Virtual Audio Switching on Windows

[ronkay]

Virtual Audio Switching Questions
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These questions are for Windows systems later than Windows XP.

On Windows XP, if the "Sound Playback" in the "Control Panel" is switched from "Speakers" to a virtual speaker while there is an active audio session, the currently active audio session is not disconnected, but remains active.

On later Windows systems, such as Windows 7, or Windows 10, under the same scenario, the currently active audio session is disconnected when switching to another (virtual) sound playback.


Here is the environment:
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I am running unattended, on an older Windows XP laptop pc, different internet radio stations, based on the day of the week. The music is being transmitted to the radios in and around my house via a 1/2 watt transmitter.

When playing a backup station, I want to periodically test if the primary internet radio station is active, without interrupting the current radio station audio. If the primary station is active, then I will switch to it. The app I am using to determine whether the primary station is active is Pira CZ Silence Detector.

Since all the internet radio stations require using Adobe Flash Player, it is not possible to select a different audio output for just one specific application (i.e. the Adobe Flash Player audio output can only be played on the system wide default speakers). In other words, I cannot select a different audio output for Firefox, Chrome, or IE.
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I believe that the handwriting is on the wall, that Windows XP audio functionality by Adobe will probably eventually be dropped. Consequently, I want to upgrade the environment to either Windows 7 or Windows 10.

Here are the questions:
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1. Is there an audio switching application that can switch to a virtual audio output, and and not disconnect the currently active station? "Virtual Audio Cable", for example, will not retain the currently active radio station under Win 7 or Win 10 (i.e. it disconnects the currently active station when switching the audio sound to a virtual playback speaker)?

2. Is there an app that can only listen to the audio input, without playing the the audio output?
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What I would rather not do, is run the audio testing under a VM guest machine. That would require significant re-programming and the purchase of a more expensive PC.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Ralston18]

Most likely more than you may wish to get involved with.

However the following link may provide a starting point of sorts for you.

http/www.ademiller.com/blogs/tech/2008/12/switching-audio-input-and-output-with-powershell/

Note: there are other such links. Just google "Powershell audio controls" or variations thereof.

Working on learning Powershell myself so always looking for scripts to study and learn from.

You mentioned "re-programming" so hopefully you can apply those skills and tweak the script (or some similar script) to meet your requirements.

 

[ronkay]

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First of all, thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, my Windows programming ability is limited to Dos Batch Script, and I'm not quite ready to deal with Powershell!

Actually, since my original posting on this site, I found a free app called "Audio Router". In case anyone reading this post is interested, this app will allow individual apps, such as Firefox and Chrome, to select different audio outputs. Firstly, the apps need to be activated. Then activate (or refresh) "Audio Router". Next, set the apps to default to the desired audio outputs, and then begin the audio sessions.

The app is very basic, and doesn't seem to have any bells and whistles. The selections need to be interactive, so in my case, I would have to program the locations to move the mouse pointer and click, etc. Being that "Audio Router" is a free app, it's very hard to complain!

If anyone knows of an similar app, where the interface would be more user friendly in an automated environment, please let me know.

Hopefully, this information will be of use to others.

 

[Ralston18]

Move Mouse may be helpful:

https/movemouse.codeplex.com/

I used it some months back to simulate a required click situation.

 

[ronkay]

Thank you again for your "MoveMouse" suggestion.

In the past, I was using "Nircmd", which has subcommands setcursor, movecursor, and sendkeypress for mouse programming. I will try "MoveMouse", as it seems like it may be more versatile.

It may, however, be awhile, because I still have to build the Windows test environment to run on my muti-boot PC. It's not my top priority, bur I will get to it soon enough.