Sounds A Good Idea !. Review on SHOUTcast

Let me begin by clarifying a small confusion in the classification of this product. SHOUTcast is actually not an mp3 player but an online radio software. Nullsoft's mp3 player is called 'Winamp'and you need Winamp to listen to SHOUTcast broadcasts. There is also the SHOUTcast web site listing all active broadcasts.

That settled, i'm actually going to treat it as a web site for the purpose of this review. Well, there are two parts to SHOUTcast: you can yourself broadcast or you can listen to other broadcasts. For both these purposes the first thing you need to do is to log on to http://www.SHOUTcast.com.

For making your own broadcasts, you have to download a small software, available free, and install it on your computer. This guy converts your mp3 files into streaming format and airs it through the net for the whole world to listen! Your desktop acts as a SHOUTcast server. The most basic requirement here is a good broadband connection(Other than a high end PC with enough RAM).

Suppose you have a 256 kbps connection. To find out the maximum number of people that can listen to your broadcast comfortably at any given moment, take 90% of your bandwidth and divide it by bit rate of your mp3 files. The bit rate can vary from 128 kbits/s ( for CD quality) to 24 kbits/s (like AM radio). Assuming 24 kbits/s, you can at the most cater to 10 people. In practice, it's better to set this number at a lesser level so that the audio stream doesn't break in between.

Another important requirement is that as I said above, your net connection

has to be a 'good' one: There should be no fire walls, proxy servers etc. in between.

Well, I haven't used this part of SHOUTcast. So i'm unable to comment on how it works in practice. But I have been using the 'listening' part and i'm quite happy with it.

For listening, you just need the well known Winamp player which is also available for free. To listen, just log on to the SHOUTcast site and simply click on the 'Tune In' button against the station of your choice.

The best part is, of course the huge variety of music that's pouring in at any time of the day. From classical to country, jazz to pop, rock to techno to film songs, everything is there! Within each genre, there are dozens of servers airing music at any given time.

Now, please don't confuse this with 'Real Audio'. Those sites for eg., hindisongs.com, usually have a collection of songs and you need to select the songs yourself and make a 'play list' before playing. In SHOUTcast you don't have to, and infact you can't, select the songs that are played. It's just like your local radio station. This actually adds to it's charm. No sign up required and no hassles like play lists.

As for me, I mostly listen to Tamil film music here. There are lots of stations offering this variety of music, with names like Nila, Thendral, Udhayam, Marina, Idhayavani etc. Some are exclusively internet based while others are regular FM stations additionally offering their fare on the net. Almost all Tamil stations are run by Sri Lankans from around the globe and they do a nice job. If you don't like the programme currently playing you simply click on another radio. It's as simple as that.

While i've known SHOUTcast for a long time i've only recently started actually listening. And i'm hooked from the start. The only glitch is that it can occasionally break but this wouldn't happen often if your connection is good.

Nowadays i've almost stopped listening to Radio Mirchi and simply log on to SHOUTcast! I think it's enough of a testimony for the advantages of this service!