Every feature, built for live radio

From the lock-free audio engine to AI artist research — here's what's inside Mcaster1AMP, shown in the real app.

Playback engine

  • A/B deck + crossfader — dual independent decks with the MC1 Crossfader plugin and 9 blend curves.
  • Lock-free ring buffer — single-producer/consumer buffer feeds PortAudio with zero allocations for glitch-free playback.
  • Multi-codec decoder — MP3, AAC/AAC+/HE-AAC, OGG Vorbis & Opus, FLAC, WAV/PCM.
  • ICY 2.2 over TLS — full metadata + HTTPS streams; resolves m3u, pls, xspf, and m3u8 automatically.
  • mc1amp:// protocol — one-click play from the web straight into the player, with optional StreamProxy relay.
Mcaster1AMP main window with the CasterClub directory
The main window. The built-in CasterClub YP directory lists 7,000+ live stations in a card view with genre filters and bitrate sorting — one click streams any of them. The transport bar, now-playing metadata, and deck controls sit up top; the directory auto-refreshes every 15 minutes.
Now playing with the real-time spectrum analyzer
Now playing, with the real-time spectrum. The FFT spectrum analyzer runs on its own worker thread at 60 fps off a lock-free double buffer, so the visualization never touches the audio path. The AI Song Ticker scrolls live context about the current track underneath.

AI-powered intelligence

  • 2 AI backends — local/private Ollama and Anthropic Claude.
  • 21 persona presets — 5 DJ personas plus 16 genre personalities, from jazz connoisseur to metal headbanger.
  • AI Song Ticker — a 4-section scrolling ticker with genre history, artist trivia, mood, and connections.
  • Artist Intel reports — 7 research categories (bio, discography, DJ script, timeline, gear, influences, awards), saved to SQLite.
  • Local & private — runs on your hardware; no analytics phone-home, no data leaves your machine.
Artist Intel report overview with album art
Artist Intel reports. Generate a full research dossier on the current artist — the Overview tab pulls album art and a written biography, with further tabs for discography, career timeline, touring history, gear, influences, awards, and fan-base impact. Every report is saved to a local SQLite knowledge base you build as you listen.
AI-generated broadcaster script for the current track
Broadcaster scripts. One of the seven Artist Intel categories writes you a ready-to-read DJ/broadcaster script and talk-track intros for the track — perfect for live segues. Pick the persona and the AI matches the tone.
AI Playlist Assistant dialog
AI Playlist Assistant. Describe the set you want in plain English; the assistant builds it from your library using ratings, genre matching, and BPM flow. Choose a persona and a genre prompt and let it curate.
AI Radio Intel analyzing a live stream
AI Radio Intel. Point the AI at any live stream and it analyses the station in real time — format, programming style, target audience, and DJ talking points — all driven by your local Ollama model or Anthropic Claude.

Broadcast-grade DSP

The same chain that powers live stations — and it executes inline in the audio callback with no heap allocations, so it's guaranteed glitch-free.

10-band parametric EQ
10-band parametric EQ. Fully adjustable center frequency, bandwidth (Q), and gain per band for precise tone shaping in any monitoring environment.
31-band graphic EQ
31-band graphic EQ. ISO-standard 1/3-octave bands from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with preset management for quick, visual tone adjustment.
AGC, compressor and limiter
AGC + compressor/limiter. Automatic Gain Control with a look-ahead buffer normalizes loudness across stations, so switching channels never blasts or whispers.
3-band Sonic Enhancer
Sonic Enhancer. A 3-band Linkwitz-Riley crossover feeds independent low/mid/high enhancers, adding presence, warmth, and air without distortion.

Library, AutoDJ & the crossfader

  • SQLite FTS5 library — full-text search across artist, title, album, genre, and comments with TagLib metadata + album art.
  • AutoDJ engine — weighted rotation, artist separation, BPM flow, genre mixing, and listener vote up/down.
  • Cart wall & scheduler — instant-fire jingles/stingers plus time-based automation and an ON-AIR/OFF-AIR broadcast clock.
Media library with color-coded categories
The media library. SQLite + FTS5 full-text search across every tag field, with color-coded categories — Music, Stingers, Station IDs, Sweepers, Jingles, Ads, Spoken Word — and column layouts that persist across sessions. AutoDJ plays straight from here.
MC1 Crossfader with the broadcast blend curve
MC1 Crossfader. The bundled reference plugin, here on the EBU R128 broadcast blend curve. Nine curve algorithms, a real-time curve visualizer with gain read-outs, and hamster/reverse mode — all built on Plugin SDK v2.

Video, AI setup & the Plugin SDK

  • Video player — native decoder for VP8/VP9, H.264/H.265, AV1, Theora; HLS, RTMP, and YouTube, with the DSP chain and spectrum applied to decoded audio.
  • Themes — CasterClub dark (default) and Enterprise Pro, switchable live with no restart.
  • Plugin SDK v2 — stable C ABI, typed parameter API, custom Qt UI, hot-reload during playback. Build one →
Native video player streaming a DJ set
The video player. A Qt6 engine decodes VP9/H.264/H.265/AV1 natively (no external ffmpeg process), with the same EQ/AGC/Sonic Enhancer chain and spectrum analyzer applied to the decoded audio. Fullscreen, pop-out for multi-monitor, and TV Color controls included.
AI preferences — choose Ollama or Anthropic
AI setup is simple. In Preferences → AI, pick the local Ollama backend and your model (Llama 3, Mistral, Gemma, Phi…), or add an Anthropic API key for Claude. Choose one of 21 personas and you're done — local stays 100% private.
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