All we know: lag is a big enemy. For audio even more, it can take up to 30 seconds from when you press Play on your computer to when you can hear what you’re playing inside Second Life.
That’s a big issue, because if your DAW is playing and you want to listen to what your audience is hearing you’ll hear two staggered overlapping streams: one from the DAW, one overdue from the Second Life client.
But there is a rather simple solution: if you have two sound cards, you can use one for the DAW, one for the Second Life client. Most computers have an internal sound card, so there’s no need to buy a second one. Connect the headphones or speakers you use to the output of the second card and set the application and its audio output in the Windows audio routing panel, and finished.
Let’s see how it’s done.
Verify that in your DAW the output is routed to the sound card rendering the mix (in my case, an ESI Maya22)
- Open Settings on Windows 10.
- Click on System.> Sound.
- Under “Other sound options,” click the “App volume and device preferences” option.
- Under the “App” section, select the playback device for the app (in my case, device is a Audiobox and app Firestorm) and eventually adjust the volume level for the app you want.
- In Second Life, select the sound card you want use for playback in Sound & Media > Output device according to what you set in the Windows control panel (in this example, an Audiobox).
Done…
If you have a Switcher Box 2 in 1 out, there is no need to move headphone jack or speaker cables, just switch from A to B and vice versa when needed. Or just download a app as Audio Device Switcher or Audio Switcher to get the same results..
This audio routing feature is very useful for live performances. You can now hear what’s happening in the Second Life client without the DAW audio stream overlay.
There are more sophisticated solutions, of course, but this one is free and simple.