Let me start this off with this is NOT a comprehensive, end-all-be-all guide to 'how to setup a livestream.' This is simply the workflow/setup I've come to use over 4 years of on and off streaming on Twitch. Hopefully it can help some of yall out that are (finally XD) joining the livestream world. *I only stream on Twitch using OBS, so this will be specific to Twitch and OBS; I have not tried YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform or streaming software, but the basic outline is kind of there.
Hardware: 2x 1200's, Rane TTM57sl mixer with Serato Scratch Live, Samsung laptop, Behringer Xenyx 802 USB mixer, Shure SM57 mic, Pansonic GH2 or Logitech webcam (depends on if I'm using green screen or not), and then my gaming PC is my streaming PC. For speakers, I have a Yahama receiver running a 5.1 system that I use with my gaming/streaming PC. It's not the best setup for DJ'ing necessarily, as the receiver can add quite a bit of latency, but if there is any now, I barely notice it. I run the receiver in 5 channel stereo, and turn off any signal processing that I can.
Audio setup: I run 1/4" out of the booth outputs on the TTM57 into the Behringer mixer (this is for the stream audio). Then I have RCA -> 1/8" from the aux out on the TTM57 into the aux input on my receiver for my 'monitors.' I run the mic (XLR) into the Behringer mixer as well. The Behringer connects via USB to my stream PC.
Camera setup: I either use an HDMI to USB3.0 capture card with my GH2 or a Logitech USB webcam. All it takes is plugging it into the stream PC. Easy enough.
OBS setup: There are a TON of YouTube and written tutorials to setup OBS, but they generally focus on gaming and not so much DJ'ing. I won't go into too much detail, but will point out stuff more particular for DJ'ing. This is my main OBS screen. Have everything plugged in and turned on before you open OBS to make sure it picks up your USB devices (USB mixer and camera). Should go without saying, but also make sure you have your drivers installed for the devices.
[Imgur](https://imgur.com/b2zJazj)
The only audio I want outputting to the stream is from the Behringer mixer, so the desktop audio and camera audio are muted. Aside from the camera and mixer, all of the other sources in my source window are optional. (If you're curious as to why Winamp is in there, I can add details on that in a later post)
Output settings:
[Imgur](https://imgur.com/p2mIfvC)
Video bitrate will depend on your ISP, your upload speed, and your streaming PC hardware. I've had to drop mine down to 2500kbps from my usual 3500kbps recently. I guess with everyone at home using the interwebs, my connection seems a lot more unstable than even a month ago. I set the audio bitrate to 320kbps, but I think Twitch ends up compressing it to 192kbps for viewers. Recording settings are optional, I only recommend streaming and recording at the same time if you have a decently powerful streaming computer. Better to record just the audio in your DJ software to upload the mix later. Twitch will mute any replays with copywritten material, so I upload to Mixcloud for archiving. I run the mic through the Behringer mixer versus the mic input on my Rane mixer because I talk to chat, and it's annoying listening back to mixes with me yammering through parts. My GPU recently kicked the bucket (still works on default Windows drivers...which has caused some bottlenecks when it comes to streaming, but I can still do it) so for now I'm using software encoding, but if you have the option for hardware encoding, use it.
Video Settings
[Imgur](https://imgur.com/2AjjHnL)
Leave your base canvas at 1920x1080, but you want your output at 1280x720. I haven't really noticed a difference in the various downscale filters, but bicubic is what I use. 30fps is best for your viewers, as it's less demanding than running 60fps, but that's really up to you.
Twitch:
Twitch takes some getting used to; whether it's the website itself or the community/culture. The music community is very welcoming (especially now), and I encounter far less trolls there than in gaming channels. There's a lot of people there now trying to figure everything out, so don't feel like you're late to the party. If you want to try to make some money, you'll want to setup a donation site. Can be a simple PayPal link, Bitcoin link, or you can use something like streamelements or streamlabs. Those two extensions add other things like chatbots, commands (ie: a viewer can type !mixcloud in my chat will send a message in chat with my Mixcloud link), follower/subscriber/donator notifications. All of those are customizable, but I'd recommend just using the default stuff before making custom notifications and such. It can be a bit of a time sink..but then again I guess we got nothing but time right now. After you get up and going with a few streams, set your sights on reaching affilate. It's not that difficult to get, nor do you lose it if you don't keep up with the requirements to get it. You can then make custom channel emotes (again, another time sink, or there are a ton of artists out there that can make them for you) and accept subscriptions and bits.
Twitch is owned by Amazon, so if you're a Prime member, link your Amazon account and you get a free subscription you can give to one streamer per month. It doesn't auto renew, so you can change it every month, but it is a nice 'gift' to give to streamers to help support them. Dark Sith Lord Bezos does take 50% of the $5/month cost of a base subscription (whether a Prime sub or paid for), so if you really want to help a streamer, use donations. But if you already have Prime, may as well throw the free sub around to someone.
At the end of your stream, you can 'raid' another streamer. All it is is taking your viewers and dumping them into the channel of another streamer. I generally try to find other DJ's that are playing the same/similar genre that I think my viewers would stick around for; or just other DJ's I like. Then there's 'hosting.' That is when you are offline, but your channel is playing another stream. There are auto-host settings so that you don't have to manually host channels while you're offline. Between being raided (it's pretty much random and up to other streamers; don't beg) and raiding others, it's kind of the best way to get your channel out and exposed. But, don't make it about view counts or followers. Do it because you want to mix, no other reason. The music section has all of a sudden been saturated by DJ's/record labels due to the pandemic; there's a lot of people new to Twitch who don't know there's a bunch of other DJ's in the music category, so just keep going and you'll find an audience.
Other thoughts:
I love streaming on Twitch. I've done several 6+ hour streams in my time there. If you come from only playing out live, it's a big adjustment. There's no crowd energy to work off of; sometimes chat can give that to you, but it can be hard when you're just in your room by yourself. I personally find it hard to mix heavier/harder stuff for more than 30-45 minutes at a time, so a lot of my mixes have been more chill and kind of downtempo as I can stay in that vibe for longer periods. I've met a lot of really awesome DJ's in my time there, and it's great seeing so many more looking for a creative outlet now that we're on global quarantine. Hopefully after some semblance of normality is restored, people will continue to livestream and the viewers keep coming back. I know this has been a giant wall of text, so apologies, but hopefully it gives someone something to go off of. Let me know if anyone has any specific questions or needs clarification on anything. Happy streaming!
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