Icecast Streaming Media Server

[mezla]

Hi all,

I am trying to use Icecast2 server to stream OggFLAC over http to my LAN, but I seem to be having problems. (setup details below)

When I connect to the stream (http://10.1.1.4:1234/stream.flac) with only one computer, it plays fine (except with some crackling which might have been from interference of the dryer with the Z5500 amp, so don't think about that just yet).

When I connect to the stream with two computers on my network, both of them struggle a lot... so it looks like a network bandwidth problem. Now, I don't really see how streaming FLAC to 2 clients should be a problem on a 100Mb LAN.

When I change the stream to an Ogg (quality 8 = v.high quality) stream, both clients stream flawlessly... except sometimes there is an initial ~1min of stuttering/buffering at the start, which does seem excessive to me considering how much room there should be on my network...

Here are some details:

Stream Server:
OS: Windows 7
Stream Server: Icecast 2.3.2 (default config file... but limiting clients to 3 and sources to 1)
Stream Source: Foobar v1 with edCast plugin (as the source)

Client 1
OS: XP (SP3)
Stream playback: VLC v1

Client 2
OS: Vista
Stream playback: VLC v1

All have the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service running.

Server and both clients are plugged into a D-Link 4-port wireless router (can't remember the model), which is plugged into a Speedstream 4200 ADSL modem.

I haven't experienced any internet or networking issues, so there is no reason to believe anything is actually wrong with the router.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be happening, how I could fix it, or know of any changes I could make to the setup to make it run better?

[karlH]

Make sure nothing is going bad at the TCP layer, things like retransmissions or duplex mismatch or other network errors could cause an accumulative effect on performance. ie a single connection recovers quickly but multiple connections trigger more collisions affecting overall performance.

You could try with a post 2.3.2 build icecast (or even the kh tree). I haven't heard of any specific issues with regard to win7 but for flac content you will probably need higher queue and burst settings. You mentioned the ADSL box but does that come into play with this setup?

karl.

[mezla]

I noticed last night that my network utilisation was about 1% during this activity, so I don't think it's a network issue. I'll definitely check that out more thoroughly tonight though.

Changing HTTP buffer settings in VLC seemed to make noticeable differences, but I couldn't nail down a combination of settings that made it work properly. It seemed like VLC played through the buffer, and then filled up the buffer, then played through the buffer, then filled it up... i.e.: VLC wasn't filling the buffer as it was playing from the buffer... which is obviously not very useful.

I actually was trying to stream OggFLAC to one client and failing, although I had had it working before. Streaming two q10 Ogg streams was perfect, no hitches, even though it's a similar amount of data. This suggests to me that the problem is with VLC reading/buffering of the stream.

Sounds reasonable?

Are there any other Windows clients that can read OggFLAC streams?

(I just mentioned the ADSL box for completeness)

[karlH]

network utilisation is not a meaningful measurement here. If the effect you are seeing is that vlc is doing a number of short bursts of reading then you really need to check the buffering side of things, being very high bitrate you'll need more that the typical 64k burst and you'll want to allow for a number of second in the queue, but it sounds like you are using the default settings of 64k and 512k.

karl.

[mezla]

oooooo that sounds like exactly what I need to do. I'll crank the queue and burst and see how I go... it's all just over a LAN so I should be able to set them pretty high I guess.

Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes

[Jonog]

Mezla could you please explain to me how to configure the text file to to this please. I am new and most interested.