Audio Output

Configure audio output drivers for Linux, macOS, and Windows

Audio output drivers are interfaces to different audio output facilities. mpv auto-selects the best available driver, but you can override it with --ao.

mpv --ao=<driver> audio.flac

Pass a comma-separated priority list to fall back automatically:

mpv --ao=pipewire,pulse,alsa audio.flac

Run mpv --ao=help to list all compiled-in audio output drivers sorted by autoprobe order.

The default audio output driver is subject to change and must not be relied upon. Specify the driver explicitly if a particular AO is required.

Platform drivers

Linux

alsa

ALSA audio output driver.

mpv --ao=alsa audio.flac

Option	Description
--alsa-resample=yes	Enable ALSA resampling plugin (disabled by default; some drivers report incorrect delay)
--alsa-mixer-device=<device>	Mixer device for volume control (default: default)
--alsa-mixer-name=<name>	Mixer element name, e.g. Master or PCM (default: Master)
--alsa-mixer-index=<number>	Mixer channel index (default: 0)
--alsa-non-interleaved	Allow non-interleaved audio output (disabled by default due to broken plugins)
--alsa-ignore-chmap	Don’t read or set channel map; pass audio as-is
--alsa-buffer-time=<microseconds>	Requested buffer time (0 = use ALSA default)
--alsa-periods=<number>	Number of ALSA periods requested

To get multichannel/surround audio, use --audio-channels=auto. The default auto-safe explicitly rejects multichannel output because ALSA has no way to detect supported channel layouts.

pulse (PulseAudio)

mpv --ao=pulse audio.flac

Option	Description
--pulse-host=<host>	Host to connect to (empty = local connection)
--pulse-buffer=<1-2000|native>	Audio buffer size in milliseconds; native lets the server decide
--pulse-latency-hacks=<yes|no>	Enable latency workarounds for PulseAudio timing bugs (default: yes)
--pulse-allow-suspended=<yes|no>	Allow playback even if the sink is suspended (default: no)

pipewire

mpv --ao=pipewire audio.flac

Option	Description
--pipewire-buffer=<1-2000|native>	Audio buffer size in milliseconds
--pipewire-remote=<remote>	PipeWire remote daemon name (default: pipewire-0)
--pipewire-volume-mode=<channel|global>	Whether ao-volume controls channel or global volume (default: channel)

jack (JACK Audio Connection Kit)

mpv --ao=jack audio.flac

Option	Description
--jack-port=<name>	Connect to ports with this name (default: physical ports)
--jack-name=<client>	JACK client name (default: mpv)
--jack-autostart=<yes|no>	Auto-start jackd if needed (default: no; tends to be unreliable)
--jack-connect=<yes|no>	Auto-connect to output ports (default: yes)
--jack-std-channel-layout=<waveext|any>	Channel layout standard: waveext (WAVE_FORMAT_EXTENSIBLE order, default) or any

macOS

coreaudio

Native macOS audio output using AudioUnits and the CoreAudio sound server. Automatically redirects to coreaudio_exclusive for compressed formats.

mpv --ao=coreaudio audio.flac

Option	Description
--coreaudio-change-physical-format=<yes|no>	Change system-wide audio format to match requested format (default: no). Enables multichannel output but affects system audio settings.
--coreaudio-spdif-hack=<yes|no>	Try to pass AC3/DTS as PCM for drivers that don’t report AC3 support. Use with care.

coreaudio_exclusive

Native macOS audio using direct device access in exclusive mode, bypassing the sound server.

mpv --ao=coreaudio_exclusive audio.flac

avfoundation

Native macOS audio using AVSampleBufferAudioRenderer in AVFoundation. Supports spatial audio.

mpv --ao=avfoundation audio.flac

Enabling spatial audio may hang playback if mpv is not started from an app bundle.

Windows

wasapi

Audio output to the Windows Audio Session API.

mpv --ao=wasapi audio.flac

Option	Description
--wasapi-exclusive-buffer=<default|min|1-2000000>	Buffer duration in exclusive mode (--audio-exclusive=yes). default and min use the device’s default/minimum period. Accepts microseconds directly.

WASAPI supports exclusive mode for lower latency:

mpv --ao=wasapi --audio-exclusive=yes audio.flac

dsound (DirectSound)

Available on older Windows systems.

Cross-platform

null

Produces no audio output but maintains video playback timing. Useful for benchmarking.

mpv --ao=null video.mkv

# Untimed: audio decodes as fast as possible
mpv --ao=null --ao-null-untimed video.mkv

sdl

SDL 2.0+ audio output. Works on any platform supported by SDL 2.0. For compatibility with environments where other drivers are unavailable.

mpv --ao=sdl audio.flac

Option	Description
--sdl-buflen=<seconds>	Audio buffer length hint in seconds (0 = system default)

Audio channel layout

Control the output channel layout with --audio-channels:

# Accept any channel layout the audio output supports
mpv --audio-channels=auto audio.flac

# Safe subset only (default)
mpv --audio-channels=auto-safe audio.flac

# Force stereo
mpv --audio-channels=stereo audio.flac

ReplayGain / volume normalization

Adjust volume based on ReplayGain metadata stored in the file:

# Apply track gain
mpv --replaygain=track audio.flac

# Apply album gain (falls back to track gain if absent)
mpv --replaygain=album audio.flac

# Disable (default)
mpv --replaygain=no audio.flac

Additional ReplayGain options:

Option	Description
--replaygain-preamp=<db>	Pre-amplification in dB applied to the selected gain (default: 0)
--replaygain-clip=<yes|no>	Allow clipping (default: no; mpv auto-lowers gain to prevent clipping)
--replaygain-fallback=<db>	Gain in dB to apply when no ReplayGain tags are present

Compressed audio passthrough (S/PDIF / HDMI)

Pass compressed audio formats directly to a receiver via S/PDIF or HDMI:

# Pass through AC-3 and DTS
mpv --audio-spdif=ac3,dts audio.mkv

# Pass through Dolby TrueHD and E-AC-3
mpv --audio-spdif=truehd,eac3 audio.mkv

Supported codecs: ac3, dts, dts-hd, eac3, truehd.

HDMI supports uncompressed multichannel PCM, and mpv supports lossless DTS-HD decoding via FFmpeg’s DCA decoder. Passthrough is rarely necessary on modern systems.

Exclusive output mode

Lock the audio device so only mpv can use it (lower latency, no mixing):

mpv --audio-exclusive=yes audio.flac

Supported by wasapi, coreaudio, pipewire, and audiounit.

Selecting a specific audio device

# List available devices
mpv --audio-device=help

# Use a specific ALSA device
mpv --audio-device=alsa/dmix:default audio.flac

# Use a specific WASAPI device
mpv --audio-device=wasapi/Speakers audio.flac