Setting up a Shoutcast server can be a  tedious adventure if you don't know how. You have to know your WAN IP and a lot of the things that most PC users cringe at the thought of having to do on a computer, but that's not you! You're here to learn this stuff and learn it well! Or at least click buttons until it does something heh.

If you don't know what  WAN IP means I will go into a little detail about that later on. Right now just keep what little sanity you have left from reading the first paragraph and trying to stop your brain from melting, It will all be over soon.

Basic Shoutcast server configuration is usually what most people get caught up on since it can be pretty difficult to  get running smoothly. Luckily this guide will get you streaming your favorite music to the masses in no time! Or if you prefer, broadcasting your digital DJ skills to the internet. Some things you will need to have written down or memorized at least will be explained in detail as we go along! So grab a pen or "notepad.exe" if you prefer and lets get started with Winamp Shoutcast Broadcasting!

First things first, do you know your IP address? This is your PC's address on the internet, its a simple string of numbers with 4 sections divided by a period. It will be where people using the internet will connect to to listen in on your Shoutcast Server.

I've gone ahead and got your WAN IP address for you,

WAN IP stands for Wide Area Network and is how you communicate with other websites and people on the internet. Your WAN IP address I just grabbed for you and just now should be correct but if you are behind a Proxy server then the WAN IP listed above will be no good as it will only show the Proxy which you are connecting through. If you do not know what a Proxy server is then you should be ok.  Write down your IP address and read on.

With IP address in hand and a lot of self esteem Lets go ahead and download the tools we will need to setup and install a Winamp Shoutcast Server. This guide is assuming you do not have Winamp installed or the Shoutcast Server. head over to Winamp.com and download Winamp for free, this link will open in a new window.

Once you have downloaded Winamp you will need the Winamp Shoutcast DSP plugin, once again this link will open in a new window, go there and download the plugin I'll wait. Oh that was  fast! I  hope you downloaded the right Shoutcast DSP plugin for your version of Winamp, anyway lets move on.

Now its time to download the actual Shoutcast Server that will connect your Winamp to the internet and broadcast your noise loud and clear! Head over to Shoutcast's Download page this link opens in a new window so no worries. Once there click on "be a server" it should be the last link of the three options. Download the Shoutcast Server program where ever you saved Winamp and the Winamp DSP plugin to, hopefully you saved all three files to the same spot. Ok we now have all the tools we need to bump some serious Ludwig van Beethoven beats. Lets install this bad boy or girl.

Install Winamp first, we'll start with the easy stuff then work our way up the ladder to harder configurations. The installation of Winamp should be fairly straight forward and will probably only take a minute to install. Winamp likes to open itself once properly installed to show off its awesomeness so once you see Winamp's main window you should be done installing Winamp.This is my Winamp installed with a custom skin, if your winamp looks different don't worry, I have a custom skin which makes my Winamp program look like this, yours should look similar however. congratulations you have successfully passed the point of no return, read on.

Next lets install our nifty little Winamp DSP Plugin I was talking so much about earlier, once again it should be an extremely simple and quick installation, you pretty much just have to hit  "OK" for it to install, don't mess with any default settings it might show during installation. The Winamp DSP plugin is what will be creating the bridge between Winamp and your Shoutcast Server allowing any audio which is playing in your Winamp to be miraculously heard by  many people despite the distance they are from your PC. Isn't the internet grand? If you don't see the "SHOUTcast Source" window open immediately then you might have to turn it on, go to, Winamp \ Options \ Preferences \ Plug-ins then in the list on the left under Plug-ins click on  DSP\Effects and you should see your installed plugins listed in the window to the right, highlight "Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP" and your SHOUTcast source screen should pop up instantly.

Oh yea, here's a tiny version of what the Winamp DSP screen looks like!

You don't have to configure anything yet, but trust me, we will be playing with this window more later.

Install the Shoutcast Server program last! Why? Because I don't want to re-write this article if you installed it first! This is what you will use to stream audio from Winamp and its really simple to configure so you're in luck! Install the Winamp Shoutcast server leaving all the default options alone durring installation. Once its complety it will pop up the Shoutcast Server "Readme.txt" read the Readme.txt carefully to fully understand how everything works... OK fine, don't "RTFM"  I'll just show you how to configure it, happy? Me too!

Configuring the Shoutcast Server GUI

Open the Shoutcast Server GUI (GUI stands for General user Interface or Fancy Window With Buttons to press")

Star menu / Program files / SHOUTcast DNAS / Edit SHOUTcast DNAS configuration

A spiffy text document will pop up called sc_serv.ini, this is the brains of the Shoutcast Server and ultimately controls how the program controlls incoming connections to your audio stream. We only need to change one simple thing in the server configuration file (sc_serv.ini) which is on line 29 which would be the password field which should currently be defaulted to "yourpasswordhere" change the password field from "Password=yourpasswordhere" to whatever you want like "Password=jwpctips" or whatever you want just don't include the " "'s. Once you have thought of a nifty password for your server close the sc_serv.ini making sure to save your changes. Your Shoutcast Server is now configured, lets tell Winamp about this!

Configuring the Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP Plug-in

Go back the SHOUTcast Source window and click on the Output tab. Check "Connect at Startup, enter your WAN IP address ( ) into the "Address field and change the password field to the password you entered in the sc_serv.ini. You might want to check the box next to "Automatic Reconnection on Connection Failure" and set the reconnection time out to 15 second for good measure. This is telling the plugin where your Shoutcast server is located, the password to gain access to your Shoutcast server, and if it disconnects for whatever reason to try to connect again within 15 seconds.

Once you have entered your information into the Output tab click on the "Yellowpages" button. Enter a brief description in the "Description" field telling what your stream is about, an example would be "JW's Rave music online DJ remix" or "JW's radio talkshow". If you do not have a website you would like your listeners to be sent to if they click the title of your stream on the Shoutcast Showcase page then leave the URL blank, if you do have a website you would like to direct your listeners to then enter it in the "URL" field. The Genre field is the type of Shoutcast broadcasting you will be streaming out, examples are Talk, Rap, Country, Rock and Roll.

If you have an AIM or ICQ screen name you can enter them if you want to but its not necessary. Also completly optional is the #IRC, if you don't have an IRC channel then this isn't necessary to change.

You have successfully configured your Winamp Nullsoft DSP plugin! Now lets throw everything together and kick tires!

Broadcasting from your new Winamp Shoutcast server

Make sure you have winamp open with the SHOUTcast Source window open, then go to Start menu / Program Files / SHOUTcast DNAS / SHOUTcast DNAS (GUI) your server should pop back up and display a bunch of mumbo jumbo which usually you don't have to pay attention to, its just the server telling you whats vaguely going on behind the scene. Switch back over to  Winamp and throw some MP3's on your play list and press play, Your SHOUTcast Source window should connect to your Shoutcast Server and begin streaming whatever you have currently playing in your play list!

Congratulations, you've just installed and configured a Winamp Shoutcast Server and didn't even blink! This is a fairly basic setup which could be fine tuned to allow such things at more listener slots so more internet people can listen to your stream rather then the default 32 limit, but you have to take into consideration how stressful having 200 listeners on your stream can be to your bandwidth. I would say for a basic cable modem a 32 user limit is pretty beefy and having a full server may cause your listener's connection to your stream to become unstable, which is an easy fix to change the limit of listeners, just edit the sc_serv.ini again and  search there for "MaxUser=32" and adjust the number to whatever you fell comfortable with.

Things that could possibly go wrong

If you can't get your Winamp SHOUTcast Source to connect to your Shoutcast server

You might need to double check that you entered your WAN IP address corretly. Also double check your password.

Listeners complain about  disconnects or sluggish sound in audio from your stream

Chances are you need to turn down the bitrate of your audio. Go to your SHOUTcast Source / Encoder tab and reduce the Encoder Settings to a lower bitrate such as 24kbps, 22.050kHz Mono

For any other problems that may arise I suggest leaving a comment below asking for help, which I'd be glad to help you :)