Accessing Audio System from other PCs on The network

[Christian Thomas]

I have a DAC connected by USB to one of my PCs - it shows as Speakers under playback devices - and I would like the other PCs on the network to be able to use this DAC as though it were connected to that machine. So, when I pull up a YouTube video on a secondary machine it shows the video on that PC's screen but plays the sound through the DAC connected to the main machine. I don't want to mess around with streaming it or opening up browser pages, just have it as an available resource on the network. Ideally it would show up above the volume control in the tray as one of the drop-down options so that I can revert to local PC speakers or built-in audio. Is this possible? I am using Windows 10 on most machines but do have a (not very useful) Server 2016 machine too. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rocky Bennett]

You can build an NAS for your home and attach your USB DAC to the NAS. An NAS system in 2017 is very affordable and there are plenty of DIY plans all over the internet.

 

[Christian Thomas]

You can build an NAS for your home and attach your USB DAC to the NAS. An NAS system in 2017 is very affordable and there are plenty of DIY plans all over the internet.

Thanks, I had thought of doing something like this for the music library using Server 2016, but Microsoft just made it accessible only to MCPs. One of the problems is that the best sound quality comes with the higher power machines, irrespective of the external hardware. Of course this is attached to the fastest I've got which is also the PC I use most. Building a NAS would mean using a very much less powerful PC (probably pre 2012) and there would be a noticeable loss of sound quality - and even intelligibility on voice.

I don't see any reason why all devices shouldn't be available across the network and was wondering if there was something in Windows 10 that had got round to this? I know there are solutions for cameras etc. that will do this so presumably it can be done for other things. As you say you, now don't have to buy a NAS drive, so surely this functionality is buried in there somewhere?