Discord Audio Bridge

Stream your PC audio to a Discord voice channel in real time with ultra-low latency.
Perfect for hearing your PC through your PS5, phone, or any device that runs Discord.

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What is this?

A lightweight Discord bot that captures your PC's audio output through a virtual audio cable and retransmits it into a Discord voice channel — in real time with minimal delay.

The main use case: You're gaming on PS5 with Discord open, but you also want to hear your PC (music, videos, game audio from your second monitor). This bot bridges that gap — your PC audio plays through the Discord voice channel, and you hear it on any connected device.

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Features

Feature	Description
Ultra-Low Latency	Optimized FFmpeg pipeline with tuned buffers — audio delay is barely perceptible
Auto-Reconnect	Drops happen — the bot reconnects automatically with exponential backoff
Fully Configurable	Every setting lives in a .env file — tweak latency, priority, devices, and more
Secure by Design	No hardcoded tokens — secrets stay in .env which is git-ignored
Process Priority Boost	Optionally runs at Realtime or High priority to minimize jitter
Self-Deafened	Bot deafens itself by default to prevent echo loops
Health Monitoring	Continuously checks the audio stream and restarts it if it stops
Quality Presets	Choose from Low, Balanced, High, or Ultra — zero latency impact
Bad Internet Mode	Enables Opus FEC + reduced bitrate for unstable connections
Live Commands	Change quality, toggle bad-internet, check status — all while running
Clean Codebase	Clear function names, full documentation — easy to read and modify
Minimal Footprint	Only enables the Discord intents it actually needs

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How It Works

PC Audio Output
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Virtual Audio Cable (VB-Audio / VoiceMeeter)
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FFmpeg (DirectShow capture, ultra-low latency)
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      v
Discord Bot → Voice Channel
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      v
Any device on Discord (PS5, phone, tablet...)

1. A virtual audio cable (like VB-Audio) routes your PC audio to a virtual input device
2. FFmpeg captures from that device with aggressively tuned low-latency settings
3. The Discord bot streams the raw PCM audio into your voice channel
4. You join the same channel on your PS5 / phone / other device and hear everything

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+ — Download
• FFmpeg — Download (place ffmpeg.exe in the project folder, or set the path in .env)
• VB-Audio Virtual Cable — Download (free)
• A Discord Bot — Create one here

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/Gonic1/discord-audio-bridge.git
cd discord-audio-bridge

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and fill in:

• BOT_TOKEN — your Discord bot token
• VOICE_CHANNEL_ID — right-click the voice channel in Discord → Copy Channel ID
• AUDIO_DEVICE — the name of your virtual cable (check Windows Sound settings)

4. Run

python bot.py

The bot will connect and start streaming. You'll see:

[PRIORITY] High — reduced latency jitter.
[BOT] Logged in as YourBot#1234
[STREAM] Connecting to #your-channel (Your Server)...
[STREAM] Audio streaming started.
[QUALITY] balanced — 64kbps stereo

5. Live commands

Once the bot is running, type commands directly in the terminal:

Command	Description
quality <preset>	Switch audio quality: low, balanced, high, ultra
bad-internet <on|off>	Toggle bad internet mode (FEC + low bitrate)
status	Show current settings and connection state
help	List all commands
quit / exit	Stop the bot

Changes apply instantly — no restart needed. Only the Opus encoder bitrate changes; the FFmpeg pipeline is never touched.

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Configuration Reference

All settings live in your .env file. Only BOT_TOKEN and VOICE_CHANNEL_ID are required.

Variable	Default	Description
BOT_TOKEN	required	Your Discord bot token
VOICE_CHANNEL_ID	required	Target voice channel ID
AUDIO_DEVICE	CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)	Virtual audio cable device name
FFMPEG_PATH	ffmpeg.exe	Path to FFmpeg binary
RECONNECT_DELAY	2	Initial reconnect delay (seconds)
AUDIO_QUALITY	balanced	Quality preset: low, balanced, high, ultra
BAD_INTERNET	false	Enable FEC + reduced bitrate for unstable connections
ENABLE_CONSOLE	true	Enable/disable the live command console

Audio Quality Presets

Preset	Bitrate	Best for
low	48 kbps	Saving bandwidth, voice content
balanced	128 kbps	General use — music, games, videos (default)
high	256 kbps	High-fidelity music streaming
ultra	384 kbps	Maximum quality Discord supports

Presets only change the Opus encoder bitrate — the FFmpeg audio pipeline is never modified. Zero additional latency, zero risk of breaking audio.

Bad Internet Mode

Set BAD_INTERNET=true if your connection is unstable. This enables:

• Opus FEC (Forward Error Correction) — embeds recovery data so lost packets can be reconstructed from the next one
• 32kbps bitrate — reduces bandwidth requirements
• 25% expected packet loss — tells Opus to optimize for lossy conditions

FEC is built into the Opus codec and adds no extra latency — it's recovery data piggybacked onto existing packets.

Latency Tuning Tips

• AUDIO_BUFFER_SIZE=10 is the sweet spot for most systems. Go lower (5) if you have a fast CPU, higher (20-50) if you hear crackling
• PROCESS_PRIORITY=realtime gives the best latency but requires running as Administrator
• HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL=0.5 means the bot detects a dead stream within half a second

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Setting Up the Virtual Audio Cable

1. Install VB-Audio Virtual Cable
2. Open Windows Sound Settings
3. Set your default playback device to CABLE Input (this routes audio into the cable)
4. The bot captures from CABLE Output (the other end of the cable)

Tip: If you want to hear audio on your PC and stream it, use VoiceMeeter to split the output to both your speakers and the virtual cable.

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Discord Bot Setup

1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal
2. Click New Application → name it anything
3. Go to Bot → click Reset Token → copy the token into your .env
4. Under Privileged Gateway Intents, no special intents are needed
5. Go to OAuth2 → URL Generator:
   • Scopes: bot
   • Permissions: Connect, Speak
6. Open the generated URL to invite the bot to your server

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Project Structure

discord-audio-bridge/
├── bot.py              # Main bot — the only file you need to run
├── .env.example        # Configuration template
├── .env                # Your local config (git-ignored)
├── requirements.txt    # Python dependencies
├── ffmpeg.exe          # FFmpeg binary (git-ignored, download separately)
├── LICENSE             # MIT License
└── README.md           # This file

A compiled .exe release is also available in Releases — no Python install required.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
BOT_TOKEN is missing	Create a .env file from .env.example and add your token
FFmpeg not found	Download FFmpeg and place ffmpeg.exe in the project folder
Channel not found	Make sure VOICE_CHANNEL_ID is correct and the bot is in the server
Audio crackling	Increase AUDIO_BUFFER_SIZE to 20 or 50
High delay	Decrease AUDIO_BUFFER_SIZE, set PROCESS_PRIORITY=realtime, run as admin
Bot keeps reconnecting	Check that your virtual audio cable is installed and the device name matches

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

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Made by Blank