Free · Windows, macOS, Linux
Broadcast to RadioHost Studio with Mixxx
Set up Mixxx live broadcasting to a RadioHost Studio station — Icecast connection settings, encoder options, metadata, and the latency settings that matter.
Mixxx is a full DJ application — two or four decks, a library, effects, hardware controller support — that happens to include an Icecast source client. That combination is why it is the most common way a mix show reaches an online station: you are already beat-matching in it, and going live is a checkbox rather than a second application routing audio between them.
It is free and open source, and Studio accepts it as an ordinary live source.
What you need first
An External DJ credential from Live → External DJs in Studio. Copy the password when it is generated; it is shown once. The same page carries the server, port and mount point for your station.
Connection settings
Open Preferences → Live Broadcasting. Mixxx supports several connections, but one is enough unless you also stream elsewhere.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Icecast 2 |
| Host | the host on your External DJs page |
| Port | the port on your External DJs page |
| Login | your DJ username |
| Password | the DJ password |
| Mount | your station's mount, e.g. /dj/1234 |
Leave Server login as your username rather than source. Mixxx pre-fills source, and a rejected connection with a correct password is nearly always that field.
Encoding settings
Further down the same panel:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Bitrate | 128 kbps, or up to 192 on a paid station |
| Format | MP3 |
| Channels | Stereo |
Mixxx also offers Ogg Vorbis and Opus. Both are technically better than MP3 at the same bitrate and both are a bad idea here, because the listener side is what decides: MP3 plays in every browser, car head unit, smart speaker and aggregator directory without exception, and Opus does not. Save the efficiency argument for the output your platform controls end to end.
Metadata
Tick Enable metadata and Mixxx will send the artist and title of whatever is loaded on the active deck. This is worth doing — it is what feeds now-playing displays and website players during your show, and without it listeners see the last thing automation played for the whole two hours.
Mixxx sends the deck it considers "master", so with two decks running through a crossfade the title updates when the fader passes the midpoint. That is the correct moment for a listener even though it is slightly before the mix ends.
Going live
Options → Enable Live Broadcasting, or the broadcast icon in the toolbar. It turns green when the connection holds.
Studio picks up the source within a second or two, ducks automation out, and shows the live banner with your DJ name. When you disable broadcasting, automation resumes from the current schedule position.
Latency and dropouts
Mixxx's audio buffer under Preferences → Sound Hardware does two jobs, and they pull in opposite directions. A small buffer keeps your headphone monitoring tight, which is what you want when beat-matching by hand. A larger buffer survives the moment your machine stalls, which is what keeps the stream connected.
If your show drops out on a laptop that also has a browser open, raise the buffer to 46 ms and take the monitoring hit. If you are on a controller and the latency is unusable, keep the buffer small and accept that a badly-timed system hiccup will cost you a second of air.
Enable Reconnect so a dropped connection retries by itself rather than ending the show.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mixxx work with RadioHost Studio on Linux?
Yes. Mixxx runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and the Icecast source protocol Studio accepts is identical on all three. Package availability differs but the broadcast settings do not.
Can I record the show at the same time as broadcasting?
Yes, and you should — Mixxx records locally under Options → Record Mix, independent of the broadcast connection. A local recording survives a stream drop, which makes it the copy worth keeping for a podcast version.
Why does my stream sound quieter than automation?
Mixxx sends what its master output produces, and most DJ setups run master well below the level a levelled library sits at. Bring the Mixxx master up until the meter peaks near the top without hitting it, and leave the station's own processing to do the rest.
Does Mixxx support SHOUTcast as well?
It does, but there is no reason to use it here. Studio's live input speaks the Icecast source protocol, so Icecast 2 is the setting that connects.
See it for real
See where your encoder connects.
Presenter logins, live takeover from the browser, and what the station does the moment a show ends — the whole handover, walked through on a running station with no account needed.
- About 12 minutes
- No account, no credit card
- Real screens, not mockups