Ultimate Kenku with Discord Bot to use Syrinscape with Local Sound for Online Play

Pro Tips
#31

Hi Amerisun,

Thanks so much for the YouTube on setting up Kenku to stream Syrinscape into Discord via a bot. This worked like a charm when I first set this up, but for the past few months, my players can no longer hear Syrinscape at all. The Syrinscape bot “lights up” in our voice channel, indicating that it’s “speaking” aka the sounds effects are coming through. Everyone can see the bot lighting up, but yet, I’m the very only one that can hear anything at all. It’s been suggested that Discord did an update a few months ago which may be causing some issue. Do you know of any way to trouble shoot why this might be happening?

#32

Discord did do an update a couple of months back, which did change the way they handled things and resulted in breaking existing Kenu bots. Kenku put out a update shortly afterwards to correct for the changes. so provided you have the latest versions of Discord and Kenku it should be working again now.

If not, then you may want to try setting up a new bot and giving that a try, just in case the changes needs to be baked into the bot itself?

#33

Also something else to check, you can setup the bot into another server and try it. Permission structures and how the bots are configured changed also not too long ago, but existing bots should still be working.

I did notice some of people having issues, but mostly because they changed where their bots permissions were or the channel it was in. So double check the bot actually has voice permissions correctly for the channel.

#34

Hi,
I’m following the more technical option with the VB cable, as I’m in a remote area. I’m on Mac, and I can’t find a way to connect Syrinscape to the VB cable.

#35

Just to confirm, do you have the mac VB cable?

#36

Hello there,

I have a Mac and I have been trying to find a way to pipe Syrinscape in to Foundry VTT for yonkers. I am about to rejoin Syrinscape but just doing some checks with the free version before I do.

However this is what I have done, I am not very technical so please bear with me. And there is a one off fee for what I have paid which was worth it…so far.

I downloaded and bought Loopback, which is a virtual cable type thing for routing sound sources to outputs. $99 USD.

I am also using LiveKit so that my players can use audio/video in the Foundry game.

I have created a virtual “Player” that joins my Foundry game but has no interaction with anything, all the settings are off even the canvas is off. All that is happening there is that LiveKit music input is live and coming from the Loopback instance.

I have downloaded Syrinscape offline player, and I have linked, with Loopback, the offline player to the virtual player in Foundry and that virtual player is emitting the sounds. Other players can adjust the volume of the virtual player.

So far this is amazingly good, so much so that I am going to rejoin Syrinscape, however in ALL my previous time with Syrinscape I never used the offline player before, therefore now sure what I am doing regarding content.I think I need to ask someone. The UI is amazing!

Currently using Syrincontrol or using the Syrinscape webapp the sound is bitty and scratchy. However the offline app is really clear and good quality. I have tested it with other players. Also the offline player takes a fraction of the CPU that the online version does for some reason.

Also with Loopback I can pipe through YouTube, Apple Music, anything that has a sound source.

@benjamin or @Steve

Can you help me at all please? I have missed Syrinscape so much! I think I am going to actually celebrate that I have finally managed to do this.

#37

Heya,

Always happy to help out.

Got questions? :slight_smile: Ask away!

#38

I think you have answered my first two questions on the other thread I created.

My follow up question was going to be about creating reliable moods and soundsets. Which you answered before I could ask it.

So far I much more prefer the offline player, the UI is amazing and much quicker and responsive. I can pipe it through to Foundry via Loopback.
With this and Syrincontrol my game has become unbelievably more immersive. :slight_smile:

#39

I have a question, when you search in the offline player, does it find the word within any of the soundsets available not just in titles of soundsets or moods?

#40

Thank you for putting this video together, it’s very thorough and very well done. The Kenku interface has changed a lot and no longer works the way the video shows as some options are in different places. It’s all still there, and if you follow the instructions on the Kenku help section it’ll get you to the right places. It’s definitely a little confusing as the menu options are not the same as the video.

1 Like
#41

I am rezzing this thread since I’m returning after a long layover (read: too much work!).

For sound quality, can Kenku and Discord be wrestled to the ground to deliver high quality sound (without sending Discord wagon-loads of gold for server boosts)? Apologies if this is a repeat question–I’ve seen some comments that it depends on a lot of Discord circumstances. To skip to the end, though, is high quality sound consistently possible with the Kenku-Discord setup? (By “high quality sound” I don’t mean the crackling and skipping problem–I mean the sound quality once the connection is functional… On other setups, I have found Discord to downgrade full stereo/surround to hand-crank Victrola quality, no exaggeration.)

If I’m going to go the trouble of creating a beautiful soundscape and enticing reluctant players into enjoying it, it’d be ideal if the quality of performance is immersive and transports the players to another time and place.

I think @benjamin will recommend here the direct link from Syrinscape Online, correct? In which case I must bribe players with fish extra experience points…

2 Likes
#42

I just saw the Nova video (excited for the future there!) and thought maybe I should log in to the forums again and look around. It’s been a while, and I wanted to respond!

Basically, if you want the highest quality, one thing Syrinscape’s audio is known for, you should use their web player link and send it to your players. It will offer the best experience for your players in terms of sound quality/surround sound.

For myself, a lot of the people I play with are like cats trying to be taken to a bath, so having the sound in Discord is one less thing I must worry about, and I don’t mind the quality knock. My Discord server is boosted to level 2 based on all the people in my server, and I am boosting with a normal Discord subscription. Below is the quality you will get based on your subscription:

Maximums are below; the default is 64 Kbps per channel unless you change it.

  • Level 0 (No boosts): 96 Kbps
  • Level 1 (2 Boosts): Increases voice channel audio quality to 128 Kbps.
  • Level 2 (15 Boosts): Increases voice channel audio quality to 256 Kbps.
  • Level 3 (30 Boosts): Increases voice channel audio quality to 384 Kbps.

So, powered by this, you can make the best decision for you and your party! :blush:

2 Likes
#43

So true.

So we are all hostage to Discord and its sound quality decisions. Hmmm…

To be the slow horse here, is voice channel audio quality the same as sound/music audio quality? I suppose it must be.

#44

It seems that voice channel quality directly affects any audio people hear over Discord. Bots can send up to 384 kbps, but the output for you and your players is limited to the channel that you’re hanging out on.

Check the channel you’re playing the bot in without boosts; the default is 64 kbps, and you can set it as high as 96 kbps, which is already about 35% better than the default.

Maybe I should do an example on youtube of the various bitrates… Hmm! :slight_smile:

#45

Hey, Amerisun. Good to see you here! I loved your video a few yrs back on kenku. Never quite worked for me as it was always a bit resource intensive for me but I know it helped a ton of people. Sounds like you want to stay in discord but wanted to let you know I created a free, very lightweight way to stream audio to players without downloads (except optionally for the GM if they need a virtual cable). Low latency and getting great feedback so far. Works for Syrinscape (nova, web, offline player). Would love your thoughts on it if you have an interest.

2 Likes
#46

Hey lordgwydione!! This looks really slick. I can see the appeal, especially for groups that want a clean, dedicated way to handle shared audio from anything on the DM’s machine.

For my setup, I’m currently covered with Kenku. I can facilitate local MP3s, Syrinscape or YouTube, and Kenku lets me stream and pre-build audio sets ahead of time when I’m not using Syrinscape. Between those tools, I’m getting everything I need without any friction on the players side. Technically you could also use Kenku with your tool, but it would require the audio cable which I had serious issues with when I tried those solutions, and the aforementioned friction.

I do have a suggestion for your player-side tool. One reason people push audio on Discord is that getting everyone to reliably connect via a URL can be a bit of a cat-herding exercise. If you want to reduce friction, a nice improvement would be to auto-generate a “User ###” name and start the stream automatically after the link is pasted, so players have as few steps as possible to start listening. Friction is the main reason most people go to Discord, albeit putting more work on the DM. Just some thoughts.
:slight_smile:

2 Likes
#47

I appreciate the suggestion and will definitely investigate!

#48

So are you envisioning voice via Discord, then a unique link shared in Discord that auto-opens a new player window with superior sound streaming?

#49

That’s how Syrinscape is built, you can copy the link to the playback and each player would open that in a browser to connect to your soundscape.

#50

What I mean, though, is the auto-open part. I’m trying to understand your point above about friction reduction for players, which I agree would be helpful