Author Topic: Output to multiple audio devices  (Read 7352 times)

renkforce

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Hi.

As I'm unable to use one of the common out_split.dll or out_multi.dll plugins available for Winamp, I would like to have a native way to send music to multiple audio devices simultaneous. Is this possible without too much effort?

Or if there is another easier way to do so, someone please tell me ;) VAC is no option.

Otherwise I would pay for such a feature.

Thx a lot.

Steven

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i cant see this as being something i would be willing to spend time on.
Are there no third party tools (not plugins) that can do this or why not just use winamp?

renkforce

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Virtual Audio Cable is the only tool capable of this, but it requires reconfiguration at every boot time and driver signing to be disabled. Not a nice solution.

Winamp is not the player of choice and I would like to stay with MusicBee as it fits my needs better than Media Monkey or any other library out there.

Think of it ;)

Mr_Joeggernaut

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Longtime lurker and have been using muscibee for a few years now. Awesome program and I really appreciate it a lot.


Is there anyway to possibly output to DNLA device and default audio device on PC at the same time?

I am able to output to my receiver that powers my outdoor speakers by changing the player output option which are then controlled by the UPnP plugin but I would like to be able to also output the same sound through the default PC audio devices, eg my pc speakers. This way the music played outside is the same as inside.

Unfortunately my outdoor receiver is not within range of my PC to put additional receiver speakers next to my PC or have my outdoor receiver next to my PC.

JohnN

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I really wish somebody could solve this, it seems such a basic requirement, to be able to play music through speakers and cast music to one or even two DNLA devices and have them all playing simultaneously. I have a Roberts S1 speaker in the kitchen and another upstairs. It would be nice to be able to turn them on as I enter the rooms and have them playing the music that's playing from the computer.

hiccup

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One rather essential issue in play here, is that all clients must play in sync without any perceivable audio delay.
Otherwise the feature is completely useless in most circumstances.
That issue is usually handled well with hardware solutions such as Sonos, but trying to accomplish this with different software and hardware will be a very tricky issue to manage.
The Squeezeboxes I have in different rooms can play in sync perfectly (controlled by Logitech's Media Server software), but regrettably I never got that to work well with MusicBee's dnla plugin.

CritterMan

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I work in technical support for an AV integrator, I get asked questions like this fairly often. Essentially, an audio playback system has three parts: the source, the distribution, and the sinks (the amplifiers). In a traditional system, your computer and MB make up the source only. Getting the audio to various rooms is handled by other hardware that keeps everything in sync and prevents signal loss. Computers can send multiple audio streams through multiple outputs, but the intention is usually to send different audio to each output or mix different audio streams to the same output. They just aren't intended to distribute audio the way you are asking.

To be fair, many home audio systems are now pieced together from small components with either ethernet, WiFi, or BT connectivity. While MB might be able to be configured to output on multiple audio devices simultaneously, the audio streams will likely be out of sync and, if you can hear more than one set of speakers, it might be unusable for you.

As other users have mentioned, there are other options out there for managing your audio throughout your home. They do require new hardware.
Home Desk ~ MB 3.3 Portable • Questyle CMA400i (ASIO) • Sennheiser HD 660S (balanced) / Audeze EL-8 Closed Back / Fostex TR-X00 Ebony • Teac AI-101DA • Jamo C93 + Dayton Audio SUB-1000
Work Desk ~ MB 3.3 Portable / Tidal • SMSL SU-8 v2 • Nobsound NS-05P • THX AAA 789 • Sennheiser HD 58X (balanced)
OTG ~ FiiO M11 • Audiofly AF180 / B&O H6

annomatik

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I have a setup at home that supports that. I'm using a couple of Logitech Squeezeboxes, distributed accross my flat, but my approach should pretty much work with everything that can playback Icecast tracks.

What I did:

1) Install Icecast ( http://icecast.org/ ) -- this acts as an "Audio Server" that can send audio to your local network
2) Install "Butt" ( https://sourceforge.net/projects/butt/files/butt/butt-0.1.14/ ) -- this acts as "glue" -- it takes the audio output from your Windows mixer and sends it to Icecast (see 1).
3) Dial in the "PC radio station" I have created that way in my Logitech Squeezeboxes ( I have set them up so they are "in-sync" -- all play the same stuff).

Now, when I start Icecast + Butt, everything I hear on my PC, I can hear on all the turned-on Squeezeboxes, too. And there are Squeezebox-Clients for Android, Raspberry PI and other platforms. Also, there are Icecast-Players for all kind of platforms as well.

for me, that works quite well, except I cannot see the album art, current artist and current song -- which is a small bummer.

Maybe, someday, Music Bee can support native Icecast output (=without "Butt") and support meta-data as well?

hiccup

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That's interesting.
Two questions:

- Will the Squeezeboxes play perfectly in-sync with the other clients? (sound-wise perfect, millisecond territory)
- Does Icecast indeed not support flac, as is mentioned on the link you gave?

annomatik

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"Perfectly" ... No way :-) But it is trying to keep in sync, when you specify it should be trying that.

My workaround is to have just ONE Squeezebox in every room and have the volume set in a way, that I don't hear the other Squeezeboxes. It's not by much, but I can hear an offset when going from room to room.

I don't know about FLAC. My understanding of Icecast is, that it re-encodes pretty much everything to a specified bit-rate, I have specified 128 kbps which works nicely for me and keeps the network traffic light. So for high-fidelity use, this might not be the best way to do it.

CritterMan

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Of note for this topic: There is another reason why speakers from other rooms should not be audible in rooms playing the same audio: the speed of sound. While the speakers you can hear might be playing audio at exactly the same time, you will hear the speakers that are further away as though there were a slight delay. Large churches have this problem, so they delay audio to speakers further from the altar so audio from the front and the sides of the listener arrive at roughly the same time to prevent reverb and cancellation issues.

Planning for music to be playing in every room of the house is a complex undertaking. Ideally, one would use a hardware solution like squeezebox for distributing the audio from the source and then only turn on / raise the volume in the room you are in at the time. If not using your LAN to distribute the audio, a distribution amplifier would be used to feed an amplifier in each room. Those are really the only viable options for a single source.

There are, of course, multiple-source options. An tablet and a pair of powered speakers (google tablet boombox) can provide any music you want in any room: Be it from your library or a streaming service. I believe MB can run on a Windows tablet?

Home Desk ~ MB 3.3 Portable • Questyle CMA400i (ASIO) • Sennheiser HD 660S (balanced) / Audeze EL-8 Closed Back / Fostex TR-X00 Ebony • Teac AI-101DA • Jamo C93 + Dayton Audio SUB-1000
Work Desk ~ MB 3.3 Portable / Tidal • SMSL SU-8 v2 • Nobsound NS-05P • THX AAA 789 • Sennheiser HD 58X (balanced)
OTG ~ FiiO M11 • Audiofly AF180 / B&O H6