MetaChat - Radio Mecha 101?

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07 December 2005

Radio Mecha 101? →[More:]I’ve been toying with the idea of putting together a Radio Free Flo broadcast sometime in the near future based on a couple of my favorite playlists, but can’t seem to isolate a good primer post to help me get started. I know (or think I know) that I have to use Winamp with the Shoutcast DSP installed, but I’m not sure about details like file formats and DRM. Do the files have to be MP3s (I have a ton of really sweet WMAs)? Does it matter if they are purchased (licensed with DRM) as opposed to ripped?

I’m also curious as to what times ya’ll are most inclined to listen to Radio Mecha, and to what length of broadcast is good.

p.s. Pony suggestion: I’m sure most of this info has already been posted, but a search for the obvious terms gives too many hits to sort through. Maybe compiling the info into a FAQ and linking it from the Radio Mecha page would help to prevent crap posts like this from soiling the lovely MetaChat FP.

Thanks in advance. Time for my meds.

post by: It's Raining Florence Henderson at: 18:40 | 19 comments

I would also be interested in an FAQ.

posted by puke & cry 07 December | 18:48

In my experience, only MP3s work. I keep all my music in WMA format, too (for my portale player), so I picked up this program and just convert a bunch of songs before each broadcast. It's really fast.

I don't have any DRM type files (99% of mine is ripped from CD), so I'm no help to you there.

posted by BoringPostcards 07 December | 18:52

I do all MP3s and use the winamp plugin, so I'm not much help. Kenko has tried to play ogg files and it's failed on him. There was a response to a post I believe yesterday from YouCanCallMeAll that mentioned something about a plugin that broadcasts from the sound card instead, which may help you more.

A FAQ would be good.

I'm also wondering if the link in the left nav to Radio MeCha could have a "currently broadasting [username]" or "not currently broadcasting" tagline so we don't have to hop over to the extra page just to see if there's something to listen to.

posted by matildaben 07 December | 18:54

I'll listen any night i'm home...go for it, Flo! : >

posted by amberglow 07 December | 18:55

I've got no answers, just another shrill cry for a FAQ.

posted by nomis 07 December | 18:57

Also, now that we've got a lot more broadcasters, is it time to start talking about signing up for time slots?

posted by matildaben 07 December | 18:59

There really isn't much to say. I know as little as you guys do. I do know that if you use Winamp and the Shoutcast plugin and play MP3s it all works perfectly 99.9% of the time.

Other formats? Dunno.

Other players? * shrugs *

If anyone wants to try this stuff and get back to me (and so far no one has) I'll be delighted to report the results. Any research I try to do comes up with uninformative rubbish. As it is I can only tell you what I know, which is the rather standard seup I outlined above.

I'll sort out a calendar or DJs to book slots but I'm very short of time at the moment (which is why a whole host of bugs haven't been fixed either).

Hey, what can I say? It's just dissapointment central around here today.

posted by dodgygeezer 07 December | 19:08

Disappointment is hawt.

posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 07 December | 19:12

Oh dodgy, just because we clamber around your knees and ask for ponies doesn't mean we don't think you're the world's greatest dad!

posted by matildaben 07 December | 19:20

Kenko has tried to play ogg files and it's failed on him.

But then I got that sorted, actually, only the program that was smart enough to know how to decode them wasn't smart enough to send along any metadata.

Really, if the plugin is capturing your audio output, it shouldn't matter what the input format is.

posted by kenko 07 December | 19:51

I've broadcast m4a files, but I downloaded a new mp4 input codec thingy.

I don't know anything about other players or formats.

posted by mosch 07 December | 19:51

Dodgy, I do nothing but sit around on my ass all day. If you want me to help with scheduling, I can.

Also, any comments about my ass are welcome.

posted by mudpuppie 07 December | 19:55

I think the "pickup" style of people just broadcasting when they want to is working okay so far... has there been a conflict?

I'd say if it ain't broke don't fix it... :) Go to a sked only if it becomes really necessary (such as, someone has trouble finding a time slot to broadcast).

I wouldn't mind writing out a FAQ but my knowledge is limited to what dodgy first told me, plus my own experience. I could write that out (including the contents of dodgy's initial email, with his permission) and then others could add to it with their own knowledge, and then I'd be happy to revise the whole thing into a proper FAQ. Would a thread be the best way to handle that?

posted by BoringPostcards 07 December | 20:07

I believe Eideteker has broadcast wavs, though I'm not positive.

posted by Edible Energy 07 December | 20:21

*ogles mudpuppie's ass*

posted by deborah 07 December | 20:35

Wait, aren't you a sockpuppet? The walls of reality are blurring.

I broadcast .wavs in WinAMP 5.something. Dragged and dropped them right into the playlist. I wouldn't touch .wma format with a 997-comment-long pole.

posted by Eideteker 07 December | 22:11

So, just so I know I don't need to come back in the thread or ever think of broadcasting in the future: it's windows only, correct?

posted by dobbs 08 December | 01:32

dobbs - Not true.

There are players for Mac (eg. Audion which is free) that should work fine and it should be very straight forward but so far the Mac users who've come forward haven't broadcast.

As you would expect things are more complicated for Linux/BSD users. This is one of the areas where I've found it very hard to get any clear information so if there is anyone out there using one of these OSs who wants to try and work it out I'd be very grateful.

posted by dodgygeezer 08 December | 03:20

Dodgy: I just got Audion up and running properly, and would be willing to give it a shot tomorrow afternoon as a Macish tester.

posted by klangklangston 09 December | 01:18

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