Introduction
SHOUTcast is a free popular software for streaming media over the internet. Developed by Nullsoft in 2017, it allows digital audio to be broadcasted over the internet thus powering lots of internet radio stations.
You can open your Radio station using SHOUTcast installed on a windows workstation acting as a server as you use Winamp to play the music. As this may require a lot of bandwidth and resources, there may be limitations to reach a big internet audience but still works.
When you need to go public and big, you may need a SHOUTcast host and a web host for your station’s website.
In this how-to article, we shall go through the steps on How to Install & Configure SHOUTcast Server on Windows.
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Prerequisites;
You are going to need;
- Winamp
- SHOUTcast server
- SHOUTcast source DSP plugin for Winamp
How To Install & Configure SHOUTcast Server On Windows
Install Winamp
Navigate to the SHOUTcast site and download both Winamp and SHOUTcast Source DSP.
Download Winamp from this link. It spares you the effort of going through the Winamp forum. Click on the DSP, and downloads directly. Install Winamp first because the DSP is a plugin for Winamp.
Click Next and choose the install location.
Install the Full features (all the features). Click Next to install.
Installation is complete.
Install SHOUTcast Source DSP
Locate the installation file. Double click to begin SHOUTcast source DSP install wizard. Click Next
Choose the install location and click next,
Select the Full install and click install.
Then make sure the two options are enabled and click Finish.
Installing The SHOUTcast Server
Download the SHOUTcast server from here. Then double-click on the installer.
Click I agree, then proceed with the installation.
Choose the additional features you want to install, but note it’s easier to use the GUI version. Finally, choose the install location and click on install.
The installation will finish, and a readme file opens detailing how to use SHOUTcast.
Next, openSHOUTcast and run the SHOUTcast server as an administrator.
Click on Edit config
The sc_serv.ini file will open, and edit the password, MaxUser and PortBase. The other settings are optional.
After you have changed the password, click on File then Save.
Broadcast Your Music To The Internet
Open Winamp and put all the songs you want to broadcast to the playlist.
Click options at the top left side then preferences. Under plugins click on DSP/Effect then select SHOUTcast source DSP v2.3.5 and hit configure active plug-in at the bottom of the tab.
A SHOUTcast tab opens, click on Output. If the server and the source are on the same machine as mine, you can enter localhost in the Server Address. The Port is still 8000, and the Password is the same as the one you put in the sc_serv.ini file. The DJ/User ID can be left blank.
Then click Directory and give your radio a name, URL (localhost works) and choose a Genre.
Click Encoder. With a faster connection, you can select a higher bitrate as opposed to the 48kbps. AAC quality gives you the best quality of sound. The defaults usually work well here.
You are now ready to start your radio station.
Start the SHOUTcast server monitor and play music on Winamp then click on Connect on the SHOUTcast Source DSP.
The monitor shows you what is playing.
Your radio station is now running.
Conclusion
We have covered how to configure the SHOUTcast server to work on our Windows system. Remember, anything you want to change, you have to edit the ini file. Entertain the world from your computer.
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