Send audio output of MacBook to iPhone for remote listening

Solution 1:

Yes, using Airfoil for Mac (also available for Windows) and the companion app Airfoil Speakers Touch you can stream any audio from your Mac to your iOS device.

I haven't tried it much myself, and reviews are mixed, but you can try it for free before shelling out the money for it.

This can also be used to send audio from a MacBook to a bluetooth headset connected to an iOS device. Something which is very difficult otherwise.

Solution 2:

Here is a little solution that uses the open source programs Soundflower, VLC and SoX.

First of all, you need to install the necessary programs using Homebrew:

brew install sox
brew cask install soundflower vlc

Choose the Soundflower (2ch) device in the system settings for the sound output such that it can be forwarded to a VLC server which we will set up next. (Note, that this mutes the internal speakers/headphone jack.) By checking "Show volume in menu bar", you can also change the output device by alt-clicking the menu bar item more conveniently.

Now, run the VLC server:

sox -t coreaudio "Soundflower (2c" -t mp3 -C 96 -q - | \
  vlc - --sout "#standard{access=http,mux=ogg,dst=localhost:8080}" --intf dummy

You can adapt the quality and bit rate with the -C switch (see the SoX documentation). Remove -q to get visual feedback about whether sound is playing.

Finally, on your iOS device, install the iOS VLC client. In the side menu, choose Network Stream and enter http://[YOUR-LOCAL-IP]:8080 to start the stream.

Caveats: This setup is not suitable for real-time applications like gaming or chat because there is a ~2 seconds lag. However, it can be used for watching videos in VLC by shifting the sound track to account for the lag (Window > Track Synchronization).

Solution 3:

I didn't fancy paying for Airfoil - plus I'm a bit suspicious of not being able to use all audio sources on the Mac.

Instead I'm making use of Airphones (DELETED - app now unavailable)

Solution 4:

I used Airfoil and was able to stream music from iTunes (on an iMac running OSX Mavericks 10.9.1) to my iDevices.

I admit the $25 price tag was not something I liked.

However it does work. You can play music from iTunes on a your laptop and simultaneously listen to the music on your iPhone remotely.

You can have the entire house playing the same music through various speakers: your laptop, your iphone and perhaps an imac or ipad.

For me, the price of the $25 is a little easier to swallow than buying a USD $94 Apple Airport Express plus Speakers to connect to the Airport Express.

What's more the Airport Express only has One Audio Jack Port so one speaker for one Airport Express.

Hope this helps.