Playing audio over LAN -- software needed

[Krzysztof Trybowski]

Hello everybody,
I'm looking for a solution to the following. I want to play my audio from any
device that can communicate over LAN (eth/wifi) using LAN and a central
server.

In other words, I have a Debian-based server, connected to amplifier and
speakers and I want to use that server to play my audio. So I'd need a server
software that would listen to data and output it to speakers and I'd also
need a client software that would act as a virtual sound card.

The client software should be able to discover servers that exist in LAN and
present user with a choice to either use local sound adapter (and thus local
speakers) or to use a LAN sound adapter (and thus direct the sound to a nice
home sound system). Client software should exist for Windows XP. The perfect
solution should also be able to discover more than one listening
server and switch between them.

All the solutions I've googled seem to do something opposite: allow to access
media files through LAN/Internet in order to play them locally.

I want to play files locally, but output the sound through LAN. Note, that
this should also work on WiFi, so it has to use ethernet (and maybe even
better -- IP).

Does something like this even exist?
Please help.

Best regards, KT



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[Peter Preyler]

Krzysztof Trybowski wrote:

> Hello everybody,
> I'm looking for a solution to the following. I want to play my audio from any
> device that can communicate over LAN (eth/wifi) using LAN and a central
> server.
>
> In other words, I have a Debian-based server, connected to amplifier and
> speakers and I want to use that server to play my audio. So I'd need a server
> software that would listen to data and output it to speakers and I'd also
> need a client software that would act as a virtual sound card.
>
> The client software should be able to discover servers that exist in LAN and
> present user with a choice to either use local sound adapter (and thus local
> speakers) or to use a LAN sound adapter (and thus direct the sound to a nice
> home sound system). Client software should exist for Windows XP. The perfect
> solution should also be able to discover more than one listening
> server and switch between them.
>
> All the solutions I've googled seem to do something opposite: allow to access
> media files through LAN/Internet in order to play them locally.
>
> I want to play files locally, but output the sound through LAN. Note, that
> this should also work on WiFi, so it has to use ethernet (and maybe even
> better -- IP).
>
> Does something like this even exist?
> Please help.
>
> Best regards, KT
>
>
>
>  

I think pulseaudio is pretty much what you are searching for. I haven't
tried it on a non-linux machine myself, but the support for WinXP is
stated on their homepage.
Install the PA server on your client (the machine that has the speakers)
and connect to it from your server, you can route a single program
through this even and keep other system sounds on your server.

An alternative would be sharing your files to your client and log in
there to play (via remote X, ssh and such - requires cygwin on your XP
client).

http://www.pulseaudio.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PulseAudio

good luck,
Peter


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[Krzysztof Trybowski]

On Monday, November 9, 2009 Peter Preyler wrote:
>> In other words, I have a Debian-based server, connected to amplifier and
>> speakers and I want to use that server to play my audio. So I'd need a server
>> software that would listen to data and output it to speakers and I'd also
>> need a client software that would act as a virtual sound card.

> I think pulseaudio is pretty much what you are searching for. I haven't
> tried it on a non-linux machine myself, but the support for WinXP is
> stated on their homepage.
> Install the PA server on your client (the machine that has the speakers)
> and connect to it from your server, you can route a single program
> through this even and keep other system sounds on your server.

Thanks, this seems to be a step in the right direction. I'll try setting up
the server on my Debian box. The only issue that seems problematic is the
windows part: I only found non-GUI version, and what I need is a virtual
soundcard driver with some GUI to facilitate switching sound destinations.

Any help on that? I know this is a Debian ML, but what I'm trying to achieve
involves Debian as the most important part. ;)

Best regards, KT



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[Stefan Monnier]

> In other words, I have a Debian-based server, connected to amplifier and
> speakers and I want to use that server to play my audio. So I'd need a server
> software that would listen to data and output it to speakers and I'd also
> need a client software that would act as a virtual sound card.

You may also want to consider a slightly different setup:
keep all your music on your Debian server and run MPD there
(http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Music_Player_Daemon_Wiki).
You can then control your Debian jukebox from any other computer via
various clients.


        Stefan


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