Configuring Rocket Broadcaster


Reference Documentation

These pages contain detailed reference documentation on each area of Rocket Broadcaster that can be configured:


Quickstart

Introduction

Rocket Broadcaster is a streaming audio encoder that takes audio from a microphone or line-in device, compresses it, and streams it out to the internet via a streaming server. This page will explain the basic process of configuring Rocket Broadcaster so you can start streaming.

Prerequisites

Before you begin configuring Rocket Broadcaster, ensure you have the following:

  • Rocket Broadcaster or Rocket Broadcaster Pro installed on your PC
  • An audio playback device in Windows (a soundcard or onboard audio)
  • A microphone, or something plugged in to a line-in jack on your soundcard.

Step 1. Configure your soundcard

The first step in setting up Rocket Broadcaster is to configure your soundcard in the Preferences window. You can find this in Rocket Broadcaster by clicking Options->Preferences in the menu at the top of the main window.

Ensure you have a valid audio playback device selected, with a valid samplerate. If any of the fields are blank, you must change them to valid options.

For a detailed explanation of each of the options, please see our reference documentation for the Preferences window.

Step 2. Ensure audio is working

The next step is to return to the main window and ensure the VU meters move when there's sound coming through your input device. Both the microphone VU meter should move as well as the master VU meter. If the master VU meter doesn't move, then there is a problem with the Playback Device selected in the preferences, and you should try choosing a different one.

Step 3. Configure your stream

Next, you need to give Rocket Broadcaster the connection details and credentials for the streaming server you wish to stream to. (Rocket Broadcaster supports multiple output streams, but we recommend getting the first one working correctly first before you add more.)

Open the Streams window by clicking Broadcast->Streams... from the menu at the top of the main Rocket Broadcaster window. In this window, you can create and customize output streams. Enter the streaming credentials and connection details given to you by your stream hosting provider. If you don't know these, please contact your streaming provider or system administrator.

For a detailed explanation of each field, please see our Streams documentation.

Once complete, click OK and return to the main Rocket Broadcaster window.

Step 4. Test your stream

In the main window, try starting your stream by clicking Start Broadcast. If everything worked, you'll see "On Air". If there was a problem, you'll receive an error message. The most common problem is a typo when entering your stream settings, so it's good to double check those.

Step 5. Configure metadata

If you're capturing audio from a radio automation system or some other audio player software, Rocket Broadcast can capture track metadata from that application so that your listeners can see the artist and title of the song you're playing.

Metadata can be configured by clicking Broadcast->Metadata Capture in the menu at the top of the main window. The specific settings you'll need are different for every application, and are beyond the scope of this document.

For help setting up Rocket Broadcaster to capture metadata from radio automation software, please see our metadata guides.