I need to pipe audio from uneBlade on a virtual machine on my server to a few separate Pi's with ShairPort. The reason is that the physical server/host is on another network segment, and a double-headed server is just as ill-tempered as a double headed troll.
The only reliable way to do that is to use one of the sound card outputs from the host (I have a bunch that feeds both these PI's and regular amps with cables, 14, if I'm not mistaken) and then the input of a USB sound card that is mapped to the virtual machine. I could use several USB sound cards, but that easily becomes a mess and creates problems on startup of the VM. So is there a sound card where I can use that has several line inputs, preferably RCA or 3.5 mm Jack, so I won't have to use any extra adapters? The TuneBlade works by capturing audio from any input on any sound card, but of course mic inputs easily gets distorted, even if they are set up in software as a line input. Here is a screenshot from TuneBlade:
It's the line in from the el cheapo USB sound card I'm using at the moment for one zone, but I want something better. Reasonably priced is up to $200, maybe 300 if there are many inputs.
The only reliable way to do that is to use one of the sound card outputs from the host (I have a bunch that feeds both these PI's and regular amps with cables, 14, if I'm not mistaken) and then the input of a USB sound card that is mapped to the virtual machine. I could use several USB sound cards, but that easily becomes a mess and creates problems on startup of the VM. So is there a sound card where I can use that has several line inputs, preferably RCA or 3.5 mm Jack, so I won't have to use any extra adapters? The TuneBlade works by capturing audio from any input on any sound card, but of course mic inputs easily gets distorted, even if they are set up in software as a line input. Here is a screenshot from TuneBlade:
It's the line in from the el cheapo USB sound card I'm using at the moment for one zone, but I want something better. Reasonably priced is up to $200, maybe 300 if there are many inputs.
Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 has 4 line inputs. Should be easy to configure them as two stereo pairs. Probably best performance with the 4th generation version, but 3rd generation is cheaper. Widely used as a standard audio interface in the Voice Over business. IIRC, there are input sensitivity adjustments.
However, going to analog then back to digital will cause a noticeable deterioration of SQ. That's just the way it is. Once in the digital domain, always best to stay there until the one-and-only, final D/A conversion back to analog.
However, going to analog then back to digital will cause a noticeable deterioration of SQ. That's just the way it is. Once in the digital domain, always best to stay there until the one-and-only, final D/A conversion back to analog.
Thank you very much for the answers! The answer from you, Markw4, made me think about the deterioration. And Google a bit about my firewall (pfSense). And think again. And Google again. And I finally found a solution that doesn't require tht extra sound card! I managed to use a setting I hadn't really noticed before in the TuneBlade software to add a receiver manually, by using the IP address on the other network segment and letting port 5000 through. It seems to work so far, so hopefully I managed to keep it all digital! 😀