High quality audio broadcasting with Flipzu and Ubuntu Linux

One of the things our users love about Flipzu, and I love it too, is it's simplicity. You hit a red button, and you're live on the Internet.

But sometimes we want to do things that at first seem a little bit complicated, or unappropiate with the current user interface. For example, would you like to broadcast the music you're listening to, the mixes you make, or your band's demo in high quality?



If you want to, you can! And it's easier than you think.

Today, I'm starting a series of tutorials showing how to make this kind of broadcasts with standard tools. I'm beginning with Ubuntu Linux because it's what I use and what I love. All the screenshots in this demo are from Ubuntu 10.04 but it should apply to any GNU/Linux distribution with the Gnome desktop as well.

So, let's start.

Mixer settings

The main idea behind this is to redirect the audio output to the input, usually occupied by the microphone. Doing this is simple: click on the speaker icon on your top bar, and select Sound Preferences.



That will open the Sound Preferences window. Click on the Hardware tab, and select Analog Stereo Output. That will redirect every sound that goes out from the computer into your audio input.



That's it!

Flipzu

Next, go to your Flipzu and start a broadcast. Play some music in the background. You should see the activity meter move as it goes.



If it moves, then it's working!

Putting everything back

When you finish broadcasting, maybe you want to undo what you did and leave your microphone input as before. For this, go to the Sound Preferences window again and choose Stereo Audio Duplex as your profile in the Hardware tab.



Last step: click on the Input tab and select the device you want to use for your sound input, usually your microphone. In my PC, it's name is Internal Audio Analog Stereo.



And we're done, same as before.

Doing more

Many things can be done with pulseaudio, the Ubuntu audio subsystem, and this mini-tutorial can only get you started. But if you liked it, and feel that you want to do some more, then you should check out this great tutorial that teaches you how to mix your output and microphone input into a single channel. That tutorial is specific for Skype recording but it's also great for doing your own radio show with Flipzu.

Do you have any more tips? Think something is missing? If so, drop me a line: dario@flipzu.com. I love to learn new stuff.

Let them hear you!