Sending audio & metadata with LiveStream
The LiveStream encoding application can be used to send and receive metadata as well as audio.
You can set this up by going to the 'Audio & Meta' tab in LiveStream settings.
🎶 Audio
LiveStream allows you to capture audio from various sources. This page explains how to select which sound device your LiveStream encoders will use.
Capture
This allows you to choose whether to capture an Input or Output.
Inputs are what you would think of as incoming to the computer, like a record channel, while outputs are what goes out of the computer.
If you are using a virtual sound device like Virtual Audio Cable, you may see input and output devices with the same names. You will need to capture the input device, which will be a copy of whatever is being played on the corresponding output device.
Audio Interface
This can be either Direct Sound, WASAPI, or ASIO. By default, it will be WASAPI. If you're not sure what this is, leave it as its default.
Available devices
If either of the above options is changed then this list will be updated to reflect the devices available. Simply choose the device you want to use for your encoders.
📡 Metadata
Now Playing metadata is usually provided directly from your playout automation system, but it can also be embedded as part of your stream encoded by LiveStream.
You can customise how the metadata LiveStream sends is collected and set:
No metadata
Disables sending or receiving any metadata via LiveStream.
Get metadata from a file
This is the most common way of obtaining metadata for LiveStream. Your playout automation system will produce a text file, which you can instruct LiveStream to extract data from.
Enter the path to your chosen file in the 'Meta / Billboard File' field, or click the three dots (...) icon at the end to browse for it.
Most modern playout automation systems allow you to customise the order to match the format required at the metadata destination. If yours does not, you can use LiveStream to convert it to your required format using several options:
| Reverse Artist & Title | Re-orders these values and combines data split across multiple lines. |
| Only use the first line | If your playout automation system exports metadata files which are on a single line, enable this. If your metadata file contains the title and artist on seperate lines, leave this disabled. |
| Separator | Choose which character is used to seperate the artist and title data. |
Receive metadata from Monitor or TCP
Monitor is the PlayoutONE component that manages information flowing into and out of your automation software, including the ability to send metadata to different endpoints.
You can easily add LiveStream as an optional endpoint in Monitor to embed your station's Now Playing metadata in your stream, negating the need for now playing files.
You just need to choose how you would like the data sent via LiveStream and which TCP ports you are using to connect to Monitor.
| Default value | Description | |
| TCP meta port | 8083 | Receives metadata via TCP. |
| TCP control port | 8050 | Receives commands for LiveStream via TCP. |
See the Commands section for more on the commands you can use.
You can also use this option to receive custom metadata into LiveStream using your chosen TCP ports. Data should be formatted as:
artist=XXXX&title=XXXX
Artist and Title values need to be URI-encoded to allow for special characters like ampersands (&) to be included in the names of artists or songs.
For example, if you were playing 'Please Don't Go' by KC & The Sunshine Band, the TCP data would need to read:
"artist=KC%20&%20The%20Sunshine%20Band&title=Please%20Dont%20Go"
If your metadata file contained spaces or special characters, LiveStream would not be able to encode the data into your stream.