WBUN

We're thinking about starting up WBUN again, or something like it, in a much more loosely-based fashion.

Possible changes would be:

• No paid-for streaming service; you'd be using your own bandwidth (which means you pretty much have to have broadband)
• We'd use some kind of service like dyndns.org to keep the same address, but change who's hosting
• New idea, 2006-10-22: DiscRadio

We're trying to decide what streaming technology to use. We need feedback! General comments or suggestions should probably go on the Discussion page; specific issues or information can be added below.

Contents 1 Issues 1.1 Non-Technical 1.2 'Casting Options 1.2.1 80kbps MP3 streaming 1.2.1.1 Pros 1.2.1.2 Cons 1.2.2 56kbps(?) Ogg Vorbis streaming 1.2.2.1 Pros 1.2.2.2 Cons 1.2.3 48kbps HE-AAC (AAC+) streaming 1.2.3.1 Pros 1.2.3.2 Cons 2 Additional Notes

[edit] Issues

[edit] Non-Technical

• Does anyone have definitive information on the maximum number of streams before a netcast has to start paying artists' royalties?

[edit] 'Casting Options

Proposed options are:

[edit] 80kbps MP3 streaming

80kbps = 10k/sec. A cable modem with 45k/sec max upload would be able to host 4 listeners.

[edit] Pros

• Almost universally supported across audio players
• Winamp + Shoutcast DSP + Shoutcast DNAS are relatively easy to set up on the Windows end (alternatives are available for other platforms)

[edit] Cons

• Not the best audio quality/bandwidth usage compared to other codecs

[edit] 56kbps(?) Ogg Vorbis streaming

56kbps = 7k/sec. A cable modem with 45k/sec max upload would be able to host 6 listeners.

[edit] Pros

• Supported by at least 1 player on each of Windows, Mac, Linux
• At 56kbps, sounds about equal to an 80kbps MP3 stream.

[edit] Cons

• Uses considerably more CPU than MP3 encoding - annoying for laptop users and problematic for those with older computers.

[edit] 48kbps HE-AAC (AAC+) streaming

48kbps = 6k/sec. A cable modem with 45k/sec max upload would be able to host 7 listeners.

[edit] Pros

• Supported by at least 1 player on each of Windows, Mac, Linux
• Best-sounding streaming audio codec there is available. Widely hailed as the future of internet radio.

[edit] Cons

• Unlike the other two, the software is not free (in fact, it's quite expensive). This is basically not really being considered at all, I just listed it here for completeness.

[edit] Additional Notes

• I have access to a dedicated Red Hat / Apache server with serious bandwidth (multiple OC-3) that isn't being utilized much. It is not, however, very powerful (266 MHz, I think), so it couldn't do the encoding -- but it might act as a relay. Does anyone know if this could be of use?
  • Most definitely. That would pretty much remove all worries about number of users. ~ Aero 15:43, 2 Jun 2005 (EDT)
    • Mind you, I have no idea what software would be needed, and only the vaguest idea of how to install whatever software that might happen to be. --Woozle 16:50, 2 Jun 2005 (EDT)
• If the still existent Live365 site is going to be any competition or cause any confusion please contact the owner of the WBUN domain and various things can be altered.