Streaming Hardware Questions

[Inventor]

Help, I am dazed and confused! I want to create a good streaming setup and I already have most of the pieces in place, but they don't work together very well. I need some elegant, quality, low-cost way to combine my goodies together and also to optimize their quality. OK, to start with here are all the pieces-parts that I have:

o eMac with soundflower audio routing, muse/shoutcast, ChucK, iTunes, Snak IRC client, Firefox, email client, one free USB port, line-in jack and headphones out jack

o netbook running Windows XP with Edcast, ChucK, iTunes, WinAmp, 3 USB ports, line-in jack, headphones out jack, and VGA out to external video monitor (set up as dual screen).

o Fender Squire Stratocaster guitar, switch selectable between factory pickups and experimental string-voltage generator.

o Fender Frontman 15G guitar amp with drive select mode, EQ, RCA aux in connection, and headphones out jack.

o Cable modem

o Wireless G router

o homemade amplifier interface with guitar in, cheap condeser mic, and internally adjustable gain. Outputs guitar on left and mic on right channel and connects to line-in jack of either computer.

o several cables and adapters for hooking up above goodies.

o homemade controller with four scratchy thumbwheel pots, one smooth linear pot, and two toggle switches. Interfaces to ChucK via joystick protocol.

o miniature prototype circuit board with 3-axis accelerometer and USB interface plus room for expansion including a few pots and/or switches.

Whew! That's about all the goodies I have at the moment, well, that and maybe a little cash to buy toys every now and then, but not much. Now, the big problem is that nothing seems to work together properly for streaming. It seems like I can only hook up a little bit of my equipment and software at any given time, and I'd like to run a lot of things simultaneously. Plus I'd like to have it all be easily configurable without having to muck around with software and hardware too much every time I get ready to stream.

The biggest problem is that there is no satisfactory software audio routing on the netbook. I hear there is now Jack for the PC, so I'll have to look into that, does anyone have a link for that? ocp, I think you showed it to me, what was the link?

The second biggest problem is the lack of a quality studio microphone. I'd like to get a good one such as an SM57 or SM58, but then I need a shock-mount, a stand, a mic interface on some device like a mixer or perhaps a mic to USB device and I'm not sure exaclty what will suit my needs.

The third biggest problem is that I'd like for the setup to be as portable as possible so I can do things like stream from Starbucks or travel with my setup.

And then, finally, I lack some means of adjusting levels on the mic and guitar and ChucK software sources.

Those are the main issues although there do appear to be many little annoyances like the controller settings do not initialize, etc. etc. etc.

So, long story short, I'd like to make all of this hardware and software work together properly and stop being so darn annoying! I have all the pieces for a great streaming capability including guitar, mic, and music generated by software - plus two types of washing machines as well, but nothing works together hardly at all. Help! Your suggestions please?

[Inventor]

Oh, here is a photo of my streaming setup. I forgot to mention the old scope which is great for displaying audio waveforms and I neglected to mention that I'm planning to stream with two operators, myself and Caroll, each with a chatroom interface on one of the computers. Man, this is complicated - but fun!

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[seraph]

Les
what about trying out a less convoluted setup and see if it works and then, one at the time, add washing machines, dryers, stoves and the likes

[Inventor]

[Inventor]

Aha, Carlo, the KISS formula seems to have worked! I created the following setup using hardware and software that I already have in place:

Guitar => amplifer box with microphone => netbook line in => ChucK Generator software playing computer generated music => netbook headphones out => eMac line in => ChucK washing machine => soundflower routing software => MuSe/ShoutCast streaming software

Hmm, i can put the headphones (both pairs) on the headphone out jack of the eMac, but I don't yet know if sound will come out when soundflower is working... I'll have to set it up and see! Close though, close!

[ocp]

[Inventor]

[Inventor]

Darn, the setup I mentioned didn't work because it broke up a lot. I ended up going back to my netbook-only setup with a Y cable and no guitar, no microphone. Surely there is a way to do this, I just have to figure it out.

[Inventor]

I tried Jack for windows. It doesn't run after installation. The install said something about downloading some libraries from Microsoft, but I can't find anything about this in the documentation. Now I ain't got Jack! sigh. I'll post about this in windows as a music platform subforum.

I think what I need is a USB mixer but I also want some analog outs... Still searching for a solution that will work for streaming Guitar, Mic, and ChucK on Edcast...

[ocp]

[Inventor]

OK, ocp, that helps to narrow down my requirements. I want a USB souncard or mixer with at least four ins and four outs... check. Trouble is, most of them only have 2 ins and 2 outs. But some have more like these two:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-AUDIOGRAM-6-Computer-Recording-System-105172928-i1423714.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Nady-MM-15USB-Compact-USB-Mixer-500499-i1424621.gc

Actually they are about the same price ($150 US), I like the second one best. What do you think?

[ocp]

I think the Nady is more versatile.
Plenty of features (EQ, Aux send with stereo return, USB and digital I/O - enough I/O for your needs) at a nice price and works standalone too.

[Inventor]