| Optional Addons | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| NEED MORE SPACE? TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EXTRA ADDONS | ||
| Dedicated Ip | $2.00/mo | |
| Extra 200 Mb disk space | $3.95/mo | |
| Extra 500 Mb disk space | $5.95/mo | |
| Extra 1 Gb disk space | $9.95/mo | |
| Extra 2 Gb disk space | $14.95/mo | |
| Extra 5 Gb disk space | $19.95/mo | |
What is Shoutcast Streaming?
Shoutcast is a Streaming Media Technology solution which allows broadcasting audio over the internet just like traditional television and radio broadcasts. Listeners can tune in through any media player: Shoutcast’s underlying technology for broadcasting audio is MPEG Layer 3 (also known as MP3), which can be used to stream audio effectively in a live situation. It can also be used to deliver on-demand audio for archived broadcasts and is compatible with the new aacPlus standard technology. Recon Hosting recommends Shoutcast Streaming Technology as it is compatible with all major media players available today.
Streaming Bitrate Facts
So you’ve gotten to the point in your streaming journey where it’s time to make a decision. “What bitrate do I stream in?”
- Bit-rate is measured in ‘kbps’ (kilo-bits per second).
- Higher bitrates = higher sound quality. Lower bitrates = lower sound quality.
- Higher bitrates use up more bandwidth, increasing the cost to the broadcaster.
- Dial up users cannot reliably listen to anything higher than 24kbps.
- Poor-quality broadband connections or distant listeners may have difficulty with bitrates higher than 128kbps.
- Many workplaces (with shared internet connection) ban the use of streams higher than 56kbps.
Rule of thumb for MP3 streaming bitrates
- Talk radio bitrates are generally MP3 format, 24kbps-56kbps.
- Fair to good quality music bitrates are MP3 format, 64kbps-128kbps, with 96kbps+ recommended.
MP3 Stream Bitrate Examples
In the following examples, a high quality source file was encoded into each of the bitrates shown using LAME v3.9.3. Click the ‘Play’ button of the various samples to hear the difference in sound quality between the different encoding modes.
| 48 kbps | 56 kbps | 64 kbps | 96 kbps | 128 kbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mono | 22kHz | Stereo | 22kHz | Stereo | 22kHz | Stereo | 44kHz | Stereo | 44kHz |

