BROADCAST OUTPUT

Broadcast Output enables you to output mix or multichannel audio from FarPlay to another app (typically a livestreaming app or a DAW). By using an independent buffer, this audio can be delayed to ensure the cleanest-possible audio quality, without adding latency to the audio you hear in your headphones. Available to Standard+ and FarPlay For Teachers subscribers.

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Set up Broadcast Output for livestreaming

The steps below use FarPlay to send Broadcast Output to a virtual sound card application that forwards that Broadcast Output audio onward to a livestreaming application.

Download, install, and set up a virtual sound card

On Mac, a free option is Existential Audio’s Blackhole. Blackhole is SO easy to install: just click through the installer. Rogue Amoeba’s Loopback is a paid option that takes a little bit more time to install (details), but provides more flexibility for other future uses. Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) Lite is an option for Windows.
If you’ve installed Blackhole, Blackhole is “just there and ready”—there’s no application to open to turn something ON. If you’re using Rogue Amoeba Loopback, you’ll need to make sure you have a Pass-Thru virtual sound card turned ON. ⚠️ WARNING: If you are using a virtual sound card with an ON/OFF button, do NOT turn the virtual sound card OFF while FarPlay’s Broadcast Output is in the midst of sending audio to that virtual sound card (FarPlay will crash).

Send FarPlay’s Broadcast Output to your virtual sound card

From the Session menu, choose Broadcast Output.
In the Broadcast Output window that appears, use the Output Device pull-down menu to select your virtual sound card, and use the channels pull-down menu to select channels 1-2.
Set Channel Layout to Stereo Mix (2 channels).
Set the Delay in ms. If session participants are using less reliable network connections (unstable Wi-Fi connections, for example), a delay of 1000-2000 ms might be needed, but, in most cases with connections that are stable enough for real-time interaction, 500 ms (default)-1000 ms will be enough for pristine output.
The Outputs section shows you the devices and channels selected for headphone monitoring and Broadcast Output. The Outputs section will warn you if the channels selected for monitoring overlap with the channels selected for Broadcast Output. This creates an echo and is not recommended.
Click the Start button to turn on Broadcast Output for the current session. A blue dot next to You (…) in the main window indicates that Broadcast Output is running.
If you change a setting in the Broadcast Output window while Broadcast Output is running, click Apply. To exit the Broadcast Output window, click Close.
To turn off Broadcast Output, click Stop. If you don’t click Stop, Broadcast Output automatically turns off when the session ends.

Make your livestreaming application grab audio from your virtual sound card

Open your livestreaming application (browser-based access to Restream shown in example below).
Go to the Audio Settings.
Use the pull-down menu for Audio input (maybe it’s called Microphone) and select your virtual sound card.
Turn echo cancellation OFF.
Turn noise suppression OFF.
Enable stereo audio input.
Enable high-resolution audio (the checkbox(es) you’re looking for might be called high-quality audio, Original sound for musicians, and/or high-fidelity music mode).
Turn auto gain control OFF.

Prevent echoes

On a Mac, you might not need a separate video chat. If your livestreaming application can receive Syphon video, FarPlay can send its built-in video straight to it, and you can place each performer’s video wherever you like. See Send video to another app (Mac).

If you and other members of your ensemble join a video chat on your livestreaming platform instead, every performer on that video chat who is NOT handling Broadcast Output needs to follow the steps below.

They need to mute themselves (or else audiences will hear a slap echo from them).
They need to mute the playback from the livestreaming application (or else they will hear an echoed copy of FarPlay audio). In a browser-based livestreaming application, they should Control+Click/right-click the tab for their livestream and enable Mute site. In Zoom, it’s easiest to mute the mic (step above) and mute playback in a single step by Leaving Computer Audio.

Test and adjust your livestream setup

You should run a test livestream session (using, for example, an unlisted stream that can only be accessed by people with a private link).
Have someone who isn’t using FarPlay open the test livestream session as an audience member. Ask the audience member whether they can hear audio being broadcast. In a pinch, a “pretend” audience member could be one of the livestream performers using an iPad, second computer, etc., but this makes listening to and adjusting mixes less convenient.
Adjust levels to taste (for super pro details, look up gain staging).
If you’d like to improve lip-sync in your livestream, you can adjust the video delay, if available, in your livestreaming application. As a starting point, try setting your livestreaming application’s video delay to 100 ms less (or maybe 150 ms less) than your Broadcast Output delay. For example, if you choose a Broadcast Output Delay in ms of 200 ms, see whether setting the video delay in your livestreaming application to 200-100 = 100 ms is satisfactory.
When you’re happy with the way your livestream looks and sounds, you can make your livestream public. This might be done by clicking Go Live. Enjoy!

Send multichannel output to a DAW

You can send FarPlay session audio via Broadcast Output to a virtual sound card and then onward to a DAW (examples: Logic Pro and Reaper). This is useful for recording in the DAW, where you can adjust levels and add effects, like reverb. You can also send a stereo mix out from your DAW to another virtual sound card and onward to a livestreaming application.

To send multichannel output to a DAW,

1. From the Session menu, choose Broadcast Output.
2. In the Broadcast Output window that appears, select an Output Device with enough channels for the number of channels you want to output. Choose the range of channels you want to use (channels 1-16 in the example below).
3. Change the Channel Layout from a simple Stereo Mix to Multichannel – Set Custom Channel per Connection (other choices are available, but this one is really intuitive to use).
4. Set the Delay in ms. If session participants are using less reliable network connections (unstable Wi-Fi connections, for example), a delay of 1000-2000 ms might be needed, but, in most cases with connections that are stable enough for real-time interaction, 500 ms (default)-1000 ms will be enough for pristine output.
5. The Outputs section shows you the devices and channels selected for headphone monitoring and Broadcast Output. The Outputs section will warn you if the channels selected for monitoring overlap with the channels selected for Broadcast Output. This creates an echo and is not recommended.
6. Click the Start button to turn on Broadcast Output for the current session. A blue dot next to You (…) in the main window indicates that Broadcast Output is running.

Choosing Multichannel – Set Custom Channel per Connection as the Channel Layout above means that you can choose which channels (if any) to use to send each participant’s audio during a session. In the example below, the audio from You (Eunice) is sent out in stereo on channels 1 and 2 of the virtual sound card selected as Broadcast Output’s Output Device. Stereo audio from Alice is sent out on channels 2 and 3. Bob’s audio is currently Muted in Broadcast Output. Bob’s “Broadcast this stream on” pull-down menu is being used in preparation to send stereo audio from Bob to Broadcast Output channels 3 and 4.

In your DAW’s audio preferences/settings, choose as the audio input device the same virtual sound card FarPlay’s Broadcast Output is using as its output device.
Create individual tracks in your DAW for individual channels from FarPlay’s Broadcast Output. For example, you can create a stereo track called “Eunice” that grabs input audio from channels 1 and 2.

Use your audio interface’s internal loopback feature

Instead of sending Broadcast Output to a virtual sound card, you can send Broadcast Output to channels on your USB audio interface that are routed via your audio interface’s internal loopback feature. Another application (examples: a livestreaming application or a DAW) can then grab the routed audio from your USB audio interface. Refer to your audio interface’s manual for instructions for using your audio interface’s internal routing/loopback features. (Not all audio interfaces offer a built-in loopback feature).

Send video to another app (Mac)

Starting with version 1.4.0, FarPlay for Mac can send session video to other apps on your Mac that can receive Syphon video, such as a livestreaming application. This feature is available to Standard+ and FarPlay For Teachers subscribers.

During a session, click Video in the Tools section to open the video window.
Click the Video menu and choose Syphon Video Output.
In the other app, choose a Syphon source. FarPlay Camera is your own video. Each other participant’s video is listed as FarPlay – [their name].
For example, in OBS (free), click + under Sources and choose Syphon Client. Name the source, click OK, and use the Source pull-down menu to choose [FarPlay] FarPlay Camera (your own video) or [FarPlay] FarPlay – followed by another participant’s name.
Add one Syphon Client source for each person, and place each person’s video wherever you like.
To turn Syphon Video Output on and off together with Broadcast Output, check Activate Syphon Video Output along with Broadcast Output in the Broadcast Output window.

The video window must be open for Syphon Video Output to be sent. Syphon Video Output turns off when the session ends.

How it works

FarPlay’s latency slider lets you tune the balance between lowness of latency and cleanness of sound. You might tolerate some static (audio drop outs) to keep latency low so you can keep the beat when you’re making music. You might also want to share a higher-latency, cleaner mix of your session with a live audience. How does FarPlay let you do both at the same time?

FarPlay uses state-of-the-art error correction that handles late packets and lost packets so you can get pristine output with virtually all network connections that allow usable real-time interaction. Learn more about FarPlay’s error correction features here.