Remote desktop with sound, on Windows

Most remote desktop sessions are silent. You see a video play on the other computer and hear nothing, or a notification sound never reaches you. TideDesk sends the remote computer’s system audio along with its screen.

Why many remote desktop tools have no sound

Classic VNC tools such as TightVNC were designed to send pictures of the screen. The VNC protocol carries no audio at all, so whatever the remote computer plays stays on that computer.

Windows’ own Remote Desktop can bring sound across, but a computer can only be reached with it if it runs a Pro, Enterprise or Education edition of Windows. Windows Home cannot be the computer you connect to.

How TideDesk sends sound

The computer you connect to (the host) captures its system audio, everything it would play through its speakers, and encodes it with Opus in 10 ms frames. The audio travels with the H.264 video and your mouse and keyboard input over one QUIC connection, encrypted with TLS 1.3. Because QUIC keeps the three streams separate, a burst of video never holds up the sound, and the other way round.

The connection always runs directly between your two computers. TideDesk never relays your screen or your sound through a server.

Set it up

1. Install TideDesk on both Windows computers, from the Microsoft Store or as a portable ZIP.
2. On the computer you want to hear, open TideDesk: This computer shows its device ID and access code. Sound is under Settings, Sharing; check it is on.
3. On the computer you are sitting at, open Connect, enter the device ID (or the address on a local network) and the access code, and connect. The remote computer’s sound plays on your speakers.

What it does not do yet

• Sound goes one way, from the host to the viewer. Your microphone is not sent to the remote computer.
• One viewer can connect at a time.
• TideDesk runs on Windows only. Linux, Android and iOS are planned, with no promised date.