Having multiple PCs all needing to play audio is a pain - especially when you use a headset.

This is how I used to stream audio from my NUC running Linux to my Windows desktop - where the headset was plugged in.

There are a few options for getting audio from Linux to Windows:

1. Using an actual cable - this doesn't work when you have more devices than you have line in jacks, and you tend to get analog noise
2. Using JACK - this is rather more complicated than I would like, and doesn't integrate very well with the Linux or Windows ends
3. Using PulseAudio - the Windows port of PulseAudio isn't as well maintained as I'd like, but this integrates well with Linux

Given these choices, I ended up using PulseAudio.

Setting up the Linux side of this is really easy:

1. Open /etc/pulse/client.conf and add:

   default-server = 192.168.1.1
   

   Change 192.168.1.1 to the IP of your Windows machine.
2. Run:

   killall pulseaudio
   

PulseAudio isn't well maintained on Windows - the binaries linked from the official site are very old - for PulseAudio 1.1.

However, I found a much newer set of binaries from the X2Go project: http://code.x2go.org/releases/binary-win32/3rd-party/pulse/.

To set up PulseAudio 5.0 on Windows, do the following:

1. Download pulseaudio-5.0-rev18.zip from http://code.x2go.org/releases/binary-win32/3rd-party/pulse/pulseaudio-5.0-rev18.zip

2. Extract it and copy the pulse folder to C:\pulse

3. Create a config.pa file in that folder with these contents:

   load-module module-native-protocol-tcp port=4713 auth-ip-acl=127.0.0.1;192.168.1.0/24
   load-module module-esound-protocol-tcp port=4714 auth-ip-acl=127.0.0.1;192.168.1.0/24
   load-module module-waveout
   

   Replace 192.168.1.0/24 with your local subnet.

4. Test this setup by running: c:\pulse\pulseaudio.exe -F config.pa You should now be able to get Linux sound playing on your Windows PC.

5. For a permanent setup, we need to create a Windows service rather than running PulseAudio in a command prompt. I use NSSM to run arbitrary programs as services. Download the latest version of NSSM.

6. Extract it and copy nssm.exe from the win32 folder to c:\pulse.

7. Run:

   c:\pulse\nssm.exe install PulseAudio
   

8. Fill in the following details on the Application tab:

   • Path: c:\pulse\pulseaudio.exe
   • Startup directory: c:\pulse
   • Arguments: -F c:\pulse\config.pa

   On the Details tab, fill in:

   • Display name: PulseAudio

   Now click Install service.

9. Finally, start the newly installed service - either through Services in Administrative Tools, or by running net start PulseAudio