I’m a long-time Plex user and a big fan of Plexamp for its sleek interface and music-focused features. However, I’ve noticed that Plexamp only outputs stereo audio, even when my Windows 11 system and other apps (including the Plex Desktop app) support quadraphonic/5.1 output.
My setup:
OS: Windows 11
Audio output: MB audio chipset with quadraphonic speakers
File types: FLAC, MP3, etc.
Why this matters:
Many users (including myself) have invested in multichannel audio systems for an immersive listening experience. Plexamp would be the perfect player for us if it supported this feature. The Plex Desktop app already handles multichannel audio flawlessly, so it seems like a natural next step for Plexamp.
Request:
Could the Plexamp team prioritize adding multichannel audio output support? This would make Plexamp the go-to player for audiophiles using Plex.
If you’re also interested in this feature, please upvote and reply to this thread to show your support!
If that is the case, then you can already use surround sound music – as long as its stored as flac multichannel. Other codecs like AC3 or DTS get transcoded to multichannel opus on the server.
Atmos is out of the question though.
The sound interface must be directly connected to the Windows computer and be supporting multi-channel. (A HDMI output won’t work, AFAIK.)
First step is to tell Windows that your speakers are 5.1
Then disable “Downmix to stereo” at 2 places in the Plexamp settings.
An improvement is to use Caldera desktop in tandem with Plexamp. This way, you can avoid transcoding AC3 and DTS on the server. Also, Caldera will always play multichannel tracks in surround, even if the play queue started with a stereo track. Side note: ← this is probably a main reason why you think surround is not possible in Plexamp.
thx for the trick with caldera amp that’s the solution just a pity that plexamp does not support it natively. I finally got plexamp GUI that I love, with sound everywhere
In fact I never know what is my first track played in plexamp I use Radio library or DJ. it would be so nice to have an option to force multichannel in plexamp
Try using Caldera Music as the windows player (with Plexamp controlling). Caldera has a more recent and sophisticated player engine which should support multi-channel.
just a pity that plexamp does not support it natively. I finally got plexamp GUI that I love, with sound everywhere 
