Stream Management

Streaming is the foundation of EnaCast: it is the audio source that powers your website’s live broadcast and automatic program recording. This guide explains how stream management works and what to do if problems arise.

What Is a Stream?

A stream is a real-time audio connection between your station and EnaCast’s servers. Each stream has a unique URL that listeners (and EnaCast) use to listen to the broadcast.

Your station can have one or more streams configured with different qualities (bitrates). EnaCast automatically selects the most appropriate one for each situation:

• Standard quality (SD): for most listeners and for automatic recording
• High quality (HD): for listeners with good connections who prefer higher audio quality

Stream Status

Online

When the stream is online, it means:

• Your broadcasting software is sending audio correctly to EnaCast’s servers
• Listeners can hear the live broadcast from the website
• Automatic program recording is working (if enabled)

Offline

When the stream is offline, it means:

• No audio is being received at EnaCast’s servers
• Listeners will see a message indicating that the broadcast is unavailable
• Automatic recording cannot function

What happens if the stream drops during a program?

If the connection is interrupted during a program recording, EnaCast saves the audio received up to the point of disconnection. When the connection is restored, recording continues, but the episode will have a gap in the audio corresponding to the disconnection time.

Secure Connection (SSL)

All EnaCast streams use HTTPS/SSL connections by default. This is mandatory since modern browsers block the loading of insecure content (HTTP) on HTTPS pages.

Note

You do not need to configure SSL certificates manually. EnaCast manages certificates automatically for all streams.

Checking Stream Status

From the admin panel you can see at any time:

• Current status: whether the stream is online or offline
• Bitrate: the audio quality currently being received
• Listeners: the number of listeners currently connected

Common Problems and Solutions

The Stream Appears as Offline

1. Check your broadcasting software

   Verify that your software (BUTT, Mixxx, OBS, etc.) is configured correctly and connected. Check that the server address, port and password are correct.

2. Check your internet connection

   An unstable connection can cause intermittent disconnections. Use a wired connection whenever possible.

3. Restart the connection

   Disconnect and reconnect from your broadcasting software. Sometimes a clean reconnection resolves the issue.

4. Contact support

   If the problem persists after checking the above points, contact the support team.

Listeners Cannot Hear the Broadcast

• Check that the stream is online from the admin panel
• Verify you are not in holiday mode: in holiday mode nothing is broadcast
• Ask a listener to clear their browser cache and reload the page

Audio Quality Is Poor

• Check the bitrate configured in your broadcasting software. A minimum of 128 kbps for speech and 192 kbps for music is recommended
• Verify that your upload connection has sufficient bandwidth for the configured bitrate

Listener limit

Each station has a simultaneous listener limit based on its plan. When the limit is reached, new listeners cannot connect until others disconnect. You can check your current limit in your station’s settings.

Streaming Alerts

EnaCast can send automatic notifications when it detects problems with your stream. You can configure who receives these alerts from the station settings:

• The EnaCast team (enabled by default)
• Your station contacts (configurable)

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If you have any questions, contact technical support at support@enacast.com