Voicemeeter compatibility

[Silra]

For some reason when I have Voicemeeter (http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/index.htm) installed Steam's in-home streaming audio isn't captured properly. The audio is just silent.

Settings do not seem to matter. Even if the regular physical speaker output is chosen as the default audio output instead of the Voicemeeter virtual audio device, audio is silent.
As soon as Voicemeeter is uninstalled a new streaming session has audio - no reboot required.

I am using a second Steam PC as a client with 5.1 audio.

[vb]

Installing Voicemeeter means installing audio driver. In some cases, the system might declare this new driver as default driver (as default playback device for example). Consequently you do no hear anything anymore since you do not run and configure Voicemeeter and your system audio correctly.

Windows System Audio Configuration is mainly located in Windows Control Panel / Sound Dialog Box. This is where you have to go to check or set what is your default playback device and what is your default recording device (and the communication option set to "Do Nothing" is you use Voicemeeter).

In all cases, all is a question of audio configuration and it does not need to remove Voicemeeter in case of problem. Voicemeeter is a simple Application endowed with an audio device driver, if you don’t use it , there is no way to get trouble. But you need to avoid possible audio device conflict.

As it is explained in the user manual, Voicemeeter (intended to replace Windows Mixer) will try to open output device in exclusive mode (WDM, KS). it could prevent other applications to access to the same output device. That's why we recommend to set Voicemeeter virtual input device as default playback device... and check that your other audio applications are not using the same output device than Voicemeeter.

To know all about Voicemeeter, follow the user manual step by step:
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/Voicemeeter_UserManual.pdf

[Silra]

Vincent,

I'm sorry, but there really does seem to be a problem somewhere. I did some further analysis.
Here are all the images related to the tests.[imgur.com]

Here are the different test cases that I have gone through:
test cases[i.imgur.com]

As can be seen there, it occurs specifically when using Voicemeeter and using in-home streaming with 5.1 client audio. Streaming with 5.1 client audio works fine without Voicemeeter. Additionally, streaming with 2.0 client audio works with Voicemeeter.

Here are the relevant settings for reproducing the silence:
Windows audio settings[i.imgur.com]
Voicemeeter configuration[i.imgur.com]
Voicemeeter information[i.imgur.com]

Here is the relevant part of the Steam streaming log for when silence occurred:
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Attaching controller XInput Controller with ID 0
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Streaming started to 192.168.0.171:54802, MTU = 1468
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] =====================================================================
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Game: Assassin's Creed Syndicate (368500)
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Recording system audio
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Recording on device: VoiceMeeter Input (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Changing record window: 00110CA6
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Audio client mix format:
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] format: 65534
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] channels: 2
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] samples/sec: 48000
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] bytes/sec: 384000
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] alignment: 8
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] bits/sample: 32
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] channel mask: 0x3
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Initializing audio with 2 channels and 48000 samples/sec
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Changing record audio process: 00110CA6
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Recording process audio: 8924
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Process audio recorder received invalid stream data: [format=0][samplespersecond=48000][channels=6]
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Process audio recorder received invalid stream data: [format=0][samplespersecond=48000][channels=6]
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CDesktopCaptureNV: Unsupported device or driver
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CDesktopCaptureDWM: Reinitializing D3D for adapter 0x6baf
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Video adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, vendor ID: 0x10de, device ID: 0x17c8
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CDesktopCaptureDWM: desktop duplication enabled
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetQoS
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTargetBitrate
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Starting audio stream: frequency=48000, channels=6
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Opened audio device: format=2, channels=6, frequency=48000
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Initialized audio decoder: codec=3, sample rate=48000, channels=6
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlStartAudioData
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursorImage
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] >>> Switching video stream from NONE to GameOverlay_MovieStream_8924
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTitle
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetIcon
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlHideCursor
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetActivity
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] >>> Capture method set to Game polled D3D11 NV12 + NVENC H264
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] >>> Capture resolution set to 1920x1080
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Video size: 1920x1080, output size: 1920x1080
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: DXVA init resetting SDL renderer
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: DXVA: Using device NVIDIA Quadro K620
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] >>> Client video decoder set to DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlStartVideoData
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlVideoEncoderInfo
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] CLIENT: Video size: 1920x1080, output size: 1920x1080
[2016-03-13 20:26:32] Audio mix: start=126682933093, returned=669600
[2016-03-13 20:26:32] Audio source [System Windows]: init=126682966541, through=675525, last_start=675045, mixed=673920, drop_before=0, drop_after=0
[2016-03-13 20:26:32] Audio source [Process]: init=0, through=0, last_start=0, mixed=0, drop_before=0, drop_after=0

Here is the same log with working 5.1 client audio, without using Voicemeeter:
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Attaching controller XInput Controller with ID 0
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Streaming started to 192.168.0.171:63097, MTU = 1468
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] =====================================================================
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Game: Assassin's Creed Syndicate (368500)
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Recording system audio
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Recording on device: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Audio client mix format:
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] format: 65534
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] channels: 2
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] samples/sec: 48000
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] bytes/sec: 384000
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] alignment: 8
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] bits/sample: 32
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] channel mask: 0x3
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Initializing audio with 2 channels and 48000 samples/sec
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Changing record window: 001411CA
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Audio mix: start=128035590049, returned=0
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Audio source [System Windows]: init=0, through=0, last_start=0, mixed=0, drop_before=0, drop_after=0
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Changing record audio process: 001411CA
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] Recording process audio: 11556
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetQoS
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTargetBitrate
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Starting audio stream: frequency=48000, channels=6
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Opened audio device: format=2, channels=6, frequency=48000
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Initialized audio decoder: codec=3, sample rate=48000, channels=6
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlStartAudioData
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTitle
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetIcon
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetActivity
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursorImage
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] >>> Switching video stream from NONE to GameOverlay_MovieStream_11556
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTitle
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetIcon
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlHideCursor
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetActivity
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] >>> Capture method set to Game polled D3D11 NV12 + NVENC H264
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] >>> Capture resolution set to 1920x1080
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Video size: 1920x1080, output size: 1920x1080
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: DXVA init resetting SDL renderer
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: DXVA: Using device NVIDIA Quadro K620
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] >>> Client video decoder set to DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlStartVideoData
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlVideoEncoderInfo
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Video size: 1920x1080, output size: 1920x1080
[2016-03-13 20:48:51] CLIENT: Marking frame 1 complete with status k_EStreamFrameResultDroppedLate
[2016-03-13 20:49:27] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-13 20:49:27] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursorImage
[2016-03-13 20:49:51] Audio mix: start=128035590049, returned=2876640
[2016-03-13 20:49:51] Audio source [System Windows]: init=128035615281, through=2881691, last_start=2881211, mixed=2880480, drop_before=0, drop_after=0
[2016-03-13 20:49:51] Audio source [Process]: init=128035655214, through=0, last_start=2880794, mixed=5756160, drop_before=0, drop_after=0

Comparing the logs, these two lines in particular may be relevant on the log for the silence:
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Process audio recorder received invalid stream data: [format=0][samplespersecond=48000][channels=6]
[2016-03-13 20:26:18] Process audio recorder received invalid stream data: [format=0][samplespersecond=48000][channels=6]

I have performed the tests with Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

[vb]

did you configure Voicemeeter virtual input (playback device) in 5.1 ? to let Voicemeeter receive 5.1 signal on its virtual strip ?

[Silra]

Do you mean the Windows speaker setup? If so I briefly tried that but I do not believe it made a difference. Is there another location to configure the virtual input device? I did not see a channel configuration in the Virtual IO Control Panel.

Perhaps the Steam IHS developers can elaborate on how they do the capture of 5.1 audio.

[vb]

yes, control panel / Sound -> Playback device: button configure. You can also see user manual page 13:
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/Voicemeeter_UserManual.pdf