Tutorial: Internet Streaming Basics

Post by **Swifthawk** » Tue Mar 25, 2025 1:58 pm

This is a tutorial on the basics of streaming on the internet.

Components
These are the fundamental concepts common to nearly all setups. All of these components have free options.

The source.
The encoder.
The server.

The source creates all the media content to be streamed. It can be as simple as just a microphone, or as complicated as whole stack of software and/or hardware to mix voice and other media for a presentation.
My favorite sources include:

a cheap-o microphone for karaoke and voice-overs
Mixxx for professional grade DJ performances - it has a built-in encoder!
Winamp media player for its excellent library & playlists
VLC media player for movies
and even a browser to play other media like YouBoob vids

I also use something called a "virtual cable" to directly connect applications together, like a browser to an encoder.

The encoder connects the source to the server and controls everything about the stream. This includes the codec (e.g. mp3) along with the broadcast quality settings and the stream's metadata information like the title, description, listeners, etc..

My favorite encoder is called BUTT. It's very flexible and totally free.

The server receives the signal from the encoder and duplicates it for each listener. The server's upstream connection speed must be fast enough to handle the encoder's bitrate multiplied by the number of listeners. For example, a typical server provides 128k bps per listener, so 10 listeners requires 1.28 Mbps of upstream speed. Most ISPs in the US provide much more than this, but it includes all the users and activity on the connection. If the speed isn't high enough, listeners will get skipping, dropped streams, or failed connections.

I sometimes use my own server (Icecast), but I also use a service called Caster.fm. By using a large online provider like Caster, one can more easily stream without clogging their own connection.

As always, if you have any questions or need help, please post here or send me a message.