SHOUTcast Vs ICEcast

There are two main options for running a radio server with us and these are using an Icecast Server or a Shoutcast server. This FAQ will explain the pro's and con's of each.

Firstly its worth mentioning that both server types are very similar in what they do but there are some subtle differences you might want to be aware of when choosing your server type.

Shoutcast Servers
This is about SHOUTcast v1 because SHOUTcast v2 and ICEcast v2 be switched automatically form autoDJ to live broadcast and vice versa, so for SHOUTcast v2 and ICEcast v2 there is no need to disable-enable or stop-start your AutoDJ. At SHOUTcast v2 and ICEcast v2 you can use Mount Points.

Pro's:

  • Your station is listed on SHOUTcast Directory and syndicated out to many other radio directories. This gives you excellent exposure and will likely lead to getting more listeners than you would do on an icecast server.
  • You can ban listeners by ip or subnet.


Con's:

  • If you plan on running an Auto DJ on your radio server then when you want to play live you will have to turn off the Auto DJ server and then on again when you have finished.


Icecast Servers

Pro's :

  • Icecast has mountpoints meaning and automatically transferes listeners from the Auto DJ to the Live stream and back again without needing to manually turn anything on or off. So you connect and all the listeners are transfered from the autodj to the live stream and then back again when you are finished.
  • You can use Mount Points to broadcast same content at multiple Bitrates. From the same server IP and Port, for Auto DJ and Live Streaming you can use one Mount Point (for instance) at 128Kbps for PCs and another Mount Point (for instance) at 32Kbps for mobile devices.


Con's:

  • You are listed on ICEcast Directory instead of shoutcast.com which gets fewer listeners tuning in than a shoutcast server would.


Conclusion: If you plan on running an Auto DJ and doing live streams then the ability to auto-transfer listeners is very useful and worth considering an Icecast server to do. If you only plan on live streaming with no Auto DJ then the extra listeners you get from shoutcast.com it would be worth using a shoutcast server.

New Conclusion: both server types(SHOUTcast v2 and ICEcast v2) are very similar, so the choice is yours.

 

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