Here's a workaround for doing a live show locally using Airtime. Run the soundcard output from your desktop machine to your broadcast mixer. Create a playlist but don't schedule it for playout. Then use the play/pause preview buttons in the Playlist Builder to cue your files manually, one at a time, like you would with a CD player.
The main limitation of this workaround is that there's a little latency between the moment you press the play/pause button and the playout being heard. That latency may increase if the network connection to the server is not so good.
Perhaps we can improve the latency with some buffering tricks, like downloading the first ten seconds of the top item in the playlist from the server before the play button is clicked. Then resume the download as soon as it is clicked.
I'd like to hear what people think about this idea. Would it be useful at your station?
The main limitation of this workaround is that there's a little latency between the moment you press the play/pause button and the playout being heard. That latency may increase if the network connection to the server is not so good.
Perhaps we can improve the latency with some buffering tricks, like downloading the first ten seconds of the top item in the playlist from the server before the play button is clicked. Then resume the download as soon as it is clicked.
I'd like to hear what people think about this idea. Would it be useful at your station?