Re: Getting started with streaming, what's the best way to go about it?
Here's how My setup works. I have a Behringer XENYX302 which connects to my computer via USB. I've got the Shure SM-48 microphone connected via XLR. The mixer has a couple of line in ports for connecting external devices, and two audio out jacks. The RCA out is for connecting it to a speaker or other device, and there's a 3.5mm headphone out jack. There's also a 3.5mm audio in jack, but that's in mono so only use that with a microphone. I learned that the hard way. There's also a button that specifies whether you want the audio from your computer to go through the mixer or not. The mixer appears as both an input and output device, so you can mixalmost anything you want. I think it's better than using VB Cable or Virtual Audio Cable. It's not quite as powerful as LoopBack, but that's sadly a macOS exclusive application.
Both the mixer and microphone only cost $50. I also had to purchase an XLR cable for $6 or so and a stand for the Shure for about $14, so the total price for equipment is around $120 which isn't bad at all. If you want the ability to record external devices, throw in the price of one or two RCA to 3.5mm cables. Still, that's a decent setup for well under $200. I think that's pretty cool! It means there's no excuse for all these awful YouTUbers who make horrible sounding videos using crappy laptop or cell phone microphones that echo and pick up everything.
As for servers, that depends on what you want to use. I pay $5 a month for a Linux VPS from Linode. This VPS runs all my game servers, an Icecast server for streaming, a Team Talk server, and anything else I think of in the future. I like Icecast because it uses far less bandwidth than a YouTube stream. I have major problems with streams dropping when I tried YouTube. I could use Ethernet, but running a Cat6 cable to my bedroom from the living room seems like a major pain in the ass.
If you want people to join your streams using a chat app, I'd personally recommend using Team Talk or something else that doesn't require you to give out your personal contact info. Of course, you're free to give out your info, but if there are certain people you'd rather not have such info, using Team Talk, Twitter, Ding, etc would work well. The only problem I've run into is that there's no way to share the audio from your computer without the other people being forced to listen to both your computer and themselves. That's just how the mixer I have works.
Whether you want to do this is completely up to you. I personally thought the stream I ran last night was a lot of fun. I'm not sure if you were listening to it, but it was still a lot of fun regardless of how many people were tuned into it. If you can convince sighted people to listen, even better. I always like to tell people to pretend you're listening to an audio drama or old time radio show. People who have an open mind might actually enjoy the experience. None of my videos on YouTube have meaningful graphics, and I don't care.
I hope that helps. If you need any more help or want me to go through the specific processes I use, feel free to post here or send me a forum email.
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