Over To You: How To Broadcast Live With Serato DJ?

DDJT member Rydre Johnson writes: “I have been asked to DJ in a few weeks at a friend’s school for her online radio broadcast. Currently I use a Pioneer DJ DDJ-SX running Serato DJ. I have never done this before so I am wondering what extra gear I would need to set up. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.”

Digital DJ Tips Says:

Online broadcasting for a radio station can have quite a few variables, so it’s hard to say exactly what the procedure will entail without knowing the whole picture. Your current gear should work fine, though I would gather more information from your friend. Does the radio show have a specific procedure for setting up? Have DJs performed in the past? What software/hardware do they use? Will you talk on the mic? It’s normal to check out the area you’ll be playing and ask a few questions. They want it to go smoothly, too.

As for broadcasting with Serato DJ, the software doesn’t make things easy like Traktor Pro 2 or Virtual DJ, which have built-in broadcast features. At the gig, set up your gear as normal, then use an RCA to 1/8″ cable to connect the controller’s booth output to your computer audio jack. You’ll need to use an application like B.U.T.T (aka “Broadcast Using This Tool”) (http://butt.sourceforge.net/) for sending audio.

From there, set the input to Line In. This tool supports platforms like Icecast and SHOUTcast, and it works on Windows, OSX, and Linux. Mixlr is another solid option that is worth looking into, and for Mac users, something like Rogue Amoeba’s Nicecast could also do the trick.

As we probably have some readers that broadcast using Serato DJ, and others with sage technical advice, I’d like to turn this one over to the DJ community and see what they have to say.

How do you set up for online broadcasts? What additional gear do you need, if any? Played an internet radio show using Serato DJ and have some tips? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments!