Streaming | Telos iPort instruction

sTreaming 15

3 Streaming

When used with an appropriate server, the iPort can be used as a simple, reliable encoder for Internet or internal audio distribution. Because the iPort generates standards-based MPEG streams, a wide variety of PC-hosted and hardware players can be used for listen- ing.

The iPort is only an encoder, which can generate only a few output streams. To feed a large number of listeners, a server is required. SHOUTcast (yes, that is the way it is spelled), Steamcast, or other SHOUTcast protocol compatible servers are commonly used for this application.

For delivering audio over a LAN or private network, the encoder and server can be together in the same rack. For public streaming over the Internet, the encoder typically runs in the place where the audio is generated (e.g. a studio) and the server is in a place where a lot of bandwidth is available such as an Internet co-location site.

For those whose streaming requirements are more modest, or who prefer a PC-based solution, we offer a software product that runs on Windows PCs. This provides inte- grated Omnia processing and MPEG/WMA encoding.

Streams that are served by SHOUTcast protocol servers can be heard on Winamp, Apple iTunes, XMMS, VLC, Foobar, MS Windows Media Player, and many other PC software players. Many hardware players are also on the market. Among the most popular are Logitech’s SlimPlayer, and Freecom’s network player.

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The diagram above shows a simple set-up. A Livewire Node provides live audio input, which connects directly to the Livewire Ethernet jack on the iPort. The iPort’s WAN jack goes to a LAN that connects to a link that leads to a remotely located server, which provides streams to listeners over the Internet. Many variants are possible. For example, a Livewire PC driver could provide the source audio rather than a hardware Node. (But