We're pleased to announce the release of Rocket Broadcaster 1.2! This new update focuses on improving compatibility with Shoutcast servers, but also includes a number of other useful refinements.
Here's what's new in Rocket Broadcaster 1.2:
PRO Shoutcast 2 Support
Rocket Broadcaster Pro can now stream to Shoutcast 2 servers using the Shoutcast 2 protocol (also known as Ultravox 2.1). Providing the best performance with Shoutcast 2 servers, this new protocol also supports adding station artwork to your stream.
The Free Edition of Rocket can stream using this protocol for up to 30 minutes, so everybody can try it out.
Improved Shoutcast 1.x Support
While we were at it, we also improved our existing Shoutcast 1.x protocol support, which can be used on both Shoutcast 1 and 2 servers. This is a little confusing, but it turns out there's really three separate variants of the Shoutcast protocol and so we've split them up inside Rocket:
- Shoutcast 1 (Legacy) - Compatible with Shoutcast 1.x servers only. Does not support the SID or DJ username field.
- Shoutcast 1 - An extension that's compatible with Shoutcast 2.x servers only. Adds the SID and DJ username fields.
- Shoutcast 2 - A completely different protocol that provides slightly better performance, and supports more metadata. Supports SID, DJ username, and station artwork.
Rocket Broadcaster Pro now supports all of these. However, we did discover a couple quirks in the Shoutcast 2 software during testing, so if you're setting up your own server, be sure to read our Streaming Server Compatibility Notes.
Other New Features and Bugfixes:
- Accidentally unplugged your USB soundcard? No problem - Rocket now detects an unplugged sound device and automatically restarts streaming when it's plugged back in.
- Improved reliability of the "Window Title" metadata capture method. Fixes not being able to grab metadata from VLC.
- Added an option in the preferences to show a large label on the window with the project name, to make it easier to identify what's being broadcast in multi-instance setups.
- Improved audio device error handling
- Fixed advanced metadata fields not saving.
- Duplicate metadata is now ignored when captured from an external source (TCP/UDP/Text File)
- Text file metadata capture: Blank text files are now ignored.
- The feedback dialog no longer prompts if the application exits during system shutdown or for multi-instance setups.
- Fixed a benign error message after automated Windows restarts.
- Fixed text file browse dialog filter being applied incorrectly.
Download the Update
- Free Edition - Download the latest update here!
- Pro Edition - If you're a Pro Edition user, click the download link in your purchase confirmation email again to get the latest update, or visit My Products in our shop.
What's Next?
We're already cooking up even more new features for next year:- SNMP support
- Recording / Stream Logging
- Cloud Transcoder for Radio Mast - Update: Cloud Transcoder for audio launched!