At DWService, we are continuously looking for ways to enhance your remote desktop experience. Today we are happy to announce a brand new feature : the ability to directly stream audio from your remote machine.
DWService already enables you to access your remote file system and your remote screen. We now add the ability to listen on the device that’s in your hand an audio source from your remote computer.
How does it work ?
- On your remote machine the DWService agent automatically encodes the audio in the Opus format. The latter has been developed by the non-profit Xiph.Org Foundation and finds its way in the Ogg or the WebM containers. Opus replaces the Vorbis audio codec. You may find the Opus format in several voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications such as WhatsApp and the PlayStation 4 console.
The audio is then transfered of the WebSocket protocol which we already used to give you your remote screen. On the user side, the Web Audio API embedded in the browser will decode the audio stream in this Opus format.
Requirements for remote audio
If you have installed the DWS agent on a remote Windows machine, you do not need to install anything else. Please note however that outdated configurations with Windows XP or Windows Vista will not play well.
In case you have installed the DWS agent on a remote Mac, you will need to install SoundFlower. This kernel extension module will enable the machine to capture output audio.
On a Linux machine, the audio capture will be made via PulseAudio. However, at this time, PulseAudio is an integral part of all relevant modern Linux distributions. Also, multiple vendors use it in various mobile devices.
How can I make use of this new feature ?
In pratice what does it mean ? Should you have a music library or a movie stored on a remote machine, you are then able to stream those medias from your phone or from a computer next to you.
Do you regularly use DWService on a remote machine for work? Then you probably use a browser from time to time, if not most of the time. And sometimes, in your research, you may want to watch a video from YouTube or Vimeo. With this new feature, it is now possible to get not only the image, but also the sound in real time. It also means that, if your have a video or a soundtrack stored on your remote computer, you’ll be able to play them.
Let’s imagine for a second that the pandemic is over. You are away from home on holidays (good old days!). You want to make sure that everything is fine at home. From any machine, you may now access your home computer, start up the webcam and the microphone. You will not only get a picture but also the sound of what is going home in your house.
Need a break at lunch time ? If you have a premium subscription then it means that you may have enough bandwidth to stream a remote game from your home computer. Well, now, with sound support, you can fully enjoy it with !
With audio output, your remote machine suddenly becomes a little bit closer to you. And that’s definitely a good thing these days.
10 replies on “DWService : stream audio from your remote machines !”
Hello, that’s a great news !
I was already using dwservice and really like it. But how to update or do something to get the remote sound working ?
I tried to update the app, but it tells me that updates are automatic…
Did’nt reach to have the remote sound working.
Hello, the remote audio feature is available automatically when viewing the remote screen.
Are you not seeing the play icon ? If you are, what’s your configuration ?
Thank you for your reply.
This is what I see : https://ibb.co/dmCR2pb
What play button do you mean ? I just have the icon to disable audio, but it changes nothing.
My browser client side is Firefox. Server side with DWagent installed is windows 10.
Ok, my bad. I tried on chrome browser and it worked.
After that, I restarted my firefox browser and it works now too. Maybe the problem was I didn’t restarted the browser since the update.
Sorry again for taking your time. Your work is awesome guys ! I really appreciate ! A lot of thanks, keep going.
Superb work – really nice feature.Well done guys!
Thanks ! 👍
I have been using your service for over a year and have been very happy with it.
However this feature of enabling the audio has been very negative for me. I use my remote computer to set up a zoom meeting with myself as I am in New York and my school is in Milwaukee. When the audio is enabled there is a echo and audio loop that is exceedingly disruptive!
Initially, I could disable the audio at the beginning of the day and everything was good. However, at the end of last week, your program stated re-enabling the audio every 20 minutes or so and has been super disruptive on an ongoing basis.
Is there a way to permanently disable this feature or at least prevent it from re-enabling itself?
Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Sincerely,
Dovid Kossowsky
Hello David
Please contact us via email for any problem and so we can investigate your audio issue
thanks
I am able to hear the audio when using the browser (Chrome) on my PC. However, I could not hear the audio when using the browser (Safari) on my iPhone. The DWagent was installed on Windows 10.
Is there a limitation in hearing the audio if using a browser on an iPhone? I’ve also tried using Chrome on my iPhone but still no audio.
Thanks.
mi allineo alla richiesta di David: non sarebbe possibile configurare un agente in modo da disattivare/attivare l’audio secondo il bisogno? senza che parta automaticamente attivato, come succede attualmente.
aggiungo un’altra richiesta: soprattutto in situazioni di “assistenza remota” capita di dover parlare con l’utente, se l’audio fosse bidirezionale non sarebbe necessario ricorrere al telefono, è normale trovare il microfono su un notebook.
grazie per l’attenzione
Luigi