Member Avatar for yourmom

Just wondering if there is some sort of limitation on the sound output in remote desktop. My comp at home has a sound that will support a 4 speaker sound setup. At my friends house, they have the exact same card setup with the surround sound. and it works... its not driver's either cuz there using the same drivers (c-media 8738 chipset from winblows update) yet when I remote into my computer and play music it wont come out the rear... anyone have any ideas or is this something that is not supported?? Thanks

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Short answer: the built‑in Remote Desktop audio redirection that and others are describing is what’s limiting you — RDP typically presents a two‑channel (stereo) audio endpoint to the remote session, so true 4/5.1 channel streams won’t reach the rear speakers the way local playback does. This is a consequence of how RDP’s audio virtual channel and the Windows audio stack negotiate formats and perform mixing/downmixing. (learn.microsoft.com)

Why that happens: when the redirected audio endpoint reports only a stereo mix, the system mixer (and many players that use DirectSound/WaveOut) will negotiate or downmix to that format. That makes surround tracks appear to come out only of the front channels or be collapsed to two channels even when the physical cards on both ends are identical. (learn.microsoft.com)

If you need real multichannel at the listening end, two practical workarounds work much better than relying on RDP:

  • Present the client’s actual audio device to the remote machine (USB audio passthrough / RDP USB redirection) so the session uses the real hardware and can deliver multichannel output. This requires server/client support and appropriate RDP/RDS configuration. (docs.azure.cn)
  • Bypass RDP audio and stream the host’s audio to the friend’s PC (examples: VLC, Stream What You Hear). Streaming the audio over the network lets the friend’s player/decode chain handle multichannel playback locally. (scribd.com)

Practical note: , if you already have client redirection on (as mentioned) you’re seeing the expected RDP behavior — useful for alerts/voice but not for hi‑fi surround. For music listening, choose USB passthrough (if available) or a network audio stream; both are more reliable for preserving more than two channels.

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Member Avatar for alc6379

Pretty sure it's only stereo sound.

Keep in mind, Remote Desktop isn't meant for audiophiles or anything-- it's just meant to hear error messages, and other notifications while you're remoted into that system. It's not realistic to think that you're going to get decent sound over a network connection in that fashion, anyways.

Member Avatar for pillboxusa

Just wondering if there is some sort of limitation on the sound output in remote desktop. My comp at home has a sound that will support a 4 speaker sound setup. At my friends house, they have the exact same card setup with the surround sound. and it works... its not driver's either cuz there using the same drivers (c-media 8738 chipset from winblows update) yet when I remote into my computer and play music it wont come out the rear... anyone have any ideas or is this something that is not supported?? Thanks

RUn the Remote Desktop (RUN mstsc)
Type the ip address or server/computer name.
Don not clickk connect yet, click Options button instead.
Go to local resources Tabs.
-on remote computer sound, change "do not play" to "Bring to this computer".
Experience Tabs
-choose LAN

Click connect. :)

Member Avatar for yourmom

thats what i have been doing... I wouldn't have been able to get anything on my friends comp if I hadn't done that... The question is this, can i get the music transfered to my friends comp with 4-ch surround from my on remote desktop? As opposed to 2 ch stereo. That works fine. Both sound cards are identical, and setup identically. thanks

Member Avatar for pillboxusa

thats what i have been doing... I wouldn't have been able to get anything on my friends comp if I hadn't done that... The question is this, can i get the music transfered to my friends comp with 4-ch surround from my on remote desktop? As opposed to 2 ch stereo. That works fine. Both sound cards are identical, and setup identically. thanks

What software are you using? Is the audio file in multi speaker format, or the player supports 5.1. I have the same problem in my Winamp player. If my soundcard is setup to 5.1 (SB Audigy), the mp3 i played in winamp plays only in front speakers. I f i configure my soundcard to 2.1, the winamp plays on all the speakers.
Do some test locally, play audio file in your plyer and see if it plays on your rear spk. if not change it to 2.1 mode.

Member Avatar for alc6379

thats what i have been doing... I wouldn't have been able to get anything on my friends comp if I hadn't done that... The question is this, can i get the music transfered to my friends comp with 4-ch surround from my on remote desktop? As opposed to 2 ch stereo. That works fine. Both sound cards are identical, and setup identically. thanks

I'm telling you, it's not going to work. Remote desktop just isn't set up to do more than 2-channel audio.

What are you trying to do, anyways?

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