Icecast

Last updated
Developer(s) Xiph.Org Foundation
Initial release1999;26 years ago (1999)
Stable release
2.4.4 [1] [2]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 31 October 2018
Preview release
2.5.0-beta.3 [3] [4]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 13 March 2022
Repository
Written in C
Operating system Unix-like and Microsoft Windows
Type streaming media server
License GPL-2.0-only
Website icecast.org

Icecast is a streaming media project released as free software maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. It also refers specifically to the server program which is part of the project. Icecast was created in December 1998/January 1999 by Jack Moffitt [5] [6] and Barath Raghavan [6] to provide an open-source audio streaming server that anyone could modify, use, and tinker with. Version 2, a ground-up rewrite aimed at multi-format support (initially targeting Ogg Vorbis) and scalability, was started in 2001 and released in January 2004. [6]

Contents

History

Icecast was originally developed by Moffitt in 1998 for SMU's radio station. At the time, the station was constantly losing its FCC license[ citation needed ] and was at the time only able to reach listeners in the same building. Given that all of the dorms throughout campus had Ethernet connectivity, using streaming audio to broadcast was a natural solution, but currently available audio streaming software, such as RealAudio, was too expensive. Moffitt created Icecast, allowing the station to easily reach everywhere on campus without the necessity of FCC licensing or a transmitter upgrade. Initially developed to support mp3 files, Vorbis support was added shortly after.

Technical details

The Icecast server is capable of streaming audio content as Opus or Vorbis [7] over standard HTTP, video as WebM or Theora [7] over HTTP, and MP3, [7] AAC, [6] and NSV [6] over the SHOUTcast protocol. Theora, AAC, and NSV are only supported in version 2.2.0 and newer.

Icecast requires external programs, called "source clients", to originate the streams, [8] and the Icecast project includes a source client program known as IceS. [9] The source runs typically in the place where the audio is generated (e.g., a studio) and the Icecast server where a high-bandwidth connection is available (e.g., a colocation centre). Since version 2.4.0 source clients can use plain HTTP standard PUT requests instead of the custom SOURCE method. [6]

Supported file formats

Source ClientsInput FormatsOutput Formats
MP3 AAC Ogg Vorbis Ogg Opus FLAC WAV MP3 AAC/AAC+ Ogg Vorbis Ogg Opus Ogg FLAC NSV video Ogg Theora video WebM video
IceS 0.4YesNoYesNoNoNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
IceS 2.0NoNoYesNoNoNoNoNoYesNoNoNoYesNo
Liquidsoap [10] YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
Live DSP Input——————YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Rocket Broadcaster Pro [11] [12] ——————YesYesYesYesYesNoNoNo
Broadcast Using This Tool [13] ——————YesYesYesYesYesNoNoNo
iziCast [14] YesYesNoNoNoYesYesYesYesNoYesNoNoNo

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Icecast Release 2.4.4". 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018.
  2. ↑ "Icecast 2.4.4 - security release". 1 November 2018. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Icecast Release 2.5 beta3". 12 March 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022.
  4. ↑ https://github.com/xiph/Icecast-Server/releases/tag/v2.5.0-beta.3.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ "about jack moffitt" . Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "News Archive" . Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Icecast" . Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Icecast Docs - Introduction" . Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "IceS" . Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Encoding formats - Liquidsoap" . Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Rocket Broadcaster - The Streaming Audio Encoder" . Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  12. ↑ "Gaming Enthusiast". Stream Community. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "B.U.T.T - Broadcast Using This Tool" . Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "iziCast - Icecast and Shoutcast client for iOS" . Retrieved 24 August 2021.
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