Audio & microphone

Audio in Slipstream runs both ways when you ask for it. Downlink is always there: the host captures what the session is playing and your client renders it on your speakers or headphones. Uplink is optional: turn on Stream microphone (or Microphone) and your device's mic appears as a virtual microphone on the host for Discord, party chat, or a call on the far machine.

This page is the map. The deep echo FAQ is Why do I hear myself; mute mid-stream is under Muting your microphone; every Audio row is in Client settings → Audio.

What you hear (host → client)

The host captures desktop / session audio and sends it with the stream. Your client builds its decoder from what the handshake says the host will really send, never from what you asked for alone.

Channels

Audio channels, default: Stereo. You can ask for 5.1 or 7.1; anything else is read as stereo. The host normalizes to 2, 6, or 8 channels and tells your client the real count before the first frame.

On Linux the host claims a sink advertising exactly that many channels, so applications on the host can produce real surround.

Offered everywhere except the Decky plugin. Details: Client settings → Audio.

Speaker device

Android, Decky, and the console home use the system default endpoints. Speaker and microphone pickers (where a client offers them) are facts about this device and cannot live in a settings profile.

On Linux, desktop audio rides PipeWire. Wrong XDG_RUNTIME_DIR / uid anchors in host.env point the host at another user's PipeWire and produce pw audio connect ... Creation failed; delete bogus session anchors rather than chasing mixer settings (Troubleshooting).

What you say (client → host)

Stream microphone

Microphone / Stream microphone, defaults:

When on, this device's microphone is sent to the host's virtual mic. Games and chat apps on the host pick that device the way they would any other input.

On Linux, the host presents a PipeWire Audio/Source for the uplink.

Moonlight / GameStream sessions do not carry a Slipstream microphone uplink; use a native client when you need mic.

Muting mid-stream

Where the client supports it, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V stops sending your microphone to the host; press again to resume. The uplink keeps running underneath, so unmuting is instant rather than waiting for the device to warm up.

While muted, a Microphone muted badge sits in the top-right of the stream. It is separate from the stats overlay: it shows even with stats off, because "am I still muted?" is a question you ask ten minutes later.

The mute lasts for that stream only. The next session starts unmuted, and nothing is written to settings. If Stream microphone is off, the shortcut does nothing and no badge appears.

Android and Decky have no mute shortcut yet; turn Stream microphone off in their settings instead.

Full context: Muting your microphone.

Echo cancellation

Echo cancellation, default: on. Stops the host's audio, playing out of this device's speakers, from being picked up by the microphone and sent straight back. It hands the mic to the system's own canceller, it does not invent a second DSP stack:

Turn it off if your microphone already runs its own processing, or if the canceller makes your voice sound thin. The row sits under the microphone toggle and greys out while the microphone is off. Offered by Android and the console home; Decky has no toggle.

Operators can force cancellation off for a run with SLIPSTREAM_NO_AEC=1 on the client environment (Configuration → client-side); that only switches processing off, never back on. The setting in Preferences is the normal control.

Echo cancellation is not a substitute for headphones when the stream plays from the same device's speakers into an open mic. Work through Why do I hear myself when you hear yourself a beat later.

Echo: the loops that matter (summary)

The dedicated page is short and worth reading in full: Why do I hear myself. In order:

1. Your device's speakers. Stream audio out of a phone or tablet speakers → mic picks it up. Fix: headphones. Echo cancellation helps; headphones remain the reliable fix.
2. App monitoring on the host. If Discord / OBS monitoring is on, your voice plays into the host output and returns in the stream. Turn monitoring off.

While the microphone is in use, the host writes a mic uplink health line to its log every 30 seconds (web console → Logs): buffer depth, network gaps, client cadence. It will not name an echo loop (routing, not network), but if your voice is also choppy or delayed, include that line in a bug report. Startup logs also name which devices the host picked for mic and for audio capture.

Play vs Work

Play

Couch gaming usually wants downlink audio loud and clear, often with headphones on the client so party chat and game mix stay clean. Turn Stream microphone on when you join Discord or in-game chat on the host; leave Echo cancellation on unless your headset already handles it. Surround (5.1 / 7.1) is a request worth making on a home-theatre client when the host can supply it. Pair with Capture mouse and a game-oriented bitrate on a Play profile.

Work

For office remote desktop, Desktop at work suggests Stream microphone: Off unless you need it, less background noise into the host. You still hear the host's speakers through the stream. Prefer headphones on the office device if you do enable the mic for a call that lives on the host. Absolute mouse and clipboard matter more than surround for desk work.

Keep separate Work and Play settings profiles if the same device does both jobs against the same host.

Moonlight and other clients

Native Slipstream clients own the Audio settings described here. Stock Moonlight over GameStream gets host audio on the classic GameStream ports; it does not get Slipstream's microphone uplink or a mute shortcut. Prefer a native client when mic or echo-cancellation controls matter.

Decky exposes a smaller settings surface (mic on/off among them).

Troubleshooting quick checks

Related pages

• Why do I hear myself - full echo FAQ
• Client settings → Audio - channels, mic, AEC, device pickers
• Mouse, touch and pen → Muting
• Configuration → Audio / microphone - host.env knobs
• Play - couch streaming path
• Desktop at work - office mic default off
• Support matrix - which clients offer microphone and surround
• Controllers & gamepads - pads that often sit next to a headset on the couch