What I'm looking for doesn't seem to exist. Is there any type of software that will just listen for an audio stream and output to the sound card? Say a Linux box with a sound card on a network. Another computer runs Winamp for example and streams to this box that outputs the sound. Icecast seems to be for relaying to other clients and not outputting to a sound card. MPD wants to have all the files available locally. I can't be the first person wanting something like this.
It sounds as if you need to get a better understanding of what streaming is. Winamp is a media player for Windows, not a server. This will "stream" out:
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/home-media-server/9P4J28RHSNMH?hl=en-us&gl=us
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/home-media-server/9P4J28RHSNMH?hl=en-us&gl=us
You can do that using Volumio software running on a Raspberry Pi. It will show up on your network as a uPnP/DLNA media device that accepts audio. It is just a setting in Volumio to enable it. On a windows machine it will show up in the Media Device list on the Network browser just like the other PCs or smart TVs on you network. You can then stream music to it using JRiver or something.
Shoutcast also runs on tubes 🙂 You may have heard of Roon. It is good. Big plus that it runs with/on (silent!) dedicated audio devices that are adapted to that task.
It sounds to me like what you are looking for is software that can provide the following functionality:
VLC has this functionality built in. I work for a large networking company. In my job, I have done a lot of feature testing of multicast protocols, where I stream audio and video from one source to multiple clients in parallel. I also would, from time to time, need to demonstrate multicast functionality to customers at a customer site. VLC was my go-to for making this work.
- act as a streaming source for your content (CDs, mp3s, whatnot)
- act as a client that can receive your streaming source
VLC has this functionality built in. I work for a large networking company. In my job, I have done a lot of feature testing of multicast protocols, where I stream audio and video from one source to multiple clients in parallel. I also would, from time to time, need to demonstrate multicast functionality to customers at a customer site. VLC was my go-to for making this work.
Here is a link to Volumio. If you use a Raspberry Pi, you need to add a DAC board to it, like the Allo Boss DAC or plug in a USB DAC. Volumio also sells boxes all setup. https://volumio.com/en/
There is the option of using DLNA here. Digital Living Network Alliance, an attempt to standardise the use of multimedia devices like players and screens and media sources as inter-changable on a broadcast network.
For example. With DLNA, a client app on (any device) my phone say, I can tell the TV in the bedroom to play an MP4 file from the server in the attic.... while I'm in the livingroom.
As long as each client runs a compatible (and most are) DLNA service, such as a Windows/Linux box you install the server on, smart TVs, Wireless DACs, Wifi enabled HiFi and HT in general will support it.
A word of caution with it though. By default it's open, passwordless and broadcast on the subnet. This means that not only will these smart devices be ABLE to use them, they will actively seek them out, catalouge them, put massive load on the network by asking for 10000s of thumbnails to be generated (for a while and there are solutions).
I got a surprise when I shared a bit too wide a location on the server and my new smart TV on day 2 brought up a tiled view of "New found media" ... I'm not sure where it found what it found, but lets just say it was a good job I was alone. Quickly patched that hole and thankfully so because shortly after that I got given a work iMac which also went rummaging through my local network. Which led me to spend £250 VLAN'ing the whole network and keeping work laptops and smart TVs outside the LAN, isolated from each other and everything else.
Note: DLNA was a "thing" for a while, but it seems to have died off, mostly caused by the likes of Google, Apple, Samsung et. al. from ... as usual... rewrapping and rebranding the protocol, with or without "proprietary compatibility breaking features". Chrome cast I'm sure is based on it, so probably is Amazons firecast and the rest of them.
For example. With DLNA, a client app on (any device) my phone say, I can tell the TV in the bedroom to play an MP4 file from the server in the attic.... while I'm in the livingroom.
As long as each client runs a compatible (and most are) DLNA service, such as a Windows/Linux box you install the server on, smart TVs, Wireless DACs, Wifi enabled HiFi and HT in general will support it.
A word of caution with it though. By default it's open, passwordless and broadcast on the subnet. This means that not only will these smart devices be ABLE to use them, they will actively seek them out, catalouge them, put massive load on the network by asking for 10000s of thumbnails to be generated (for a while and there are solutions).
I got a surprise when I shared a bit too wide a location on the server and my new smart TV on day 2 brought up a tiled view of "New found media" ... I'm not sure where it found what it found, but lets just say it was a good job I was alone. Quickly patched that hole and thankfully so because shortly after that I got given a work iMac which also went rummaging through my local network. Which led me to spend £250 VLAN'ing the whole network and keeping work laptops and smart TVs outside the LAN, isolated from each other and everything else.
Note: DLNA was a "thing" for a while, but it seems to have died off, mostly caused by the likes of Google, Apple, Samsung et. al. from ... as usual... rewrapping and rebranding the protocol, with or without "proprietary compatibility breaking features". Chrome cast I'm sure is based on it, so probably is Amazons firecast and the rest of them.
On Linux, you can just have Pulseaudio play over the network (create an RTP sink). Then on your other PCs on the LAN, configure them as clients (load a receiver module). Then whenever you play something on the sender PC, the sound is played on the clients. This happens with the RTP protocol.
If you want to go that far, just use netcat.
host1> netcat -t 4496 my.mp3
host2> netcat -l -t 4496 | aplay -
It's fine for permenantly temporary hacks but tedious and unstable over time.
host1> netcat -t 4496 my.mp3
host2> netcat -l -t 4496 | aplay -
It's fine for permenantly temporary hacks but tedious and unstable over time.
I guess you already have the server? Just need the endpoint? Roon and vulumio seen to be popular but I have chosen plexamp.
Plexamp gives me gapless playbeack of flac, anywhere in the world from my unRAID plex server. A very diy setup with a rpi with dac hat running plexamp headless. Controlled from any other Plex/plexamp installation...phone pc etc.