🎧 Integrated Audio Monitoring System

This guide covers the complete deployment of a network audio monitoring system using the Scream ecosystem — a set of tools that transmit raw PCM audio over UDP multicast/unicast on a local network. Monitor audio alerts from dozens of machines without a single audio cable.

🌐 Network Requirements

Before installing any software, confirm your network is ready:

🏗️ System Architecture

Audio from each sender is captured by a virtual device driver and broadcast as raw PCM over the LAN. Any receiver on the same network can pick up and play the stream.

🖼️ Visual Overview

Architecture Infographic

Generated by NotebookLM · Virtual Network Audio Ecosystem Overview

Protocol Mind Map

The Scream Ecosystem Audio Architecture and Networking Map

🪟 Step 1 — Windows Sender (duncanthrax/scream)

Installs a virtual sound card driver. All audio played on the machine is broadcast as a PCM multicast stream.

Windows 10

1. Download the ZIP (signed builds for x64, x86, arm64) from the GitHub releases page.
2. If Secure Boot is enabled, disable it in BIOS first (cross-signed kernel drivers require it to be off).
3. Extract the ZIP and run the installer batch file as Administrator.
4. Open Sound Settings and set Scream as the default playback device.

Windows 11

1. Ensure Secure Boot is disabled.
2. Open an Administrator command prompt and enable Test Mode:

   bcdedit /set testsigning on

   Reboot and confirm "Test Mode" appears on the desktop wallpaper.
3. Navigate to the driver folder and install:

   cd <scream folder>\Install\driver\x64
   pnputil /add-driver .\Scream.inf /install

4. Disable Test Mode and restart:

   bcdedit /set testsigning off

5. Open Sound Settings and set Scream as the default playback device.

🐧 Step 2 — Linux PipeWire Sender (zirize/pipewire-scream)

Creates a virtual audio sink in PipeWire. Audio routed to this sink is transmitted via Scream protocol.

Prerequisites

• PipeWire ≥ 0.3.0
• CMake ≥ 3.10
• GCC or Clang with C11 support

Install Dependencies

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install pipewire libpipewire-0.3-dev cmake gcc

# Fedora / RHEL
sudo dnf install pipewire-devel cmake gcc

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S pipewire cmake gcc

Build & Install

1. Clone and build:

   git clone https://github.com/zirize/pipewire-scream.git
   cd pipewire-scream
   cmake -B build && cmake --build build
   sudo cmake --install build

   Module is installed to /usr/lib/pipewire-0.3/ (or /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pipewire-0.3/).
2. Configure auto-load on PipeWire startup:

   mkdir -p ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d
   cp scream-sender.conf.example ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/scream-sender.conf

   Optionally edit the file to change IP (unicast), port, or sample rate.
3. Apply changes by restarting PipeWire:

   systemctl --user restart pipewire

PipeWire Module Configuration Parameters

⌨️ Step 3 — CLI Audio Playback (zirize/screamplay)

Streams audio files directly onto the Scream network without needing a virtual sound card. Ideal for automation, alerting scripts, or batch playback.

Dependencies & Build

1. Install dependencies:

   # Ubuntu / Debian
   sudo apt install libsndfile1-dev libsamplerate0-dev

2. Clone and build:

   git clone https://github.com/zirize/screamplay.git
   cd screamplay && make

3. Play an audio file:

   ./screamplay alert.wav
   ./screamplay notification.mp3

   Supports WAV, FLAC, OGG, AIFF, MP3 (via libsndfile). Non-standard sample rates are automatically resampled to 48 kHz via libsamplerate.

📡 Step 4 — Receiver Setup

Once senders are transmitting, a receiver on the same LAN picks up the 239.255.77.77:4010 multicast stream and plays it through physical audio output.

Receiver Troubleshooting