Best video chat setup and background music

[kyleeliason]

Hi all. I just wanted to get your opinion on how best to accomplish what I'm wanting to do. I much prefer video chatting while playing D&D and right now we're using Zoom (normal conference call software) which works pretty good. Most of us have a 2nd screen (laptop, ipad, etc.) that we can run Zoom on. However, I'm wondering if something like Discord works better. (I'm not familiar with Discord but on its site, it says voice and messaging only.) Does Discord do video chatting and is it any good?

Secondly, I wanted to put some background music in. From what it sounds like, running VB Audio Cable and VB Banana along with a music source (Syrinscape, Spotify, etc.) will do nicely although I have absolutely no experience with anything but Spotify. Does anybody have any recommendations on a better way to do this? Or will Unity bring in video chat of some sort (or music?)

[Gwydion]

Discord does have video chat. I use a combination of voicemeeter and cleanfeed to send sounds to players. Works well. I use Syrinscape, tabletop audio, downloaded sounds, etc. I’ll post a link to a YouTube video I did on cleanfeed when I get home.

[Gwydion]

Here is a link to the video I put together on how to use cleanfeed with voicemeeter.

https://youtu.be/uZf9RXvKU5s

I also did a recent video talking about a number of sound programs. I have links in the video if you want to jump right to a program you are interested in and don’t want to watch the entire video:

https://youtu.be/o9g23P2De6Q

[Halfront]

Gwydion has a great approach. You can use Discord and just add a plugin for music if that is all you are going to use the channel for is to just play ambient music/sound. If you want in game "action" sounds then follow G's directions IMO.

[Gwydion]

Also agree with Halfront if you just want to add a plugin for music you can most definitely keep it simple!

[kyleeliason]

Halfront. Can you use a plugin with discord to pipe in, let's say, spotify music? Or does it just work with Syrinscape?

[kyleeliason]

Here is a link to the video I put together on how to use cleanfeed with voicemeeter.

https://youtu.be/uZf9RXvKU5s

I also did a recent video talking about a number of sound programs. I have links in the video if you want to jump right to a program you are interested in and don’t want to watch the entire video:

https://youtu.be/o9g23P2De6Q

This is awesome Gwydion. Thank you so much! I may have some follow up questions when I get around to doing this. I appreciate it.

[Halfront]

Halfront. Can you use a plugin with discord to pipe in, let's say, spotify music? Or does it just work with Syrinscape?

I've only used the following for Discord:

Rythm: https://rythmbot.co/
Groovy: https://groovy.bot/

They all have a pro and con but if you just want to play background music they work well for me.

You can create a playlist and que them and also change them on the fly. It does take a little patience and practice on both.

They have nothing to do with Syrinscape. That is a whole other beast.

I would check out maybe this on the DM's Guild from Mattekure & Rob2e: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/301496/Fantasy-Grounds-Syrinscape-Sound-Links
It is a paid item, but also check out his FG forum post here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?53459-MK-Syrinscape-Sound-Links-module&highlight=syrinscape

[Ctmega]

For video, VSEE Messenger (https://my.vsee.com/download) (Free) is pretty good as it allows you to have different pop out windows for each person and to force them to the top so you don't lose them when shifting focus to FG. For music, I would go with the Discord/Voicemeter setup described above.

[Paperclipkiller]

The best thing about Discord is that there are 2 versions. Discord, and Discordptb (Public Test Build). I use both, with a dedicated music account logging into one of those. I then use a virtual audio cable to keep the audio for Discord and Discordptb different. I like having direct, quick control over my audio.

[kyleeliason]

For video, VSEE Messenger (https://my.vsee.com/download) (Free) is pretty good as it allows you to have different pop out windows for each person and to force them to the top so you don't lose them when shifting focus to FG. For music, I would go with the Discord/Voicemeter setup described above.

Ctmega, so you'd recommend VSEE AND Discord? Not sure I understand why you'd use to different chat software?

[kyleeliason]

The best thing about Discord is that there are 2 versions. Discord, and Discordptb (Public Test Build). I use both, with a dedicated music account logging into one of those. I then use a virtual audio cable to keep the audio for Discord and Discordptb different. I like having direct, quick control over my audio.

Paperclipkiller, so you don't use anything else besides audio cable? (And whatever music/sound source you decide on.) Essentially, just treat your music like another chat member?

[Ctmega]

I run many games and systems and some have video (cams) and others do not. As such, I use VSEE for the ones that use cams and Discord for those that do not. Apologies, I should have been more clear.

[kyleeliason]

Here is a link to the video I put together on how to use cleanfeed with voicemeeter.

https://youtu.be/uZf9RXvKU5s

I also did a recent video talking about a number of sound programs. I have links in the video if you want to jump right to a program you are interested in and don’t want to watch the entire video:

https://youtu.be/o9g23P2De6Q

Gwydion - can I get your help. I think from everything I've seen that the easiest set up for me given what I'm trying to accomplish is to use VoiceMeeter Banana and VB Audio Cable. All I want is to use Zoom (pretty much like Skype) and be able to pipe in simple background music. So, basically, just have Spotify on and be able to pipe that into Zoom. (Combine my mic and the music to the Zoom input.

However, I'm having trouble getting it right. I think I'm combining the computer audio (spotify) and my voice mic as the inputs, but in my headphones, I'm hearing the music AND my voice. The voice delay is tripping me up a bunch. How do I set it up so both of those inputs are there but in my mic, I hear only the music and other voices from Zoom?

Right now, here is my setup:

31515

31514

How do I adjust this?

Thank you SO MUCH in advance!

[Gwydion]

Gwydion - can I get your help. I think from everything I've seen that the easiest set up for me given what I'm trying to accomplish is to use VoiceMeeter Banana and VB Audio Cable. All I want is to use Zoom (pretty much like Skype) and be able to pipe in simple background music. So, basically, just have Spotify on and be able to pipe that into Zoom. (Combine my mic and the music to the Zoom input.

However, I'm having trouble getting it right. I think I'm combining the computer audio (spotify) and my voice mic as the inputs, but in my headphones, I'm hearing the music AND my voice. The voice delay is tripping me up a bunch. How do I set it up so both of those inputs are there but in my mic, I hear only the music and other voices from Zoom?

Right now, here is my setup:

31515

31514

How do I adjust this?

Thank you SO MUCH in advance!

You might want to pm me in discord if this doesn't work, but if you unclick the "A1" in the first column of discord (your mic) you won't hear yourself anymore. If everything else is working for you, that should fix it. Let me know if you have more issues!

[kyleeliason]

You might want to pm me in discord if this doesn't work, but if you unclick the "A1" in the first column of discord (your mic) you won't hear yourself anymore. If everything else is working for you, that should fix it. Let me know if you have more issues!

Thanks Gwydion. I'm still having trouble and if you're still up for it, I'd love your help. How do I find you on Discord?

[Gwydion]

Thanks Gwydion. I'm still having trouble and if you're still up for it, I'd love your help. How do I find you on Discord?

Just saw your post. Here is a link to join my discord. I've got some work to do tonight but will definitely be able to text chat a bit and see if I can assist. Just can't jump on voice right now. Here is the link. You can either post in my all things sounds channel or pm me. Thanks!

https://discord.gg/VH89FCx

[Gwydion]

Hey kyleeliason. Just let me know if you're still having issues and I'll do my best to help.

[kyleeliason]

Hey kyleeliason. Just let me know if you're still having issues and I'll do my best to help.

Thanks Gwydion. I just PMed you in Discord. (Had to learn how to use it enough.)

[osarusan]

I've used the Voicemeeter/Discord setup, and it is by far the most powerful. However, the downside is that it can be a bit temperamental, and it's got so many features that it can be a bit daunting. I've since started using a much simpler setup. It functions in roughly the same technical way, but replaces Voicemeeter with a simple virtual audio cable. It cuts out a lot of the issues that I often had to spend 10-15 minutes diagnosing before game to get the audio working right.

In my setup I use Discord and Discord PTB. Discord is where I pipe my voice, like you would in a normal situation. Input is my headset mic, output is my headset speakers.

I use Discord PTB to do all of the music/shared audio. Basically I have a separate account called Music, and I changed Discord PTB's input setting to Virtual Audio Cable, and muted the output. Since DiscordPTB is entirely responsible for all of the audio that isn't my voice, it gives players the options to mute or adjust the music as they see fit, while still hearing the DM speak.

The last step is piping your music into the Virtual Audio Cable instead of to your speakers. I use Syrinscape and Winamp for music. Winamp's got a build in plugin that lets you choose the output source, so you just set it to Virtual Audio Cable instead of Primary Sound Driver, and you're set. Syrinscape uses whatever audio device is selected when you start Syrinscape up, so you just temporarily switch to VAC as your main output, load Syrinscape, then switch back to your speakers, and you're all set.

The pros of this setup over using VoiceMeeter are as follows:
- fewer programs running, and fewer things to setup/adjust, so less chance of things going wrong and not being able to find out where the snag is
- because you're playing audio through a second Discord account, there's no need to create audio loopbacks so you can also hear the music you are sending to you players
- you receive the music only through Discord, rather than a loopback, so you hear the exact same audio your players hear

Potential cons:
- since your music is being piped through Discord rather than an audio loopback, you might have a slight degradation in music quality. However, your players would hear this anyway, so it puts you on the same page as them (which can be a good thing)
- similarly, since your music is going through Discord, there might be a slight 1/2 second delay from when you press Play to when the sound comes out. But again, it's what your players would hear, so it could be considered good for the DM to hear exactly what his/her players hear.
- you are required to make a separate Discord account using DiscordPTB. If you use Discord video calls like I do, you're limited to 10 users per call. That means your audio setup will use up one of those slots, limiting you to 9 total players instead of 10. Since most games don't have 10 players that shouldn't be an issue, but if you use any other Discord bots, losing a slot could be important.

Anyway, that's the audio solution I'm using now, after many years of trying different things.