OBS with MS Remote Desktop - Desktop Audio Drops

[wanderlust]

Hi guys, I've got a virtual PC I'm using to stream pre-recorded videos to a RTMP server. I'm connecting to the VPC via Microsoft Remote Desktop. In general, it's working well -- CPU usage is between 42 and 75% and we've had no dropped frames. There's no re-encoding or heavy lifting; just a straight stream of the video using the VLC plugin.

We sometimes also stream Spotify music along with the video. This is a bit crude, but because I can't figure out how to use Soundflower or similar while still hearing the audio via RD, I just open the Spotify app and hit play when I start the video. The Spotify audio then streams alongside the video audio via the Desktop Audio output, and it works fine.

Sometimes, however, there's an issue where the Desktop Audio output just stops. The "VLC Video Source" audio keeps playing —I can tell because the sliders keep moving — but the Desktop Audio sliders are at zero. And of course no sound is being output, whether from Spotify > Desktop Audio or VLC > Desktop Audio. All I can do is close OBS and restart it, and then it works again. But I don't know what causes it or how to replicate it, and it's a huge problem if our live stream audio suddenly goes away in the middle of a streaming session.

Does anyone have any insight or suggestion on how to troubleshoot? Thanks very much.

 

[wanderlust]

One other note: I think the problem is actually from the VLC plugin. I just looked at the open session (screenshot above), which is the one that had the audio error. I hit play on the Spotify playlist, and can hear the audio fine through RD and the Desktop Audio sliders move. However, when I hit play on the video loaded in OBS, the video plays and the VLC Video Source sliders move, but the Desktop Audio sliders do not move ... so there is no audio coming out to Remote Desktop (or the stream, had I been streaming). Is this a known issue with VLC?

 

[wanderlust]

Final update (and sorry about all the replies): I switched from VLC to the internal Media Player source and still have the same issue: video is playing, Media Source audio meter is moving, but Desktop Audio meters are not moving and there's no audio being output.

 

[wanderlust]

Log file attached.

 

[koala]

Using rdp for remote access creates a virtual audio device and a virtual GPU within Windows that are available only while you are connected with rdp. These devices are removed as soon as the connection is disconnected, and this is what OBS is choking on. Because of this, and because of the absence of a hardware GPU on virtual servers, using OBS Studio on virtual servers is not recommended and not supported.

If you just want to pass through some prerecorded video, use ffmpeg as sending client - not something interactive as OBS Studio. Ffmpeg is also made for automation.

 

[wanderlust]

Using rdp for remote access creates a virtual audio device and a virtual GPU within Windows that are available only while you are connected with rdp. These devices are removed as soon as the connection is disconnected, and this is what OBS is choking on. Because of this, and because of the absence of a hardware GPU on virtual servers, using OBS Studio on virtual servers is not recommended and not supported.

If you just want to pass through some prerecorded video, use ffmpeg as sending client - not something interactive as OBS Studio. Ffmpeg is also made for automation.

Thanks, though this unfortunately is bad news. We are using OBS via virtual server for two reasons:

1. We have multiple people who need to access it and schedule the various streams; and
2. We need to sync music (via Spotify app) to certain videos for live broadcast. For copyright reasons, we can't embed the music in the videos, but this is a workaround for livestreams.

I'd be happy to use FFMPEG but to my knowledge we can't mix the Spotify stream into the mix using that method. Questions: I have a very powerful PC (16 Gig, Vega 64 graphics) that could be used as a server, instead of a VPC. If I open that to the internet so my team can connect via Remote Desktop, would that be suitable? In other words, is the issue the VPC or the fact that we're using RD to connect?

If the remote PC concept is not workable, period, what would you recommend to allow a distributed team to access various video files and have them stream live? Thank you very much for your help.

 

[koala]

You cannot use rdp for remote connection. However, you can use other means, everything else that does not create virtual devices. Vnc is an alternative.

 

[wanderlust]

Great! That helps and I'll give it a try.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

@koala knows way more about OBS than I'm ever likely to know, so take that into account in regards to the following:
but if audio only issue... then maybe this might make a difference [sorry, I'm not in a position to test RDP to a OBS machine]

The default MSTSC / RDP connection settings usually includes lots of local resources, and there is a specific setting for Remote audio (you can disable the virtual audio channel). If you are okay with hearing audio via stream but not the RDP session itself (would require testing, obvious, and a constant monitor of stream just in case) then maybe setting Remote audio for playing on remote computer only would help/work for you? Also, best practice is to turn off all the local devices and resources you don't need [all of this under the Local Resources tab in RDP client]

 

[Doplerr]

In the event that you simply need to go through some prerecorded video, use ffmpeg as sending customer - not something intelligent as OBS Studio. Ffmpeg is additionally made for computerization.

 

[wanderlust]

In the event that you simply need to go through some prerecorded video, use ffmpeg as sending customer - not something intelligent as OBS Studio. Ffmpeg is additionally made for computerization.

Understood, but FFMPEG is nearly incomprehensible for the average human. I need something with a GUI that my non-technical staff can understand and operate.

 

[koala]

In this case, you need to find a video-processing tool that does what you need. OBS Studio is a tool that only almost does what you need. I suggest you search for tools that are able to do a better job than OBS for your specific demands. This is a research you should put a day or two into.

 

[murez]

Well, I meet the same problem and my way to solve this is just to find a remote desktop software which do not use virtual sound card (like teamviewer), you may try teamviewer in this case.