Set up Mixxx for live broadcasting

Mixxx is free, open-source DJ software for creative live shows and mixes. Unlike simple encoders, it plays your music, mixes between decks and can broadcast your finished mix straight to your station. This guide takes you from download to going live.

Before you start. Mixxx broadcasts your master mix, which is what you hear in your main speakers. Your headphone preview is not sent to listeners, so you can cue the next track in private.

Where to find your connection details

Every program on this page needs the same five details to reach your station: a server address, a port, a username, a password and a mount point. You copy them from your control panel. It takes about a minute, and you only need to do it once for each program.

1. Log in to your control panel

Use the control panel link and the username and password from your welcome email.

2. Go to the dashboard and click How to connect

After you sign in you arrive at the main dashboard. Next to the preview player you will see a blue link called How to connect. Click it.

3. Copy your five details

A window opens with your connection details. Keep it open while you set up your software.

Steps

1. Go to mixxx.org, open the download page and choose your system: Windows, macOS or Linux.
2. Windows: run the installer and follow the wizard. Mac: open the disk image and drag Mixxx into your Applications folder. Restart your computer if the installer asks.
3. Log in to your control panel. On the dashboard, click the How to connect link next to the preview player and keep that page open. You will copy five details from it: the server IP, port, username, password and mount point. The pictures at the top of this page show where to look.
4. Open Mixxx. Add your music by choosing your music folder in the library on the left, and wait while Mixxx scans it.
5. Open the preferences. On Windows or Linux, choose Options then Preferences. On a Mac, choose Mixxx then Preferences. Select Live Broadcasting on the left.
6. In the server connection section, choose Icecast 2 as the type and enter your details (see the table below).
7. In the stream settings, enter your Stream name, Website, Description and Genre. The genre cannot be left blank.
8. In the encoding section, choose MP3 and a bitrate within your plan.
9. Click Apply, then OK.
10. Load a track onto a deck and press play, so there is audio to broadcast.
11. Start the broadcast from the Options menu by choosing Enable Live Broadcasting, or use its keyboard shortcut. Your live broadcast now interrupts your AutoDJ.
12. To finish, choose Enable Live Broadcasting again to switch it off, or close Mixxx. Your AutoDJ resumes.

Connection details

Select Icecast 2 and enter the details from How to connect.

Stream settings explained

• Public stream. Leave this off unless you want your station listed in a public directory.
• UTF-8 metadata. Tick this if your track titles or artist names contain accents or non-English characters.
• Format. MP3 plays on virtually every device. Mixxx can also use Ogg Vorbis with Icecast, but some listener apps cannot play it, so MP3 is the safe choice.
• Bitrate. 128 kbps sounds good for most music. Higher rates need a plan that allows them.

Showing your DJ name or show title

By default, Mixxx sends the artist and title of the track you are playing. In the Live Broadcasting preferences you can switch on custom metadata and enter your own text instead, such as your DJ name or the show name.

Using your microphone

1. Choose View, then Show Microphone Section.
2. Open Preferences, then Sound Hardware, then the Input tab. Choose your microphone next to Microphone and press OK.
3. Press the microphone button in the new section to turn it on. Speak and check that its level meter moves.
4. Use the talkover option if you want the music to dip automatically while you speak.

Check that it is working

Open your radio page, or press play on the preview player on your dashboard, and listen. Expect a delay of a few seconds between what you do and what you hear, because every internet stream has some. For the most honest test, listen on a phone over mobile data. If you can hear your show, you are live, and your AutoDJ is paused until you disconnect.

Troubleshooting

• Mixxx says the connection failed. Check the host has no http://, the mount starts with a slash and contains no unusual characters, and the type is the one you chose from the two options above.
• Accented characters look wrong. Tick UTF-8 metadata in the stream settings.
• Listeners hear music but not me. The microphone is off or not routed. Turn it on in the microphone section and check its input in Sound Hardware.
• It will not connect. Open How to connect again and compare every field character by character, or copy and paste each one. The server must be entered as an address or IP only, with no http://, and a mount point must begin with a slash.
• It says the password is wrong. Use the source password shown in How to connect, not your control panel login password.
• It connects but listeners hear nothing. The program is sending silence. Check that the right input is selected, that the level meters move, and that nothing is muted.
• The audio stutters or drops. Your upload connection is the usual cause. Close video calls, cloud backups and other uploads, use a cable instead of Wi-Fi, and try a lower bitrate.
• The audio sounds too fast, slow or distorted. Make the sample rate the same everywhere (44100 Hz is the safe choice) and keep your levels out of the red.
• My AutoDJ did not come back. Make sure the program has fully disconnected, then wait a short while. If the station is still silent, email support@citrus3.zendesk.com.

When your show ends, switch live broadcasting off or close Mixxx. The live stream disconnects and your AutoDJ resumes automatically.

Next guide: Broadcast live with Winamp and Icecast