ThereCare > How do I use a Sound System?

Now you can listen to your favorite tunes in There. Set up a sound system to provide a soundtrack for your parties, or some background music to your conversations in There.

To use a sound system, you must have access to the Internet via a broadband connection (e.g., cable modem, DSL, or T1).

All accounts have access to Music, whether they are Basic or Premium.

If you're music-enabled, whenever you are "within earshot" of a sound system that's turned on, you will be automatically connected to the Internet radio station to which it's tuned.

If music playing from a sound system is annoying you, you can mute it. When you mute a sound system, you're not changing what anyone else hears - it only stops playing that sound system's music for you. This sound system will remain muted for you until:

You choose to unmute it.
You exit and re-enter There.
The sound system is picked up and placed in the world again.

You can also control the volume of all sound systems from the There menu (Customize > World > Volume). When the volume setting for Music is set to 0, music is turned off.

Setting up a sound system:

Sound systems are available for purchase in Shop Central. Choose from five models, from a fifties-style diner jukebox, to an old-school boombox. You can drop your sound system anywhere where dropping is allowed.

Program your sound system by selecting a station from the Shoutcast website. Each music-enabled avatar "within earshot" will automatically connect to the same station, receiving the streaming audio directly from Shoutcast.

Only the sound system owner can control their sound system. Other avatars in the area will not be able to walk up to your sound system and change the settings. The controls are: change station, lower volume, raise volume, and turn on/off.

The number of sound systems, and the length of time you can keep your sound systems playing at any one time is restricted by your Event Host skill level. As you level up in Event Host, you will earn the privilege to have more sound systems playing for longer periods of time in the world.

Connection Speed

If your connection speed is set to 56k or ISDN, Music is disabled. You should make sure that your connection speed is set to Broadband when trying to hear music. You can do this by clicking on There > Customize > Connection in the blue toolbar when you are logged on as your avatar.

An easy way to tell if your connection speed is incorrect is if you try to change station on your radio and the only options on its action tag are "About" and "Put Away". Change Station and Play will not show up if your connection speed is not set to be Broadband.

Limitations

Some stations listed on Shoutcast's directory of servers can't be listened to in There. When choosing a station to listen to in There, you should choose one that has a "TYPE" of "MP3", and the "Bitrate" of the station should be 56 or higher. Stations which do not have an MP3 Type, or have a Bitrate lower than 56, cannot be broadcast in There.