How do I stream from my sound card input

[jrleighton]

Using VLC media player on my Win32 PC, I am listening to music on my PCs external speakers.

I would also like to have the sound relayed to speakers connected to another PC on my LAN at home.

How do I get VLC to stream the output from my sound card, whilst at the same time continuing to allow the sound from my sound card to go to my local speakers as well ?

Does this involve use of an audio splitter and fiddling with my sound devices - or is there a way to configure VLC to do this ?

Many thanks in advance for whatever help is on offer !

[yoann]

See the "VLC streaming howto" on http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ for a description on how to use VLC to stream files.

Basically, the easiest way to do what you want, is to stream your files to your other PC, while still playling them locally.
So, look at the File -> Open -> check Stream/Save -> Settings...
Then, you will need to check both "Play locally" and the protocol you will want to use to stream to your other pc (http/udp/...).

[jrleighton]

Following on from the initial query above (also by me - and very many thanks for the helpful reply) can anyone please throw some light on how to do the following:-

Set up VLC to continuously stream from one PC whatever sound is sent to the sound card.

Basically, I am using 2 PCs (in different locations, but on my home LAN), one of which I am using for editing sound files with Audacity. I want to use this PC because it's powerful, and I am controlling this PC from my main PC with UltraVNC. UltraVNC does not stream sound (although their forums state that this is planned by them at some stage). So how do I get VLC to do this ?

Anything I play on my remote PC I would like relayed (be it when I play a file with Audacity, or playing an Mp3 audio file remotely on that PC with another instance of VLC media player. So I am not playing a specific file to have streamed (which I know VLC can do). I can do without the system internal speaker beeps - so it's just the sound relayed to the speakers I want.

Any ideas from some kind soul please ?

Many thanks for whatever help is on offer.

If there is something on this elsewhere in the forums, then apologies - I did search, but didn't come up with anything.

[jrleighton]

This is the solution to my issue above (for a Windows XP PC). I am noting it down to help others who may be looking for a solution here.

1. Obtain 'Virtual Audio Cable' (Google for it), and install.
2. Change Windows audio playback (Sound devices settings in Control Panel) to Virtual Cable 1
3. If using Audacity, change audio playback under preferences to virtual cable 1.
4. Open VLC - go to settings: choose streaming options, select advanced options, and choose 'keep streaming alive' (or whatever the exact label for this option is).
5. Either use the VLC wizard or manually to stream. I use HTTP multi-stream (i.e. no IP specified on broadcasting VLC instance) with ASF format on port 1234.
6. On receiving PC, use VLC to receive the HTTP stream from your broadcasting PC's IP address on port 1234 (or whatever you used).

Et voila !

[peter_baum]

Hi!

This all sounds great!

Could you just tell me how to get VLC to stream from Virtual Audio Cable? What input do choose in the VLC wizard or in the commandline when you start VLC?

Thanx a lot!
Philipp

PS: I'm trying to get the same thing running on MacOSX with soundflower instead of Virtual Audio cable. The two programs seem to do pretty much the same thing.

[taxman]

I'd also like to know how to jump this final hurdle.

I can stream files without any problem, but I don't seem to be able to stream my entire sound card output.

I'm trying to stream directshow audio, with and without virtual audio cable. Is this the right way to be going about streaming the output of my soundcard?

Can anyone help me out?

Many thanks.

[taxman]

OK, here's a solution (and a further problem, for me anyway)

You don't need VAC to stream your soundcard output on a PC. The poster above was correct, but missed out an important step for those of us who hadn't done it before. Assuming you're familiar with standard streaming, you just need to:

1) Go to File > Open Capture Device, this will open the DirectShow tab
2) "Refresh list" and select your sound card as the audio device
3) No advanced options needed
4) Tick "stream/save" and click "settings"
5) Select your usual stream setting (I use UDP multicast, 224.0.0.0:1234)
6) Tick "audio codec" and leave the settings as-is
7) OK everything
That's it!

Now for my problems:

• My laptop doesn't have a physical volume control or mute, it's all done through softkeys. Hence, when I try to mute my laptop to enjoy the sound output through my hifi (being streamed via another laptop using the method above), it also mutes the directaudio stream! The same applies with the volume control. Hence I can't listen to my laptop.

• Is there a way to delay video output on my host laptop so I can sync it with the audio coming through my hifi? I can accomplish this via a multicast where I stream the video back to the host laptop, but this is obviously not ideal and won't work with all programs (sadly I have to use SonicStage for my Hi-MD recorder)

Hope this helps, and I hope someone can help me!

[cerbero]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I have been trying to do this on my Mac for a few days, and haven't found a solution. Is there some way of capturing the soundcard output with VLC on the Mac? CLI or otherwise. Maybe by creating a named pipe from the CoreSound output, and then reading that with VLC?

[wassy]

To ressurect this post again if anyone is listening. I am having problems with streaming my soundcard output. When I go to stream -> capture device, the option is on direct show, but the only audio and video devices listed are my input devices, namely my laptop's webcam and the microphone input. The sound card output is not listed to choose this for streaming. Anyone any suggestions as to why this may be? Im using a sony vaio laptop running vista.

Thanks

[rogerdpack]

To ressurect this post again if anyone is listening. I am having problems with streaming my soundcard output. When I go to stream -> capture device, the option is on direct show, but the only audio and video devices listed are my input devices, namely my laptop's webcam and the microphone input. The sound card output is not listed to choose this for streaming. Anyone any suggestions as to why this may be? Im using a sony vaio laptop running vista.

Thanks

Basically with vista+ it's disabled or unavailable by default:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums ... 92987a34c4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--wU40opYDo

[bemymonkey]

jrleighton's Virtual Audio Cable tip works well, even on Win7 SP1.

Only problem: The sound takes about 10 seconds to start playing at the remote end... I'm using VLC Stream & Convert for that - anything I can do to reduce the delay?

[rogerdpack]

you don't "have" to use Virtual Audio Cable--if your soundcard supports it and you click "show devices' (see the youtube link). Of course, if yours doesn't work, even after installing new audio drivers, then you'll be forced to use VAC. Ping me if you want an alternate I may be able to code one up
https://github.com/rdp/virtual-audio-output-sniffer

[Mally]

This thread has certainly been resurrected quite a number of times! I have need of a bit more information than has been provided so far, but in the process of reading this thread, I have learned a lot. Here's my situation. My adult son uses his XP Home laptop just about 5' feet from me. My XP Pro PC stands just beside me, but it has a very good sound system, well, the card is nothing special...neither is his for that matter, but my speakers sound awesome. My drivers are up to date; I doubt his are, but that's easy enough to remedy. All I want to do is to allow him to stream Internet Radio from his machine through my computer's speakers. We are also connected on a local LAN.

One alternative I'm guessing is to use an audio cable that's long enough to wrap around the backs of the furniture, and connect his output jack to my input jack. That would only be clumsy at his end. I've spent a while watching the video you recommended, and reading about the Virtual Audio Cable, and MSysGit. While it sounds kind of intriguing, it also sounds a little daunting, and complicated. I'm not afraid to push my limits with what I know about computers, though. Given these circumstances that I've described, can you suggest a good approach? Thanks in advance,

Mally ☮

[rogerdpack]

you should be able to set your default "recording device" to be waveout mix, then "stream" from VLC and "receive" from the other VLC.

https://github.com/rdp/virtual-audio-ca ... ber-device has some instructions on setting the recording device. Since you're on XP the virtual-audio-output-sniffer won't help much.
There may be some other easier way to do it but I don't know it.

[Mally]

Thank you very much for the quick response! I'll let you know how I manage this after I get into your directions and that URL a little more deeply. If I have to change my default audio device (the one on the XP Pro PC), that might present a problem as it's currently set for "Breakaway", an audio program that, among other things, behaves as a virtual sound card, and gives me a lot of control over the way the audio is heard. Thank you again!

Mally ☮

[Mally]

I'm sorry to bother you again, but I'm pretty confused. From the web page to which you sent me:

History/XP users:

Basically, with windows XP, you can already "record what you hear"
Run sndvol32 (Start menu -> Accessories -> Volume/Audio), choose options [menu] -> properties -> recording radio button, click ok, *
now click the "select" checkbox underneath "Wave Out Mix"

Now with for example VLC choose "Open Capture Device" -> Audio Device Name -> select "your soundcard's name" (other
programs just select your soundcard's name).

Okay, I was able to get up to where I put a red asterisk without problem. The next line directs me to "click the "select" checkbox underneath "Wave Out Mix"". That window has neither a "select" checkbox, nor anything that says "Wave Out Mix". That's my first problem. The second is that I don't know where to download the VLC; in fact, I can't even tell if I need it. Beyond that, I'm not sure how to receive the stream his machine is sending. On the positive side, I do see that "Breakaway" is selected as my sound card, so if I need to use the as yet elusive VLC to connect to it, I don't think there will be a problem. Thanking you again in advance,

Mally ☮

[Mally]

Found the download site for the VLC Media Player. It's here.

[bemymonkey]

Why are you re-streaming a stream? Wouldn't it be easier to just let your son remote control the media player of your choice on your computer and open the internet radio stream directly from there?

[Mally]

Hey, bemymonkey;

Thanks for responding, but I'm the one with all the questions around here! Please say more. I'm not sure I understand your suggestion. All I want to do is to allow him to play his Pandora internet radio stream through my system's speakers. I'm itrying to find the easiest way to do that. Since Pandora is streamed through my web browser, there's not really a media player like Winamp involved. Roger's suggestion of using VLC to transmit the stream from his laptop to another version of VLC on my PC is beginning to make sense as I read more about it. So in a way, it kinda sounds like you both are saying the same thing except that Roger is talking about using VLC as the media player that you're suggesting. Do you have another idea?

Mally ☮

[bemymonkey]

The simplest solution would, of course, be to just have him open the browser on your PC and start the stream there - with VNC, for instance, or just by moving over there

The VLC streaming solution is more elegant, of course, but will require quite a bit more work and setup, especially if it needs to work unattended on your computer's end.


If you're still trying to go the streaming route, take note of the following:

Your "Breakout" program sounds like it might be the problem here - mainly because hardly anyone else will know how to use it or set it up.

Basically, you need to set up two things:

1. On your son's PC, route the audio from the browser (Pandora) to VLC by setting the sound card's recording input source to "Stereo mix", so that the card will record what's playing. This part is completely done in the sound/audio control panels...

Then, you set up VLC to stream what's recorded to a client. This part is completely done in VLC, and you'll have to select your sound card's recording input at some point in the process.

2. On your own PC, all you need to do is open VLC and connect to the stream you set up on your son's computer.



The main issues are setting up the stereo mix recording and setting up the stream, and these should be handled separately - use a recording program like Audacity to check if the stereo mix recording part is set up properly - just record a snippet while Pandora is playing and then play back what you recorded - if you hear what was just playing on Pandora, this part is set up fine.

The streaming part, well, that's complicated but there should be enough info around here to figure it out

[Mally]

I've made some progress with this. Both machines now have VLC v. 1.1.11 installed, the Firefox Plugin v. 1.1.11.0 is enabled on both machines, but only my son's machine bore the "Stereo Mix" and it's unmuted, now. Actually, that's not quite accurate. I can get the stereo mix if I select my driver, Realtek HD Audio Input rather than Breakaway . I may be in luck, though I won't know until I trog through this whole process. The setup in Breakaway looks like this:



While there are dropdowns at both audio devices (input and output) as well as the bypass, there are no other choices than those displayed. Using that Wizard button in the lower left is meant to change the audio card if you have more than one, and to use a test tone to select buffers.

I haven't been able to find instructions that pertain to the available version (1.1.11) of VLC from videolan.org; the directions for setting up streaming in the wiki uses a wizard that's found under File, but that page hasn't been updated since 3 Jan, 2010. The available version (1.1.11) of VLC version doesn't have that wizard. I'd be happy to volunteer to do what was needed in updating that wiki page once I get our system running; I'll have a fresh and fair understanding of what has to be done, and I work well with others.

So, it seems for now, I need to know how to coax my son's VLC to stream, not an intuitive process in my case. Is there an easy way to explain how to do that, or a resource to which you can point me?

Mally ☮

[bemymonkey]

Hi Mally, you've misunderstood one thing: You don't need to change *any* sound settings whatsoever on your machine. The only thing you need to do on your machine is fire up VLC and connect to a stream, that's it.

Everything else is done on your son's PC.

[Mally]

Hi Mally, you've misunderstood one thing: You don't need to change *any* sound settings whatsoever on your machine.

Hi, bemymonkey;

First, thanks for hanging in there with me. Thanks, too, for all the help. I am making progress, and from what you last wrote, it looks like I'm almost finished, but I feel like I'm miles away. You were right about what I'm misunderstanding, except that it's more than one thing. In addition to what you said about not changing any sound settings on my machine:

Everything else is done on your son's PC.

So is he already streaming when he's got music playing from any source including internet radio on his machine then?

The only thing you need to do on your machine is fire up VLC and connect to a stream, that's it.

That sounds easy enough, but I can't figure out how. The interface GUIs on both machines are still full of blank form fields that I don't know how to fill. And from a screen shot of VLC in operation, there is a form field on the main interface that looks like it as an URL of some sort in it, but on mine, it's greyed out.

Finally, what function do the Foxfire plug-ins on our machines play in all of this?

Many thanks again,

Mally ☮

[Mally]

Hi, all;

I'm still trying to figure out how people with ordinary intelligence and computer skills can work this out. Is there anyone who can take me over that last threshold so I can make this operate?

Mally ☮