[General Topics] Menneisyys:
1.4.2.2.2.1 WinAMP plug-in version

This version is integrated into WinAMP and should be accessed / controlled from in there (not as a separate entity, unlike with the standalone version). After installation, start playing a stream (the one you’d like to transcode) in WinAMP (this is VERY important – something must be played back in order the plug-in to be able to connect to Icecast2), go to Options / Preferences / Plug-ins / DSP/Effect and click oddcast DSP v3 (dsp_oddcast_v3.dll):

Click Add Encoder and, inside it, configure everything like with the standalone version of the same OddcastV3. That is, click “Add encoder” first. After adding one, double-click it (just like in ST3) to configure the outgoing stream.

It can be configured in a much easier way than ST3: instead of having to edit an XML file, you can edit the stream encoding parameters in a dialog box. For example, the following dialog box shows a 32 kbps HE-AAC v2 stream going to the Icecast2 server installed on the localhost, using the source password “menneisyyspwd” and using the mount point /iskelma:

After this, just click “Connect” in the main OddcastV3 GUI and the streaming will start right away.

Note that, as, by default, it uses the output of WinAMP, you don’t need to click the crossed-out mike icon, , in order to set up the mixer to act as the source. Instead, it’ll directly get use the output of WinAMP as the source. This has the huge advantage of it not “picking up” other noises / sounds of the desktop PC. Also, it lets for setting WinAMP’s output volume to zero (as opposed to the generic, non-WinAMP-plugin version). Finally, you don’t end up having to play with the system (Windows)-level recording volume controls in order to make it work and/or fine-tune the sound volume so that it’s neither too quiet nor too loud and, consequently, distorted – see the distortion problems explained with StreamTranscoderV3. Incidentally, I’ve tested the same radio stations causing severe volume overload-related distortion. I haven’t run into the same problems with this title. Also, it has no problems with OGG sources either.

One of the best features of the plug-in version is the ability to directly transfer song-specific metadata. Several Internet radio stations (for example, 977music.com) stream title-specific metadata along with the streamed audio. An example of this is shown HERE, showing both the stream source (WinAMP in the background) and the mobile client running in SOTI's excellent Pocket Controller). Very few alternative technologies are capable of this feat – for example, anything based on the system audio mixer (and not direct stream transcoding) isn’t, including the standalone version of the plug-in.

A screenshot of the WinAMP plug-in version of OddcastV3 streaming the direct output of WinAMP:

The problem with this plug-in is the lack of support for original streams not played back by WinAMP; most importantly, RealAudio. However, you can stream them too (if you plan to stick with this stream source) if you quickly change the audio source from the WinAMP (internal) DSP to the system-level mixer of the PC in exactly the same way as with the standalone OddcastV3 client. This will also be elaborated on in the next section.

Note that, as with all the other Oddsock.org apps, the WinAMP plug-in OddcastV3 supports several output streams of the same input. The following screenshot shows it producing both a HE-AAC v2 and a plain MP3 stream, both at 32 kbps: