Broadcasting your Playlist on the Web

With MixMeister, you can send live playback to local or remote listeners as a webcast. Webcasting relies on Windows Media streaming to make this happen. You’ll get the best results between machines connected directly to the Internet or connected on the same LAN (Local Area Network). Other configurations may work, depending on your network configuration.

In order to webcast across the Internet, you typically need a dedicated connection and a dedicated IP (Internet Protocol) address. Also, the broadcasting machine usually needs to be connected directly to the Internet and not through a local router or firewall. This is the same set of challenges you would encounter if you were hosting your own Web site. You’ll find lots of information about these topics on the Internet.

To receive a MixMeister webcast (and to monitor it locally), you'll need Windows Media Player version 4.1 or later or an equivalent player. You can download Windows Media Player free of charge from the Microsoft Windows Media Web site.

To start a webcast

  1. From the Tools menu, choose Audio Output Configuration.

  2. In the Audio Output Options box, click Webcasting.

  3. Click the Main output down arrow, and select the Webcast format from the list that you want to use to transmit the audio data.
    Higher quality audio (128 CD Quality, for example) sounds better but consumes more network resources. If you're webcasting across a conventional modem, you'll need to use the lower speeds. For example, the 28.8 FM Stereo format should work on a 33.6 modem.

  4. Click OK.
    MixMeister is ready to send the main playback to the webcast. You can still preview the mix through your computer’s speakers.

  5. Click the Play From Cursor Position button .
    The webcast address is displayed in the status bar in the lower right of the screen. It will look like this:

mms://mycomputer:7007 

(Optional, requires Windows Media Player or equivalent.) To hear what you are sending across the network, choose Monitor Webcast from the Tools menu.

Windows Media Player opens and plays the webcast through your computer speakers. Keep in mind that what you hear will lag about 10 seconds behind what MixMeister is playing.

Note If the receiving PC can’t find the webcast, you may find answers in Solving playback problems.

To receive a webcast across a LAN

If you're sending across a LAN, make sure that both computers have TCP/IP networking installed.

  1. On the remote PC, choose Run from the Windows Start menu.

  2. In the Open box, type the webcast address that appears in the status bar in MixMeister where the music is playing. It will look like this:

mms://mycomputer:7007 

Windows Media Player opens and begins playing the music the webcasting PC is broadcasting.

To receive a webcast across the Internet

To receive a webcast across the Internet, you'll need to know the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the webcasting computer. The address will have four sets of numbers separated by periodsfor example, 201.22.144.18.

If you need help getting the IP address, see To determine the IP address of the webcasting computer below. Once you have it, do the following:

  1. On the receiving PC, choose Run from the Windows Start menu.

  2. In the Open box, type the following (substitute the IP address of the webcasting PC for xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx):

mms://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:7007

  1. Click OK.
    At this point, the Windows Media Player opens and begins playing the webcast. Keep in mind that it may take as long as 20 seconds to buffer and start playing.

To determine the IP address of the webcasting computer

You can determine the IP address of the webcasting computer if you know the computer’s name. The name is displayed as part of the webcast address in the status bar of MixMeister. For example, if the status bar says "Webcasting on mms://ABCXYZ:7007 at 128 kbps (local output disabled)," the name of your computer is ABCXYZ. Once you know the name of the computer, follow these steps to determine the IP address:

  1. Go to the computer that is sending the webcast.

  2. From the Windows Start menu, choose Run.

  3. In the Open box, type command, and click OK.
    This opens a DOS-like window.

  4. In the command window, type the following, substituting the name of your computer for mycomputer:

ping mycomputer

In the command window, you will now see something that looks like this:

Reply from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128

The text that appears in place of the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx in the above example is the IP address.

Tip  Alternatively, if you don’t know your computer’s name, you can open up the network control panel and view the IP properties. The procedure for this will vary based on what version of Windows you are running and your network configuration.