Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#1

Post by killthebuddha » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:24 PM UTC

I basically want a microphone with a button that starts and stops recording and live-streams the recorded audio to a programmable backend. I don't care if it's an app or a cheap-ish piece of hardware, but I have yet to find any single solution that satisfies even the streaming requirement.

Edit, for a bit of context: If there's no good solution, the prototype I'm thinking is just a Twilio Voice API endpoint that pipes received calls' audio into S3.

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#2

Post by DamonHD » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:25 PM UTC

Does this backend have to be remote? Why not a Bluetooth (or WiFi?) mic or similar?

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#3

Post by bpmedley » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:28 PM UTC

Larix Broadcaster?

https://softvelum.com/larix/

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#4

Post by xerocole » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:28 PM UTC

I think VLC can record and stream audio. I’ve never used this feature, though I did a quick search and it appears to be a feature.

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#5

Post by killthebuddha » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:31 PM UTC

DamonHD wrote: post #2

Does this backend have to be remote? Why not a Bluetooth (or WiFi?) mic or similar?

Hmm, maybe. I could run a server on my laptop and have the wifi/bt mic stream to it. But I really want this to work on the go, and having a running laptop, or Pi or whatever, at all times is kind of a non-starter.

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#6

Post by killthebuddha » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:38 PM UTC

bpmedley wrote: post #3

Larix Broadcaster? https://softvelum.com/larix/

This looks like a hard maybe, thank you!

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#7

Post by bpmedley » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:40 PM UTC

killthebuddha wrote: post #6

bpmedley wrote: post #3

Larix Broadcaster? https://softvelum.com/larix/

This looks like a hard maybe, thank you!

You’re welcome. Sounds like what you want is RTMP or SRT. There are free solutions, for those, as well.

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#8

Post by bpmedley » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:42 PM UTC

killthebuddha wrote: post #6

bpmedley wrote: post #3

Larix Broadcaster? https://softvelum.com/larix/

This looks like a hard maybe, thank you!

I believe mediamtx can ingest the RTMP and present to a browser, via HLS or WebRTC.

https://github.com/bluenviron/mediamtx

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#9

Post by DamonHD » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 8:49 PM UTC

killthebuddha wrote: post #5

DamonHD wrote: post #2

Does this backend have to be remote? Why not a Bluetooth (or WiFi?) mic or similar?

Hmm, maybe. I could run a server on my laptop and have the wifi/bt mic stream to it. But I really want this to work on the go, and having a running laptop, or Pi or whatever, at all times is kind of a non-starter.

Could a phone be the bridge/server?

Re: Ask HN: What's the minimum-friction way to stream audio from a handheld device?

#10

Post by mixmastamyk » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 9:34 PM UTC

Pipewire and a pinephone, librem etc?