Adding a Stream to Cast Bridge Print

A stream in CastBridge is one source (your existing broadcast) turned into one or more outputs that listeners connect to. This article walks you through creating one.

1. Start a new stream

Click + New stream in the top menu.

2. Pick a recipe

Under Quick start: pick a recipe, click the recipe that matches your format. It fills in the sound settings for you; you can fine-tune them later. If you only want to re-broadcast your stream without changing the sound, skip this and tick Relay only in step 3. See Choosing Your Sound: Recipes and Processors.

3. Fill in the Source section

• Name: shown in the panel, for example My Radio.
• ID (used in URLs): lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, for example myradio. It appears in your player and playlist links and can't be changed later.
• Source stream URL: the address CastBridge pulls your audio from. It accepts Shoutcast v1/v2, Icecast, .pls/.m3u playlists, HLS (.m3u8), RTMP and SRT. Audio is taken from video streams too.
  • Shoutcast v1: http://host:port/;
  • Shoutcast v2: http://host:port/stream
  • Icecast: http://host:port/mount
• Processing sample rate: 44.1 kHz for MP3 and AAC, 48 kHz if you add Opus outputs.
• Pass through now-playing titles: keep this ticked so players, widgets and directories show the current song.
• Show on public status page: lists the stream on your status page (see Your Public Status Page).
• Count source listeners in totals: adds anyone still listening to your original source to this stream's listener count.
• Relay only: skips all sound processing. See Relay Only: Re-broadcast Without Processing.

Use the highest-bitrate source you have. Processing can't restore detail that a low-bitrate source has already lost.

4. Station info

Fill in Station name, Genre, Description and Website. Players and directories show them to listeners.

5. Outputs

Each row is one stream your listeners can play:

• Local mount: the end of the listen link, for example /myradio. It's filled in from the ID for you.
• Format: MP3 (plays everywhere), AAC-LC (better quality at the same bitrate) or Opus (best per bit, newer players only).
• Bitrate: the choices are limited to your plan's maximum.

Click + Add output for another format. A popular setup is MP3 128k plus AAC 64k for mobile listeners. The audio is processed once, so extra outputs cost little. If your plan includes it, you can also push an output to another server (see Sending Your Stream to Another Icecast or Shoutcast Server).

6. Save and start

Click Save & start. You're taken back to the Streams page, where the stream's badge changes to active within a few seconds and the current song appears.

Managing the stream afterwards

Each stream card on the Streams page has:

• Start, Stop and Restart.
• Processed and Original play buttons, to compare the sound right in the panel.
• Edit, Stats, Listings, Player, Widgets, Links and Logs.

When you change a stream's settings, click Save & apply. The stream restarts with the new settings, which causes a short gap of 2 to 5 seconds for listeners.

To remove a stream, open Edit and click Delete stream at the bottom of the page.