Hello,

I’m new to Centova Cast and the whole switching to live DJs thing. I’ve been reading a lot on this forum but I just want to make sure I have it setup the best way and I have some questions.
 
Sorry for the long post and I thank anyone in advance for your reply and help.

My station runs 24/7  and the playlists etc. are all controlled by Station Playlist on my streaming PC.  The encoder is the one built in to Station Playlist.

I run 3 streams, 64k, 128k both mp3 and a 96k AAC. All are encoded in Station Playlist and uploaded to my hosting company.

I am using Icecast V2 with the hosting company.

That hosting company uses Centova Cast and my version is currently V3.2.6

I have configured 3 mount points in Centova Cast

The encoder is setup to stream the same content to all mount points.

Because Station Playlist is generating all my content, I presume Centova Cast is in “LIVE” mode most of the time.

I have auto DJ switched on with a couple of hour long mixes just in case my upstream stops.

I’m a bit confused on a couple of things.

1.   Should I have just one encoder streaming at 128k to the IP and Port number as listed at the top of the Quick Links page? Currently I have 3 streams setup in the encoder all streaming to their respective /stream mount points as per the details further down the  Quick Links page (same IP,  different Port number)

2.   As I am using Station Playlist as the music source 99% of the time I presume this is classed as a “live” broadcast. I will soon be having other DJs from around the world connecting at different times, when they are not connected, my Station Playlist PC will be connected as the main music source.

AutoDJ will never be used unless all the “live” djs/connections can’t connect for some reason.

3.   How do I handle the switch over between “live” djs? Typically their shows last 1 hour and some nights they are back to back. I’ve read lots about switching from AutoDJ to Live, but I cant find anything about Live to Live.

4.   Do the Live DJs need to stop/start anything?

5.   When the Live DJ has finished his show, how do I get my Station Playlist PC to get seen as the primary music source ?

6.   On the Quick Links page at the top it says this:
When the autoDJ is running and you want to broadcast live to all autoDJ-controlled mount points:

Protocol:    SHOUTcast v1
Server hostname:    XXX.XXX
Server port:    9041
Bit rate:    128
Server username:    (none)
Password:    (The username and password of one of your DJ accounts, separated by a colon)
    Example: jsmith:secret

7.   Should I be getting my Live DJs to connect to this single instance instead of giving them the 3 mount point details? 

8.   Do they only need to encode one 128k stream to feed all my 3 mount points?

9.   Why is it Shoutcast v1 protocol when I’m using Icecast?

Here is my full Quick Links page listing.

When the autoDJ is running and you want to broadcast live to all autoDJ-controlled mount points:

Protocol:    SHOUTcast v1
Server hostname:    XXX.XXX
Server port:    9041
Bit rate:    128
Server username:    (none)
Password:    (The username and password of one of your DJ accounts, separated by a colon)
    Example: jsmith:secret

When the autoDJ is not running or you want to broadcast live to a non-autoDJ mount point:

For the /stream128 mount point:
Protocol:    Icecast (v2)
Server hostname:    XXX.XXX
Server port:    9040
Mount point:    /stream128_live
Format:   MP3
Bit rate:   128 kbps
Server username:    (none)

For the /stream64 mount point:
Protocol:    Icecast (v2)
Server hostname:    XXX.XXX
Server port:    9040
Mount point:    /stream64_live
Format:   MP3
Bit rate:   64 kbps
Server username:    (none)

For the /aac96 mount point:
Protocol:    Icecast (v2)
Server hostname:    XXX.XXX
Server port:    9040
Mount point:    /aac96_live
Format:   AAC/AAC+
Bit rate:   96 kbps
Server username:    (none)

The solution I'm proposing is going to require that your host allocates a sufficient bitrate limit to your station, so that you may use the following mount point scheme.

Here are the mount points you should create in Centova Cast:

/64kbpsMP3 (no autodj, fallback mount=live64)
/live64 (no autodj, fallback mount=stream64, this is the mount point where your djs will connect )
/stream64 (set the autodj to yes)

/128kbpsMP3 (no autodj, fallback mount=live128)
/live128 (no autodj, fallback mount=stream128, this is the mount point where your djs will connect )
/stream128 (set the autodj to yes)

/96kbpsAAC (no autodj, fallback mount=live96)
/live96 (no autodj, fallback mount=stream96, this is the mount point where your djs will connect )
/stream96 (set the autodj to yes)

Your DJs will need to know the source password for your station and they will need to configure their encoder to stream to all 3 mount points, at the correct bitrate and format. (/live64 /live96 /live128) Sorry, I really don't see any other way to handle this.

You will have to create a DJ account for yourself and use these details to connect:
Protocol:    SHOUTcast v1
Server hostname:    XXX.XXX
Server port:    9041
Bit rate:    128
Server username:    (none)
Password:    (The username and password of one of your DJ accounts, separated by a colon)
    Example: jsmith:secret
You'll just have to send one stream, not three. That's because you will be connecting to the autodj, not to any of the Icecast mount points, and the autodj will automatically make sure to re-encode your stream properly for each mount point.

How do I handle the switch over between “live” djs? Typically their shows last 1 hour and some nights they are back to back. I’ve read lots about switching from AutoDJ to Live, but I cant find anything about Live to Live.

This fallback scheme described above will prioritize streams comming from your DJs. If not DJ stream is present, it will fallback to the autodj. And the autodj will make sure to prioritize your live stream, when you're broadcasting.

Do the Live DJs need to stop/start anything?

No, they just need to connect to all three designated mount points, with the correct bitrates and encoding formats.

Why is it Shoutcast v1 protocol when I’m using Icecast?

That's because you will not be connecting directly to the Icecast server, you will be connecting to the autodj, which allows you to connect to it only through the Shoutcast v1 protocol.