Syrinscape ProTip #26 Using iPad with Windows PC

Gwydion · July 22, 2018, 5:17pm

Hey, guys. Question which might be a stupid one. With playing d&d 5e using Fantasy Grounds and integrating Syrinscape and streaming on twitch, monitor space becomes limited at times. Is there a way to use my iPad, plugged into my computer through a usb cable, to control the Syrinscape sounds that play?

Clearly I can use my ipad to play sounds, but I’m trying to determine if I can actually play the sound from my iPad to be sent to the Windows PC and then stream that sound out to players and the stream using Voicemeeter Banana (or soon to be Voicemeeter Potato). I can have syrinscape up on my computer but I’d rather use my iPad like a midi controller and use that in front of me at all times without having to search for the window on my PC.

Possible or am I crazy?

Steve · July 17, 2018, 2:49pm

I’ll be honest and say I have no idea! I’ll ask Ben and the Dev team.

If it’s possible I’d be interested as well

Gwydion · July 18, 2018, 1:39pm

So I figured this out, but it does take additional software at a cost of $29. After searching quite a bit, I found a product called Airfoil by Rogue Amoeba. They make other products as well such as Loopback which I’ve seen.

Airfoil touts itself as being able to play sound/apps from IOS devices and broadcast them to a windows pc or Mac. I downloaded a free trial of the software and installed it on my PC. It installs two programs, one is a “satellite” or receiver and the other can be used to send the signal to other devices. All I really needed was the satellite, but they aren’t sold separately from what I can tell.

After making sure my iPad and PC were on the same wireless network, it was very easy to follow the instructions on getting my iPad connected to my PC. I fired up Syrinscape on my iPad, hit play and low and behold, the sound came through on my PC. I was able to set the default output of the satellite receiver on my PC to whatever I wanted, so given I use Voicemeeter Banana, I set it to Voicemeeter Aux input. I then fired up my Syrinscape on my PC and was able to have my iPad version running through the Aux Input and my PC version running through Cable B input (in Voicemeeter Banana).

The reason I might set it up this way is I have a lot of automated sounds that trigger from Syrinscape when I run Fantasy Grounds. I’ll leave that connected to my PC version of Syrinscape. I might keep my iPad sitting in front of my while we play to change mood settings quickly without having to find the right window on my pc. A side benefit is that given I have the satellite program set with a default output of Voicemeeter Aux input, I don’t have to fiddle around with changing default devices for Syrinscape for the iPad instance.

Sorry, this is getting too long! Bottom line: The software costs $29. I think it will be worth it to me so I’ll probably take the plunge. The latency seemed pretty good when I triggered a sound on my iPad it seemed to start playing pretty quickly, but I want to test the latency and sound quality more. I’ll probably buy it and record a video to show folks how it works and the quality. You can download a trial version (link below) that will work for about 10 minutes and then it will still work, but it will play a loud hissing sound to let you know your trail is up.

Here is the link to download the trial and a link that explains how to set it up.

Gwydion · July 18, 2018, 2:42pm

Something I need to check tonight… I set this up by connecting my computer and iPad to a hotspot and not standard wireless network. I need to check to ensure this will work with a true wireless connection tonight… Will keep everyone posted here.

Gwydion · July 18, 2018, 10:51pm

Ok. Just got home and tested this out on my home network. Works like a charm. Feels like there might be a bit of latency for when I click on a track for it to play, but it works awesome! I think I’ll buy the program and post a video on it when I get a chance. Really cool!

Steve · July 19, 2018, 12:51am

Awesome! Thanks for this @Gwydion

Once you’ve posted up a vid I’ll make this a ProTip, definitely something I’m going to try out

benjamin · July 19, 2018, 1:29am

Yes, yes, want this as a Pro-tip!!!

Gwydion · July 19, 2018, 1:59am

Sounds good! Will try to get to it this weekend…

Gwydion · July 21, 2018, 12:04am

Not my best work, but here is a quick and dirty video on what I’m doing with the iPad and Airfoil:

Gwydion · July 22, 2018, 2:06pm

Can someone kindly pin this as a pro-tip if you think its worthy?

Steve · July 22, 2018, 5:17pm

Done!

And a huge thanks for doing this! Looking forward to testing it out myself

ichaaito · July 23, 2018, 9:26pm

Hi @Gwydion and the rest,

Sorry for my late answer. I have a similar problem and I just figured it out 1 week ago. It is so simple when you have a “line in” in your sound card. The only thing that you need is a Double Ended 3.5mm Jack Lead Cable (@ 8€ in Amazon Spain). One end to your “line in”, the other one to your iPad. Windows will automatically detect the new source in “Sounds”.

Next, go to your Voicemeeter Banana and select the 3rd line as “line in” (or in my case “Línea de entrada”). Please see the attached picture.

There is a thing that I have noted. When the cable is “on his own” without the iPad, it is picking some noise, either from the environment or due to vibration (no idea ).

Not problem to solve it, just mute the line and it will not affect your regular sounds.

As you can see, the noise is gone once the iPad is back.

I think that this solution is great because you can use anything with a standard jack connection with is mostly anything, you could even use a Walkman or a Discman. Oh my I feel old remembering them

Hope that it helps,

Cheers,

Isaac

Gwydion · July 24, 2018, 1:28pm

Excellent, Isaac! I don’t think that would work for my setup, though given I use a laptop. For a desktop/tower, though, sounds like that is a cool option!

lordgwydione · May 18, 2021, 12:54pm

Hello, all. This solution is no longer viable given Rogue Amoeba doesn’t support the software anymore and you can’t purchase it if you didn’t already download it. I did find what appears to be a nice free option. If folks are interested, I can record a youtube video showing how to get it set up. Let me know.

lordgwydione · May 23, 2021, 1:59pm

So, I went ahead and did a short (5 min) video on how to stream audio from syrinscape on your ipad to your PC. This might be useful if you are trying to take the load off your pc if you stream with one PC for example.