tableopaudio.com - Free background music/ambiance for your gaming

[darrenan]

I usually run a TeamSpeak3 client on an additional PC (an old laptop). This creates an additional "person" in the TeamSpeak3 channel and so individual users can adjust the volume of the music to their satisfaction. I find this the most flexible, but it of course requires an additional PC or running a VM on the GM PC.

I am trying doing this, using Stereo Mix on the second PC (in this case, my Surface Pro 3) to play through TS. The problem is that now I have two PCs playing the same mix through their speakers, slightly out of sync. Turning the volume down on the second PC also controls the mix that goes to TS. I wasn't able to figure out any way to be playing sounds on the second PC and have those go through Stereo Mix/TS, but also not actually be playing through the speakers on the second PC.

To solve this, I just muted the background sounds client in TS on my primary PC. This still gives the other players ultimate control over the background sounds mix, and I'm ok with that setup, even though it doesn't allow me to hear exactly what they are hearing, as I'm hearing the background sounds being played by the secondary PC.

[Morgentaler]

Hey Darrenan if you want help setting it up. Also you don't need to run a VM..you can run an additional teamspeak client and use a virtual audio cable.

[Trenloe]

Virtual Audio Cable is a good solution, I use it, but it costs $25.

@ darrrenan: If you're prepared to have a little bit of audio coming from Surface Pro, you can probably get it working OK with Stereo Mix with some additional settings:

1. Right-click on Stereo Mix and select Properties. Go to the "Levels" tab and set the level to 100.
2. In Teamspeak, go to Settings -> Options -> Capture, select "Continuous Transmission" and click "Begin Test". Adjust the volume coming from the PC (via the app or via Windows Volume Mixer) until the level looks OK.
3. Connect to TeamSpeak with both of your TS instances and see if the primary instance (the one not playing the music/SFX) hears the music OK. Adjust the playback volume on the music/SFX PC as desired.

As mentioned above, this will still result in some music/SFX coming from the Surface Pro, but hopefully you can get it at a level that is OK for you locally. If not, then VAC is probably a good solution for you.

[darrenan]

I was able to strike a decent balance I think. I'll try it out tonight with other people in the channel and see how it works.

[Morgentaler]

@Trenloe there are free VACS out there that work just fine. Took a bit of fiddling and creative thinking to get everything to work. But it does. Now if i could get tabletopaudio to run localy that would be great :P

[Trenloe]

@Trenloe there are free VACS out there that work just fine.

Could you link some please so that other people can try them? Thanks.

[Morgentaler]

Making a video tutorial as this is a hot topic aparently

[Andraax]

I wasn't able to figure out any way to be playing sounds on the second PC and have those go through Stereo Mix/TS, but also not actually be playing through the speakers on the second PC.

Remove the playback device from the TS configuration on the second PC. No playback device, no sounds. I have my TS setup with an identity for "SoundBot", and I have book marks setup for that identity with the "playback profile" set to "none" so when I connect with that book mark, it turns off the speakers for any sounds coming from that instance. I run two instances on one computer, rather than using two computers...

[Trenloe]

Remove the playback device from the TS configuration on the second PC. No playback device, no sounds.

That blocks the playback sound from the second TS instance. The problem darrenan is having is that to play music/sound through the Windows Stereo Mix the sound card on the PC has to be playing something - so you have to be actually hearing something play from the computer to be able to have the "Stereo Mix" pick it up.

[Andraax]

I'm using VoiceMeeter Banana to have multiple output / input devices. You can setup device to use as your playback that does not include actual speakers, and then use this device as the input to TS.