Possible: Synchronized Networked/Streamed Audio? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

ack32 · 08-31-2003, 02:45 AM

I'm interested to hear if anyone has been able to create or use a program/solution that allows for time-syncd audio? Thanks in advance.

Pragma · 08-31-2003, 04:59 AM

http://www.shoutcast.com/

This is your friend for streaming audio. You should be able to do it with this. Just have one computer running the shoutcast stream, and the rest tune into it.

charliex · 08-31-2003, 11:56 AM

Its difficult to get syncronization with audio streaming servers such as shoutcast, i tried the same thing myself once, i thought'd it'd be nice to have the same music piped all over the house if i wanted it.

The problem is audio players tend to buffer the source, so what happens is that the computer with the least latency gets the sound faster , so starts playing earlier, then you hit pause and play on both, trying to sync em up and its frustrating and 60 seconds later it'll buffer , stutter and be off again

some sort of non buffering, realtime streamer is whats needed with a broadcast address, though it'll suck up bandwidth and resources i bet, and it'll give glitches on failed transfers.

so a better bet would be a server/player that had a two way data link, checking syncronization and adjusting it, a clever program would use time compression to resync the audio when it went off so the listener didn't notice as much.

ack32 · 08-31-2003, 12:54 PM

I've tried ShoutCast as well, and it tends to "drift" about a second over the course of a song, and also the computers tend to buffer the song at different speeds, so one will start a quarter second later than another, etc.

It would be awesome to get a program that synchronized computer clocks or had a synchronized protocol that took into account the difference in clock time on the different computers, and then streamed music based on that.

irieemon · 09-03-2003, 04:07 PM

You can do it with the Flash Communication server and TimeCode sampling using the flash player. It's hard as hell, and the server is $500 for a personal license, but you can do it and it sounds great over a LAN too.

You can also sync a video stream too coming from a generic WDM capture device. Many rooms all with the same audio/video show, it's good shit - but like I said not cheap and not easy.

Good luck!

08-31-2003, 02:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
ack32 Tilted	Possible: Syncd Audio? I'm interested to hear if anyone has been able to create or use a program/solution that allows for time-syncd audio? Thanks in advance. Last edited by ack32; 11-18-2007 at 11:33 AM.. Reason: edit post

08-31-2003, 04:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
Pragma I am Winter Born Location: Alexandria, VA	http://www.shoutcast.com/ This is your friend for streaming audio. You should be able to do it with this. Just have one computer running the shoutcast stream, and the rest tune into it. __________________ Eat antimatter, Posleen-boy!

08-31-2003, 11:56 AM	#3 (permalink)
charliex Junkie Location: North Hollywood	Its difficult to get syncronization with audio streaming servers such as shoutcast, i tried the same thing myself once, i thought'd it'd be nice to have the same music piped all over the house if i wanted it. The problem is audio players tend to buffer the source, so what happens is that the computer with the least latency gets the sound faster , so starts playing earlier, then you hit pause and play on both, trying to sync em up and its frustrating and 60 seconds later it'll buffer , stutter and be off again some sort of non buffering, realtime streamer is whats needed with a broadcast address, though it'll suck up bandwidth and resources i bet, and it'll give glitches on failed transfers. so a better bet would be a server/player that had a two way data link, checking syncronization and adjusting it, a clever program would use time compression to resync the audio when it went off so the listener didn't notice as much.

08-31-2003, 12:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
ack32 Tilted	I've tried ShoutCast as well, and it tends to "drift" about a second over the course of a song, and also the computers tend to buffer the song at different speeds, so one will start a quarter second later than another, etc. It would be awesome to get a program that synchronized computer clocks or had a synchronized protocol that took into account the difference in clock time on the different computers, and then streamed music based on that.

09-03-2003, 04:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
irieemon Crazy Location: Right where I want to be.	You can do it with the Flash Communication server and TimeCode sampling using the flash player. It's hard as hell, and the server is $500 for a personal license, but you can do it and it sounds great over a LAN too. You can also sync a video stream too coming from a generic WDM capture device. Many rooms all with the same audio/video show, it's good shit - but like I said not cheap and not easy. Good luck!