams. Hope this answers your question.

[mweiss]

That is exactly the configuration I have now, but I'm only getting audio in the LEFT channel when playing files from WinAMP into Shoutcast. The same issue with using the soundcard input as well.

I recently converted from a 24kbps and 56kbps mono feeds to changing the 24kbps feed to a 112kbps STEREO feed. I made the appropriate changes to the WinAMP plugin encoder. Client machines running WinAMP show that it is indeed STEREO on WinAMP, but the right channel is dead silent (except for when the intro112.mp3 file is playing when they first access the stream. As soon as it resumes broadcasting the playlist, the right channel goes dead.

I'm stumped. If as you say the system can handle both with two instances of DNAS running, then what could be causing stereo MP3 files to mute the right channel?

[djSpinnerCee]

I would check to see if you are the only one experienceing this -- have someone listen on another computer. It's likely that everything is fine with your stream.

I have seen soundcards that mute one channel until you adjust either the wave or master volume on the WinMixer. I can't explain why (bad driver perhaps), I've just seen it.

*** when I listen to your stream, I get both channels

stereo: http://24.151.0.223:8002/
mono: http://24.151.0.223:8000/

[ravetrax]

as a rule of thumb, and inside tip, run your dsp from largest to smallest bitrate, with stereo on top and mono streams on the bottom..

[mweiss]

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
I would check to see if you are the only one experienceing this -- have someone listen on another computer. It's likely that everything is fine with your stream.

I have seen soundcards that mute one channel until you adjust either the wave or master volume on the WinMixer. I can't explain why (bad driver perhaps), I've just seen it.

*** when I listen to your stream, I get both channels

stereo: http://24.151.0.223:8002/
mono: http://24.151.0.223:8000/

I have checked several PCs and the same thing is happening. The intro plays in both channels, but when the MP3s start streaming, the right channel goes dead.
You probably heard the intro112.mp3 file, because I had nothing streaming but dead air from the soundcard input.
I have started up WinAMP now, and am streaming a playlist of stereo 128kbps MP3s now. If you try the stereo stream now, you will most likely discover (after the 30-second intro ends) that the music is only in the left channel.

[mweiss]

Originally posted by ravetrax
as a rule of thumb, and inside tip, run your dsp from largest to smallest bitrate, with stereo on top and mono streams on the bottom..

Originally, this was the case, but I just converted my lowband stream to the stereo 112K stream, so now things are reversed. Could this be exciting some quirk in Shoutcast and causing the problem?

[sns2015]

Ravetrax's suggestion is what I was going to make... but he beat me to it.

[djSpinnerCee]

Yep, I noticed that --- that's good in a way because it points to the source more than the DNAS as the issue.

How about checking the source MP3s, and the DSP version?... sometimes the source MP3s may be in a format (mp3Pro?, VBR?, >44Khz?) that the DSP has trouble with?

You do know to stay away from Encoder 1, yes?

Crossfading adds complexity as well (it requires wave mixing), If you are using it, try turning it off.

Are there any other DSPs in use?

[ravetrax]

SHOUTcast Server Version 1.8.9???

you do understand SHOUTcast Server Version 1.9.5 was released some time ago right?

but as for you streams... they seem to work as excepted for me.

[djSpinnerCee]

Other than a huge difference in level between the intro and the stream, I get 2 channels too.

[mweiss]

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
Other than a huge difference in level between the intro and the stream, I get 2 channels too.

Very odd. I'm getting only left channel audio on every PC in the office, even the notebook computers running the latest version of WinAMP.

I think I'll try reordering the encoders. I know to avoid Enc #1. But I will try making the stereo stream enc #2 and the mono stream #4, instead of the reverse, which, at present, is the case.

EDIT:
Swapped encoders so that Enc 2 is doing 112K and enc 4 is doing 56K. Rebooted the machine and started up WinAMP and the two DNAS servers.
Change occured, but not what I was looking for. Instead of audio in only the left channel, we now get the SAME audio through both channels (mono on a stereo feed?) and the playback is at HALF speed. Client WinAMP players report the stream as MONO, even though the encoder is set "112K Stereo".
I guess I was mistaken to assume this would be a simple 5-minute configuration change. After a couple hours of tweaking, rebooting, etc., we just get either left channel only, or both channels at half speed in mono. What else could be wrong? This setup works great if the feeds are mono, but stereo seems to be fraught with problems.

EDIT2:
I solved the problem. There was some confusion and cross linking of information between DNAS config files. Must be working too many hours on not enough sleep. I was running in circles for a while wondering why each file has some pieces of the other server's information. Anyway, I finally got everything sorted out. It works!

[mweiss]

I have the streams working and they play fine locally, but the service that syndicates our program e-mailed me tonight that the 112K stream was rebuffering too often and they shut down their relay of our broadcast until it is fixed.

What can I do to tweak the Shoutcast DNAS applications to improve the performance? Is there a way I can increase the buffer size on our end? What do you do when listeners complain of excessive rebuffering?

[djSpinnerCee]

You must make sure that your combined bitrate x listeners on ALL of your streams combined never exceeds your oubound bitrate. otherwise ALL listen slots will underrun (rebuffer).

This means that you should config your maxlisteners wisely so that it does not exceed 80% of your oubound bitrate.

A test is a better measure than any ISP rating -- http://nyc.speakeasy.net/ -- try all of the test sites, several times, and use the LOWEST rating to make your determination. Your bandwidth decreases over distance and changes per time-of-day, so it's not really important to know how well your connection performs to the girl next door, when it will buffer for everyone a few thousand miles away.

I shouldn't have to say this, but your "habits" on the same connection as the DNAS will impact your effective upload rate, so browsing, chatting, and especially uploading or downloading will reduce your upload to varying degrees.