How to encode live broadcast of the Local FM radio stations

Question

We are in the midst of research stage for our coming web project. We would like to make a website that streams (all) the Local FM Radio Stations.

In research for the right tools to set up the said website, several questions arises.

1. What software do we need to encode the live broadcast of (all) the Local FM Radio Stations? How can we connect to FM Radio Stations?

2. Do we need Virtual Private Server to run the software from question number One, 24/7? Can VPS do that, run a software 24/7?

3. If we manage to encode the live broadcast of (all) the local FM Radio stations, how do we send this thing to our website? Can we use a simple audio player such as quicktime/flash or html5 audio player and embed it to our website?

I hope someone will help us on this matter. You help is greatly appreciated. :)

Answer 1

Audio Capture

The first thing you need to do is set up an encoder source for your streams. I highly recommend putting the encoder at each radio station. The quality of FM radio isn't the greatest. You will get much better audio quality at the station. In addition, at least here in the US, many radio stations have all of their studios in the same place. It isn't uncommon to find 8 stations all coming from the same set of offices. Therefore, you may only have to install equipment in 3 or 4 buildings to cover all the stations in your market.

Most stations these days are using digital mixing. Buy a sound card that has a compatible digital input. AES/EBU and S/PDIF are common, and sound cards that support these are affordable.

If you must capture audio over the air, make sure you are using high quality receivers (digital where available), with a high quality outdoor antenna. There are a variety of receivers you can purchase, many of which mount directly in a rack.

Encoding

Now for the actual encoding, you need software. I've always had good luck with EdCast (if you can find the version prior to "EdCast Reborn"). SAM is a good choice for stations that have their own music library they need to manage, but I don't suggest it in your case. You can even use VLC for this part.

You will need to pick a good codec. If you want compatibility with HTML5, you will want to encode in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. aacPlus is a good choice for saving bandwidth while still providing a decent audio quality. Most stations these days use aacPlus when possible, but not all browsers can play it, which is why you also need the other two. You can (and should) use multiple codecs per station.

Server Software

I highly recommend Icecast or SHOUTcast. They take your encoded audio and distribute it to listeners. They serve up an HTTP-like stream, which is generally compatible. If you are interested, I also do Icecast/SHOUTcast compatible hosting, with the goal of being compatible with more devices, particularly mobile.

Playback

Many stations these days use a player that tries HTML5, and falls back to Flash if necessary. jPlayer is a common choice, but there are many others. It is also good to provide a link to a playlist file containing the URL of your stream, so that users can listen in their own audio player if they choose.