DvbAudioServer for DVB2000

DvbAudioServer 2.0 is a new program, based in part on Gero Kuehn's AudioServer program - see credits.

The program can stream high-quality audio to multiple network clients using WinAmp. You can also save data to a file on your PC hard disk (e.g. if you want to parse PID data). A SCSI connection is required.

File Download

Click here for Setup program (2.0 Beta 6, 1.0 MB (1,048,813 bytes) 8/03/2002, with source code).
See the History file for what's new.
See the Mini-FAQ for hints and tips.

Features

"Zap by Web": Lets you change the channel remotely using a Web browser.
Works with DVB2000 2.0 Beta 6.
Supports lots of simultaneous clients (previously there was a sync problem).
Low RAM usage. Low CPU usage (< 1% of a Celeron 733 CPU for 3 WinAmp clients).
Open Source (mostly) with choice of GUI or text-mode front-end. Two parts are closed-source: my TCP library, and Gero Kuehn's DVB2KAPI library.
Can save data to logfiles (binary or ASCII hex) on the PC hard disk, with choice of filter mode and PID value. This is mainly for people who want to investigate the ETSI data streams; but if you save an audio stream to a file, you can play the file later in WinAmp; and if you save a VIDEO stream to a file, you can play it in the Elecard Player.

Mini-FAQ: Hints and Tips

Problem	Cause	Fix
My favourite MP3 player doesn't work.	Best: Winamp, QCD Player. Unreliable: Sonique, RealPlayer, FreeAmp. Not usable: Windows Media Player.	New players may made to work if you tell me exactly what headers they send and require.
From time to time, my MP3 player suddenly plays at crazy speed (very fast or very slow).	Someone has changed the channel, and the new channel has a different audio bitrate.	Restart your MP3 player. In WinAmp, just press PLAY again.
Can I stop users from changing the channel?	Yes. You can set a password, which will be required to change the channel when >1 person is listening.	Create a file called "password.txt" in the same directory as DvbAudioServer.EXE. This must contain the password in plain text.
Changing the PID has no effect.	Normal for Filter Type AUDIO.	Use a different Filter Type, for example ES_DATA.
WinAmp can't connect from another PC.	"localhost" is the wrong hostname!	Tell Winamp to use "http://fred:81" where fred is the name of the AudioServer PC.
Bad sound (clicks and pops) on some radio stations, e.g. KINK FM, Stream Music Choice.	Filter Type AUDIO does not support sample rates of 32 kHz or 44.1 kHz. Most stations are 48 kHz.	Try Filter Type ES_DATA. This is better for some sample rates, but it silences the Nokia's analog audio output. Check the sound in normal viewing mode. If you use a Sky mini-dish, you can expect clicks and pops when it rains!
High CPU Usage (say 50%). Normal is < 1%.	Unknown.	1. Try "Use ASPI" not "Use DVB2000 SCSI driver". 2. Try restarting the PC and the Nokia box. 3. Upgrade to DVB2000 2.0 Beta 6.
What network protocol is used?	TCP Unicast. The client connects to TCP Port 81 (or whatever you tell the server to use). The server responds with: `"HTTP/1.0 200 OK Content-Type: audio/mpeg "` followed by MPEG2 audio data.
Is it possible to change the HTML style?	Yes. Edit the HTML files under "http_root" (in the same directory as DvbAudioServer.EXE).	Note, some HTML code is generated on-the-fly, so you would need to edit the C++ code and rebuild it to change this.

For more details, please see the Release Notes or the source code. These are installed by Setup.

License

This is free software. Use it at your own risk. For support, please go to the Message Board at no-access.de and use the section "Other Tools".

Credits

This application is based in part on source code kindly provided by Gero Kuehn from his own earlier version of the DVB Audio Server program.

This application uses the DVB2000 API (DVB2KAPI.DLL), which is Copyright (C) 2000-2001 by Gero Kuehn. For more details about the DVB2KAPI, see www.dvb2000.org/dvb2000. UPDATE. I probably won't maintain this code any more, because I've got a Dreambox receiver now. The Dreambox has an Ethernet port built in, and it supports network audio streaming and web channel changing as standard - so it makes DVB2000 look rather old.