A faster way to get to mic?

[JoeyC]

I just downloaded the latest version of Shoutcast - 2.2.3 and am using it along with Winamp (5.623) on an HP laptop running Windows 7 Professional Edition. I use an external sound card (Creative usb plug-in) for broadcasting. As with the older editions of Shoutcast, the only way I can find to make things work are to do this within the Input Tab:
Select Winamp Recommended to play music
Stop the music
Drop Down to Select Soundcard Input to talk
Drop Down to Select Winamp Recommended
Start Music
Repeat

Having to use the drop down box and stopping and starting the music creates a couple of seconds of dead air every time I go from music to talk and back again. Is there an easier interface to do this? It would be great to be able to talk over the music, but I can't make that work, since it appears that it is either music or talk, based upon what is selected in Input. The talk over would be nice, but I would at least appreciate an easier and faster way to go back and forth between music and talking, since I do so 30 or 40 times during the course of a show.

[DrO]

you shouldn't be needing to start/stop the stream when toggling between Winamp and soundcard mode unless you happen to have a soundcard which can cause the Source DSP to fail on switching modes.

as for the other issue, i'd say have a look at the known issues for the Source DSP.

though maybe it should be possible to toggle the input mode via the summary page or via a keyboard shortcut, etc.

-daz

[JoeyC]

I do need to stop the song I am playing when I want to talk after it to give the title. The mic is not recognized when I am using Winamp Recommended in Input. It is only recognized when Soundcard Input is chosen. This requires all the clicking and time I mentioned in my question.

I have not found a keyboard shortcut. You can toggle back and forth between Winamp Recommended and Souncard Input with a keystroke, as long as you stay in Shoutcast. Once I go out to Winamp to start or stop the song, the keystroke will no longer work until I go back and click in the Shoutcast window, which, again takes time to do all that.

It just seems that Shoutcast is setup more for a stream of music or talking, not a traditional DJ setup where music and talking are constantly going back and forth. It is very cumbersome, unless I am missing shortcuts. If so, I would love to hear them!

[DrO]

when using the Source DSP on Windows 7 or Vista, due to how the OS audio stack now works means the Source DSP does not work quite in the way that you would like i.e. outputting the music playing and talking over the top (however that behaviour should still work on XP and prior). this is noted in the release thread, on the wiki and also in the documentation which is shipped with the Source DSP.

Originally Posted by JoeyC

The mic is not recognized when I am using Winamp Recommended in Input. It is only recognized when Soundcard Input is chosen.

that is how it's meant to work with the capture handling be it inconvenient / not working as ideally as it should (as mentioned above). in Winamp mode then it only uses Winamp's output. in soundcard mode, it depends on what default device is selected and the OS being used as to whether the layering of the output will or will not work. on XP it should still allow for layering of the mic input over the captured output (subject to soundcard configuration). on Windows 7 / Vista, with the isolation of per-app audio output (a great thing in most cases), that causes the mode not to work in the same manner as before without the whole capture mode being re-written.

Originally Posted by JoeyC

I have not found a keyboard shortcut. You can toggle back and forth between Winamp Recommended and Souncard Input with a keystroke, as long as you stay in Shoutcast. Once I go out to Winamp to start or stop the song, the keystroke will no longer work until I go back and click in the Shoutcast window, which, again takes time to do all that.

my last comment was referring to that it probably would be a good idea for me to add in something to make it easier to toggle between the input mode.

Originally Posted by JoeyC

It just seems that Shoutcast is setup more for a stream of music or talking, not a traditional DJ setup where music and talking are constantly going back and forth.

it comes back to the known issue as stated at the start of my reply. i intend to fix it but it's low on my never-ending todo list (and am sure some people are going to question that but i can only do so much).

-daz

[DJbigJack]

I've asked about this before also .. a few times. I still don't understand why a basic DJ functionality isn't high on the priority list. As far as I can see, the ability to talk and play music with the most current version of the operating system should be right up on top of the priorities, unless there is a drastic issue or glitch that needs fixing. All we are asking for is the capability that every DJ needs .. to play music and to talk .

[DrO]

i know what you are asking for and i have said what and why i'm not able to work on it as fast as you and others would like. i have not said that it shouldn't be fixed and that it will be fixed as best as i can do for Vista / Windows 7 machines when i get the time and setup to be able to properly work on fixing it.

and it has been stated already that the 2.4 release is when the updates to this feature will be done but as 2.3 isn't even out of the door, that puts things in context. or am i expected to work 24/7 with no life of my own as that's the attitude people seem to be giving out all too often.

-daz

[DJbigJack]

daz .. I know it's on your list and my intention wasn't to complain .. honest ! I guess I think of this as missing basic functionality and was remarking on that feeling .. nothing more, nothing less.

I'm happy to hear it's on the list for an upcoming version .. I just hope that Win 8 doesn't mess with the audio functions again ! LOL

[DrO]

from what i've read, i'm not aware of any major changes in how audio is handled in Win8 compared to Vista / Window 7 style handling. i know one thing that is for certain, the Source DSP and Winamp as is will not be able to be provided as a metro-app and will only be available on the 'classic' desktop environment - to be natively metro both would require a complete re-implementation assuming that would even happen to begin with.

-daz

[DrO]

will have something like is shown in the attached screenshot on the summary page for quicker switching between Winamp and Soundcard modes (along with a number of other UI changes on the summary page handling, etc).

[edit]
amended things slightly so Alt+W and Alt+S (or whatever is set to have the _ below it on the two new options) will allow toggling to that mode.

-daz