NetRadio: .asf & .ra

[elite]

I know Sub only supports shoutcast for mvp compatability but would it be possible to have the option to play other streams on non-mvp clients?

Alternatively, is there a work around to relay/convert an asf/realaudio stream to shoutcast - icecast maybe? - I know this would take some cpu and ram... - Any pointers on this greatly appreciated!

[bgowland]

Alternatively, is there a work around to relay/convert an asf/realaudio stream to shoutcast - icecast maybe? - I know this would take some cpu and ram... - Any pointers on this greatly appreciated!

Try this link...http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetgearMP1...ow-To%27s/ (You will probably need a Yahoo Groups login to get to it). Alternatively if a number of people are interested, I can ask the authors of the 'How To' files if I can reproduce them here.

How it works (in condensed form)...

The components are WinAmp, Tara RA plug-in for WinAmp, Shoutcast DSP plug-in for WinAmp, Shoucast server. You also need the basic RealPlayer because Tara needs some of the components.

Tara and WinAmp can receive/play RA streams. The Shoutcast DSP intercepts what is being sent to the speakers and streams it to localhost port 8001. The Shoutcast server listens on localhost:8001 and re-broadcasts to localhost port 8000. All you then need to do is point your client box at http://yourmachine:8000/ - et voila!

Its a bit fiddly to setup but the guides on the link I posted above are step-by-step details of how a couple of people have got it working. I've used this to stream BBC RA to a Netgear MP101.

Cheers,
Brian

[bgowland]

I haven't yet got this to work with GB-PVR and my MVP but its low on my priorities and I haven't had much time to experiment recently.

[bgowland]

Got it to work with GB-PVR and my MVP now.

[Dave72]

Excellent, bgowland.

Im really looking forward to getting my hands on a MVP now !

I wonder what else we can stream-redirect.

[sub]

Yeah, thats a great idea. Well spotted...

[bgowland]

I wonder what else we can stream-redirect.

I did hope it would work for anything that WinAmp could play but I just tried it with an asx playlist / wma stream and although WinAmp is playing the station through my speakers, the ShoutCast DSP isn't sending anything to the Shoutcast server. Odd.

Need sleep now, will try again tomorrow.

Cheers,
Brian

[elite]

This looks good - Am I right in thinking that I'll need to have a separate instance of WinAmp etc running for each stream? - I assume there is no way for Winamp to know if a different stream as been selected in GBPVR? - I'm thinking bandwidth, cpu... of course having a separate instance for each stream means if you have multiple mvps each can listen to different steam...

Thanks for the help

Nick

[bgowland]

This looks good - Am I right in thinking that I'll need to have a separate instance of WinAmp etc running for each stream? - I assume there is no way for Winamp to know if a different stream as been selected in GBPVR?

I've written a small VB6 utility which I've set as a 'Custom Task' in GB-PVR. I can select it from my MVP, it runs, starts WinAmp and then passes it the URL for a ra stream (BBC Radio 2 for test purposes). I've also added a test.pls file to the GB-BVP NetRadio folder which points at the URL for my localhost Shoutcast server - once I've run my custom task I just go to Net Radio and select that station. I might extend it this afternoon to step through a list of URLs each time the custom task is run. Then again, if only the Net Radio plug-in was open source I might have another go at learning C#.

I'm thinking bandwidth, cpu... of course having a separate instance for each stream means if you have multiple mvps each can listen to different steam...

One of the guys on the MP101 form link I posted above mentioned having tried several instances with good results. Looking at my CPU usage with one instance shows negligible activity. I don't think bandwidth would be a problem as you are only talking audio bit-rate streams.

Cheers,
Brian

[bgowland]

I did hope it would work for anything that WinAmp could play but I just tried it with an asx playlist / wma stream and although WinAmp is playing the station through my speakers, the ShoutCast DSP isn't sending anything to the Shoutcast server. Odd.

OK with a little help from the Winamp tech. discussion forum, it appears that wma streams by-pass the Winamp DSP section - the impression I got was that there was nothing that could be done about this.

In order to get it to work you have to switch the DSP's input to 'Soundcard Input' and loop a jack-jack cable from the speaker out jack to the line-in jack. This is working for me now with asx/mss/wma streams but I'm getting an 'echo' so I need to adjust buffer settings I think.

I don't know how practical this will be for some users' setups if their GB-PVR setup is also the home computer - the loopback cable obviously means having to disconnect the speakers. It's not a problem for me as my mediaserver is dedicated and I just happen to have a 20-channel rack-mount mixing desk bolted into the flight case above it.

Cheers,
Brian

PS sub if you feel that discussions on this Winamp/Shoutcast approach are better suited to 'General Discussion' then let us know