Mac to Mac audio via wi fi

[JaredBa]

My main video editing computer is a 2013 cylinder Mac Pro. I haven't been feeling well off and on for the last few months so when necessary I've been doing the video only portion of the editing from my 2011 Macbook Air via Chrome Remote Desktop. This allows me to edit even if I feel the need to lie in bed for a few hours. Problem is, I can only edit video, not audio/video, because I can't find a way to stream audio from one Mac to another, even in my own home, and even when streaming video from one device to another is (usually) pretty seamless.

Every once in a while I'll waste a couple of hours trying to research a work around but never come up with anything that works. Is Apple really that bad that it forbids audio/video via wi-fi?

If anyone knows any reasonable work-arounds I'd love to hear from you! Thanks!

 

[mikzn]

if you have drop box installed you could put the files in a drop box folder and have access from both macs, icloud drive would work too

 

[JaredBa]

Thanks Mikzn! Unfortunately I'm using my laptop just as a glorified monitor/remote keyboard as it's not powerful enough for the kind of video editing I do--so I need to stream what's happening on my main computer, my Mac Pro onto my laptop, in real time and that's where it gets tricky.

 

[xb2003]

I haven't used Chrome Remote Desktop in forever, I didn't realize it couldn't stream audio. Team Viewer will stream audio just fine, I'd download it and try it. Make sure that you connect over LAN with Team Viewer also. You have to tweak a couple of settings.

A couple of other thoughts I have, short of running a cable, would be using AirPlay and either an Apple TV or an Air Port Express. If you are using a sound system, throw one of those two (or just a Bluetooth streaming dongle) on there and stream your Mac Pro to it.

If you want to use headphones, I'd either say set an AE next to you and plug them into the 1/8" out. If you have Bluetooth headphones, get an ATV, AirPlay to it, and then have the audio from the ATV drive your Bluetooth headphones.

You might even be able to make your MBA an AirPlay-able device, I've never looked into it.

These would be the least expensive options, but you could go plum crazy if you wanted a nearly seamless experience using pro-audio type monitoring equipment.

 

[mikzn]

TeamViewer might be a good option as mentioned by xb2003 - another option might be to use screen sharing in iMessage?

It might require setting up another apple ID - screen sharing works really well - I have used it to help with mac set up and installs even if very far away - it is easy to connect via iMessage

 

[Riku7]

It's been a while, but I have set a real-time audio routing between an iMac and Mac Mini before. I think the reason why I did it was because I used Mac's usual screen sharing feature, but it only gives the visuals, no sound.

But if you want real time, I don't think a wireless connection is the ideal way to go, there's always going to be some lag. If you just do have both computers in the same space, a wired connection is much better.
Audio Monitor is a tiny and very straightforward utility that allows you to route audio. You'll need a regular audio cable that has a mini jack male plug at both ends. Plug it to the "from" computer's headphone/speaker line out port into the "to" computer's microphone line in port.
Because it's been a long time since I did this, I can no longer remember things by heart, but intuitively I guess I'd use the following settings in Audio Monitor:

"From" computer:
Input = System Audio Recorder
Output = Built-In Line Output

"To" computer:
Input = Built-In Line Input
Output = Built-In Output (if using computer's built-in speaker) or Built-In Line Output (If external speakers or headphones are connected)

Set both to "Play Through", the massive button in the middle of the utility, to create a live monitoring routing.