Strange audio issue

Update:  The issues I described above were when running in "seamless" mode.  I just switched to full KVM mode and it works fine.  Maybe audio sending isn't supported in seamless?

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. But, I think you answered you own question, however, to be sure, I have forward your problem/question to Stardock Support Team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience.

Thanks

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Hello,

I'm setting up a new laptop with Multiplicity.  The laptop is the Audio Sender.  My desktop PC is the receiver.  Both are Windows 11.

With "allow this machine to be unmuted" unchecked, audio plays on BOTH devices for a blip, then the speaker X's out / mutes.

With "allow this machine to be unmuted" checked, audio plays just fine but on BOTH computers.

I have gone carefully thru all of the audio troubleshooting steps on your website, so please don't just me a link to that same info...  Any other help? 

Thank you!

End of quote

It's because Windows, most especially on laptops, will not actually send audio if it sees that there is no device to play it.

As noted in the Multiplicity Audio Troubleshooting steps you mentioned, a workaround would be to plug in, say, a headset or wired earbuds into the laptop sender. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Wouldn't the laptop's own speakers count as a "device to play it?"  And when "allow unmute" is checked, it DOES send audio without any earphones plugged in.  The problem is that the audio then plays on BOTH computers.  I think there's something else going on here.

That said, I don't care to spend any more energy troubleshooting it at the moment, as it does work fine in full KVM mode, which is what I use 99% of the time.

Thank you!

Its the very act that MP silences the output on the sender that Windows thinks (again, only for laptops and only for power consumption reasons) that it does not need to send sound to output devices as its muted. 

You can test this yourself if you like.  If your other box is a desktop and you made it the sender, it would not likely have this issue; MP would mute it but Windows would still send the sounds as there is no power consumption 'safeguards' for it on that type of PC. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Interesting, thank you.  Why does it work in full KVM mode?  Something different in the way MP handles the audio?

The control of PCs (KVM or Seemless) is completely independent of Audio and what is the sender and receiver.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Well, as I said, in KVM mode the audio is sent to the receiver and works perfectly.  No earphones or etc are needed.  It just works.  In seamless, the audio sending does not work.  Try it for yourself...

If it does (and I don't doubt you), its not for the reasons you might think.  Audio is completely separate from the controlling medium (Seemless or KVM).  To showcase this further, what is included in MP for sending \ receiving sound is a near bit-for-bit version of Acoustic Bridge, a standalone app of ours:

https://www.stardock.com/products/acousticbridge/

Again, if its working for KVM, something about being in that mode is making Windows think the Sender has active output devices and they are on.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Perhaps it's a clue you can pass to your devs...

Thanks and have a good one!