How to Stream Audio From PC to Android.
I was watching a movie on my laptop last night and my wireless headphones decided to die. I didn’t want to wake anyone up by passing sound through the speakers, and then he hit me. There must be a way to stream audio from PC to Android smartphone. It turns out there is. It works similarly to Roku’s private listening, but for your PC, all you need is a good Wi-Fi connection. I found 3 apps that allow you to do this. Let’s see how it works.
READ: 5 Music Sync Apps to Stream Music to Multiple Devices
Stream audio from PC to Android
1. Stream what you hear
First on the list, “Stream What You Hear” is a DLNA and UPnP based streaming server. You can use it to stream multimedia content from your computer to any DLNA and UPnP compatible device. I can use this app to stream audio to game consoles, TVs, SONOS speakers, etc.
It is very easy to set up and use the app, just download the app from the official website. It works in two parts: first you need to install the server application on your Windows computer, and then the corresponding Android application on your phone to stream. This application will run smoothly if all devices are on the same network.
You can stream audio from your computer in two ways: using the Bubble UPnP app on your Android smartphone, or using SWYH’s HTTP Live Streaming feature. During my testing, the Bubble UPnP app worked with SWYH, but with conflicting results. Media plays smoothly with little delay if SWYH successfully connects to Bubble UPnP, if at all.
HTTP Live Stream on SWYH can be used to stream audio to smartphones and it works with any web browser. You don’t need to install a separate application on your phone, which is always a plus. To start the HTTP server, right-click the SWYH icon in the taskbar and select HTTP Live Stream from the Tools menu.
Now copy the URL in your smartphone browser and click “Go” to start streaming the audio live. It is buffered for a while and then starts playing the content.
I tried this app, it works well for streaming but has significant lag. If you are going to watch movies with this setting, this is probably not the best idea. However, you can use this setting to stream audio from PC to Android.
Pros
- There is no application for installing any application on a smartphone.
- Supports any device with a web browser.
- Seamless streaming on UPnP devices such as TVs, SONOS speakers, etc.
Cons
- High audio latency.
- Doesn’t work with Bubble UPnP.
Install SWYH
2. Android Wireless Speaker (WiFi Audio)
The following application works surprisingly well with a little latency. Wireless Speaker for Android lets you stream sound from your Windows computer to your Android smartphone.
Install the Android app from the Play Store and the companion server app for Windows from their forum. You will need to register on their forum before giving you a download link.
After setting up the application on your smartphone and the server in Windows, enter the IP address of the smartphone in the server application on the computer and click “Start”.
After connecting the devices, you will receive audio from your Android smartphone. I discovered a little trick when using the app. If you are using VLC media player, you can adjust the audio delay according to the transmission delay. After adjusting the audio delay, the audio received on the smartphone was perfectly synchronized.
Pros
- Low latency
- Easy to configure
- Works without internet.
Cons
- Registration on the forum is required to load the server.
- There is no way to adjust the delay or bit rate.
3. SoundWire
Then we have SoundWire, an Android app for playing audio from your computer to Android. This app works similarly to the previous Wifi Audio app and has several additional features. You can adjust the size of the audio buffer to reduce latency when zooming out and smoother playback when zooming in. This app fulfills all the checkboxes, is easy to install, works over Wi-Fi, has low latency and is free.
To set up SoundWire, install the Android app on your phone and the companion server app on your computer. The companion app works on Windows, Linux and Raspberry Pi, make sure you have installed the correct version.
After installation, open the server app and SoundWire app, make sure the devices are on the same network. Enter the server address in the Android app. Tap the Soundwire icon to connect.
Once connected, you can select the audio input and sound frequency in the settings. The server runs in the system tray and broadcasts whatever is playing on your computer until you disconnect.
Pros
- Several options for audio input.
- Recording option.
- You can adjust the frequency, bit rate and latency.
Cons
- Application interrupts transmission periodically, which is a little annoying.
Install SoundWire on Android
Stream audio from PC to Android
These were three ways to stream audio from PC to Android. The first SWYH application is best suited for general audio transmission such as streaming and playing music. It has a significant lag so I would not recommend it for watching movies. WifiAudio is decent and completely free and you don’t have interruptions like SoundWire, but SoundWire has more features. SoundWire allows you to adjust the bit rate and frequency based on the content you are watching, making it suitable for watching movies. Which method do you use to stream audio from PC to Android? Let us know in the comments below.
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