Do you want to be a D.J. Do you want to your Winamp has broadcast ability SHOUTcast DSP Plug-In for Winamp is just for you. Thank for Nullsoft Inc, the publisher of this wonderful tool which bring new functions to Winamp. Give SHOUTcast DSP Plug-In for Winamp a try and you will get different experience.

SHOUTcast DSP Plug-In adds SHOUTcast broadcast ability to the Winamp software. The DSP Plug-in acts as a bridge between our Winamp software and a SHOUTcast DNAS server (which we or a friend need to be running to broadcast). SHOUTcast gives us the possibility of having our own internet radio station, or to receive internet radio broadcasts of course, but that is something everybody with Winamp installed can do. Broadcasting is a lot more difficult, but once we get the hang of it, it is not that difficult.

The requirements of SHOUTcast DSP Plug-In for Winamp include : A reasonably fast (300Mhz or faster) PC running Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, or ME. Windows 3.x is not supported. Winamp 2.65 or greater (this plugin does not work with Winamp 3.x) - If we plan on broadcasting using enc_aacplus, our clients must have Winamp.04 or greater. A big pile of tracks(No DRM Tracks though), or a soundcard input for live streaming. A good, reliable internet connection between us and the DNAS (SHOUTcast Server).

To having our own internet radio station or to receive internet radio broadcasts we must notice fellowing proceeding: Getting the necessary stuff: First of all we need two things from SHOUTcast.com, the latest shoutcast plugin for Winamp (I will be talking about v1.8.2a) and the shoutcast server (same version), these can be downloaded from the download page on SHOUTcast.com, but the plugin is in the DJ section and the other one in the server section. Furthermore we obviously need a connection to broadcast over, this can be anything, but broadcasting over the internet is a definite possibility, although we will need enough bandwidth to broadcast a decent signal (ISDN is the bare minimum, if we would have only one or two users and are prepared to give up all of our bandwidth to SHOUTcast). And we need some material to broadcast of course, this can be anything that can be played by Winamp (except for WMA), although we do have copyrights to worry about (especially when broadcasting over the internet). If we want to use any external devices to broadcast from, this is the time to connect them. Some info on SHOUTcast: SHOUTcast separates the real broadcasting from Winamp.

The SHOUTcast server, which serves all of our listeners, can even be installed on a different computer than the one Winamp is one (it can even be installed under Linux). It works by compressing the sound with the DSP plugin, then sending it to the server, which then serves it to the world (or for example our home). The setup: The easiest way to setup SHOUTcast is to: Install the SHOUTcast server (on the computer that is going to broadcast) and Winamp plugin (on the computer that is going to be used for generating the content). Run the SHOUTcast server (we might first want to change its settings by modifying its ini file, more on this can be found in the readme that comes with the server and the on the shoutcast site). Run Winamp: Create a playlist - Select the SHOUTcast DSP plugin and configure it (we need to setup one output and one encoder, the rest of the options can be left to their defaults), for details on this, read the readme that comes with the plugin. Play - (before we do that, we might want to select the Null Output plugin). SHOUTcast options - There are some very interesting SHOUTcast options that we might want to know about.

First of all we might want to change the password and/or port of our SHOUTcast server, the password is needed by the SHOUTcast DSP plugin to connect to the server, so if we change it in the sc_serv.ini file, we also have to change it in the configuration dialog of the plugin (the output tab). Furthermore we might want to more carefully select an encoder setting, 128kbps 44100Hz stereo is quite sufficient for most applications, but if we for some reason need more quality we can go higher, and if we need less bandwidth consumption, we can set it to a lower setting. And then there is the extremely interesting Input configuration of the plugin.

The recommended setting is Winamp, which is a very straightforward setting, but the Sound Card can actually be very nice, although we may have to try a bit before we get it working, it will provide us with a very easy way to do voice-overs and to get crossfading working (if we use Winamp as input, the crossfading output plugin does not have any effect). My plugin with SHOUTcast: My plugin can be used with SHOUTcast (old versions do not, but newer do). This gives us some very interesting possibilities. Using an external device: One way to use my plugin is very straightforward, just connect a stereo (or mixer, or any other external device) to our soundcard and use my plugin to input from it. This works perfectly and enables us to use any (analog) equipment we might have to broadcast over the internet.

Using external devices as well as normal files: We could make an entry in our playlist that uses my plugin and select it only when we need to, but that is not very convenient, so read on. Using Virtual Audio Cables: we should get Virtual Audio Cable as soon as possible, it can be downloaded from Internet. Virtual Audio Cable is a great program in combination with my plugin (especially if we have the registered version, but even the trial version is very useful). Please notice that almost all of the above can also be done indirectly by setting the input method of the DSP plugin to Soundcard, providing our soundcard has a loopback device, also it has some disadvantages, for example: we can have any number of Virtual Audio Cables (if we have a registered version), but only one loopback device (or we would have to have more than one soundcard with a loopback device).

In addition, SHOUTcast DSP Plug-In for Winamp is free for us and it does not contain any adware or spyware and we can use it safely and undisturbed. It works with most recent variants of Windows and its current version is 1.9. What are you waiting for Download the free plug-in now and experience what powerful and effective it is at once! If you feel this utility is helpful indeed, introduce it to your friends please!

SHOUTcast DSP Plug-In for Winamp will add SHOUTcast broadcast ability to the Winamp software. The DSP Plug-in acts as a bridge between your Winamp software and a SHOUTcast DNAS server (which you or a friend need to be running to broadcast).

The license of this software is Freeware, you can free download and free use this audio utility software.