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Broadcasting Audio to Ustream.tv

In: geek

10 May 2007

This article is also available in PDF form.

Have you ever wanted to stream audio from an application on your Mac to Ustream.tv? Ever wanted to jam out to your favorite tunes in iTunes? Re-route audio from your favorite Youtube video? Well now you can. The solution I’m about to describe utilizes popular Mac applications to re-route audio from any source on your Mac to Ustream.

Note: This solution is flexible enough to route audio from any source to any destination!

Tools
The toolset used for this solution is as follows:

  • Audio Hijack Pro
  • Soundflower
  • Ustream.tv

The Solution
ustream diagram
This diagram shows a high level diagram of the solution using the tools described earlier. Essentially, App1, App2, and App3 can be any application on your Mac which outputs audio. A practical example would be iTunes, Firefox, and a Microphone. The microphone should be included if you wish to include your voice over the other audio sources.

You would then “hijack” the audio sources in Audio Hijack Pro and set the output to Soundflower. You would then set Ustream’s input audio to “Soundflower 2ch”.

Did any of that make sense? If it did, you’re a genius, if not, don’t fret because I’m going to go through the detailed steps.

Detailed Steps

    1.  Download and install the required software:
       - Audio Hijack Pro ($32 US) – http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/
       - Soundflower (Free) – http://www.cycling74.com/products/soundflower

    2.  Setup Audio Hijack Pro:

    For this example, we’ll hijack iTunes. The first step is add a new session by clicking the ‘+’ sign at the bottom of the Audio Hijack Pro window

    Create Session Screenshot

    The next step is to choose an application to “hijack”. Make sure the Source type is set to “Application”, the click the “Select” dropdown to select iTunes

    Pick a Source

    The next step is the click the “Effects” tab. Next, click in the first box that says “Click here to insert effect”. In the menu, select “4FX Effect” -> “Auxiliary Device”

    Auxiliary Device

    Next, configure the Auxiliary device to point to “Soundflower (2ch)”

    ...

    At this point, you are able to adjust the input and output levels of iTunes by adjusting the knobs on the Auxiliary Device control. If you find your iTunes is too loud in Ustream, you should adjust levels here.

    Next we’ll configure a microphone input so that we can speak along with iTunes. Repeat the initial steps to add a new session by clicking the “+” on the bottom right of the window. This time, the source type will be “Audio device”. In the Input Device section select the appropriate microphone input and for Output Device, select “Soundflower (2ch)”. When you are done it should look like something like this:

    ...

    3.  Hijack the audio

    In Audio Hijack Pro, select the iTunes session and click the “Hijack” button in the window

    Hijack the Audio

    The text below the Hijack button should say “Hijacker On”. Repeat the same process for the microphone input.

    4.  Configure Ustream to use Soundflower (2ch) as microphone input

    Ustream config

    You’re done!

    You should check with your viewers regarding audio levels within each various source. Remember you should adjust these levels within Audio Hijack Pro. This solution can be used for live podcasting with applications such as Ubercaster. I have personally done it and it went over well. I hope this guide helps!

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17 Responses to Broadcasting Audio to Ustream.tv

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David’s Tech Show » How to Broadcast Audio to your Stream

May 24th, 2008 at 9:16 pm

[...] what someone has already posted, I will give you a link to the directions to do this. Click here to see this. Make sure to thank Bwana for providing us these [...]

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tiptaptip (Tip Tap Tip)

December 7th, 2008 at 1:29 pm

This may be handy in the next Tip Tap Tip live show http://tinyurl.com/2fubmc

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NosillaCast @ podfeet.com

December 28th, 2008 at 10:40 pm

[...] into ustream, with the help of Audio Hijack Pro from rogueamoeba.com thanks to the instructions on bwana.org. PictureSync from picturesync.net to help you upload photos to online sites. On Chit Chat Across [...]

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Michelle

December 29th, 2008 at 3:54 am

Just heard about your tutorial from the nosillacast posdcast. Thanks so much, I could never figure it out.

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bwana18751

December 31st, 2008 at 8:32 am

Glad you enjoyed it!

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steve

January 10th, 2009 at 6:05 am

Wow! What a neat little trick…..audio hijack is so multi-functional.

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Roller

January 10th, 2009 at 6:23 am

I wanted to play my iTunes files in video chat on Blogtv.com but couldn't figure out how until I found this guide. Thanks Bwana. I do hae a problem thought I can't figure out. When a sound want to mute often for the viewers during soft moment or between songs and unmutes late causing viewers to miss sometimes up to 10/15 seconds of music. If anybody has any idea how to correct it it was be greatly appreciated.

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jason

January 24th, 2009 at 12:20 am

is there a way to do this for windows

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Alex R.

March 17th, 2009 at 11:20 pm

I don't understand why the (rather expensive) Audio Hijack Pro is needed, rather than just using Soundflower as an output in all of the applications running? Perhaps I don't understand the goal. :) Sorry. Any help or explanation, Bwana? Thanks!

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Velanche

June 21st, 2009 at 12:39 am

The PDF link has a 404 error. Do you happen to have a PDF copy; I’m very interested in the info. Thanks!

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Bwana

June 21st, 2009 at 3:49 am

Try it again Velanche. I apologize, it’d didn’t get copied over when I moved servers.

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DJMoya

June 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 am

Thats great for Mac users but what about windows :(

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Grant

July 11th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

What if we want to bordcast music on our PC’s? Mind letting us know how to? I mean its awesome to know how to do it on a mac but we don’t all have mac’s now do we?

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@asaelx

July 16th, 2009 at 11:53 pm

Thanks for the guide but I have a little problem, When I put together the apps and the mic, then I click on hijack but I can hear my own voice in the headphones, that’s a little annoying for me. Is there any way to solve this? I mean I dont wanna listen the soundflower in the headphones but just the apps.

Thanks again =)

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Rage

August 24th, 2009 at 8:17 pm

How to on PC?

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Yianni

October 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Thanks so much for posting this. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to stream audio from iTunes and Logic Pro to uStream, and this is definitely the best way to go.

Thanks again.

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james

December 7th, 2009 at 11:51 pm

can you monitor the audio levels yourself? can you monitor the end audio..thats going out over the stream?

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