Remio streams your computer's sound right alongside the picture, and the Audio group in Advanced settings is where you decide how that sound behaves — whether it streams at all, how wide it sounds, how much bandwidth it costs, and how quickly it reaches your ears. This guide walks through every row in that group and what to pick for what you're doing.
On iPhone or iPad: open Remio, tap the gear icon on the Devices screen, then AUDIO. On Mac: Remio → Settings → Advanced. The setting is global — it applies to every computer you connect to — and a change takes effect on your next session, not the one already running.
System audio — the on/off switch
System audio turns the whole group on or off. Switch it on, and your computer's sound streams to your device along with the screen. Switch it off, and every other row in the AUDIO group disappears — channels, quality, sample rate, frame duration, silence detection — because none of them mean anything once there's no audio streaming to begin with.
If you don't need sound for what you're doing — a coding session, a quick file copy — turning this off is the single biggest bandwidth saving available in the whole group.
Channels — Mono or Stereo
This controls how wide the sound is.
- Stereo — richer, wider sound. Music and video sound the way they're meant to, with separation between left and right.
- Mono — everything collapsed to a single channel. It halves the bandwidth audio needs, and for calls, terminal bells, and general desktop use, there's nothing to actually lose — most of what you're listening to isn't stereo to begin with.
Audio quality
A slider from 16 to 256 kbps. Slide it up and audio sounds clearer and more detailed; slide it down and it uses less bandwidth. There's no single right answer here — it's a straight trade between sound and data, and where you land depends on what you're listening to and what your connection can spare.
Sample rate
Sample rate is how many times per second the sound is measured — the raw resolution audio is captured at, before quality settings compress it. A change here doesn't take effect immediately: it applies the next time audio restarts, not the instant you move the setting.
Frame duration
Frame duration controls how much audio gets packed into each transmission before it's sent.
- Shorter — lower audio latency, because less audio has to accumulate before each send. The cost is slightly more overhead, since there are more transmissions overall.
- Longer — more efficient use of the connection, since each transmission carries more audio for its overhead. The cost is a little more delay before you hear anything.
Silence detection
Silence detection stops Remio from sending audio while nothing is actually playing — no music, no voice, no notification sound. The moment sound starts again, it resumes instantly. This is close to a free bandwidth saving: it only engages during genuine silence, so there's nothing to hear that gets cut. Like sample rate, a change here takes effect on the next audio restart, not immediately.
What to pick for what you're doing
None of these are hard rules — they're a sensible starting point for each situation.
| Use case | Channels | Audio quality | Frame duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Music and video | Stereo | High end of the slider | Longer — nothing here is latency-sensitive, so let the connection work efficiently |
| Video calls | Mono | Middle of the slider | Shorter — keeps voices from lagging behind the picture |
| Coding and terminal | Mono | Low end of the slider | Longer — there's rarely anything worth spending bandwidth on |
| Metered cellular | Mono | Low end of the slider, with silence detection on | Longer — fewer, larger transmissions cost less overhead overall |
| Lowest possible audio delay | Mono | Middle of the slider | Shortest available |
Because it only stops sending during actual silence, there's essentially no downside to keeping it on for every use case above — the table leaves it off the list because it rarely changes the decision, not because it isn't worth using.
A different setting nearby: Capture system audio
The Advanced settings page also has a SCREEN CAPTURE group with its own audio-related row, Capture system audio. It's a separate control from everything on this page — it belongs to the screen capture pipeline, not the audio-streaming pipeline described here. See the full Advanced settings reference for what it does. One thing worth knowing before you flip it: toggling it causes a brief screen flicker, around 200 milliseconds, because the capture pipeline restarts to apply the change.
Audio settings questions
What does turning System audio off actually do?
It stops your computer's sound from streaming to your device at all, and it hides every other row in the AUDIO group — channels, quality, sample rate, frame duration, and silence detection — since none of them do anything without audio streaming in the first place. It's the fastest way to cut audio bandwidth to zero when you don't need sound.
Should I use Mono or Stereo?
Stereo for anything you actually want to sound good — music, video, media playback. Mono for calls, terminal sounds, and general desktop use, where there's no real stereo separation to lose, and it halves the bandwidth audio needs.
What does the Audio quality slider actually control?
It sets the bitrate audio streams at, from 16 to 256 kbps. Higher on the slider sounds clearer but uses more bandwidth; lower uses less bandwidth but sounds less detailed. Pick based on what you're listening to and what your connection can spare.
I changed Sample rate and nothing happened — is it broken?
No — Sample rate takes effect the next time audio restarts, not the instant you change it. Reconnecting your session (or letting audio restart naturally) applies the new value.
What's the trade-off with Frame duration?
Shorter frame duration lowers audio latency because less audio has to build up before each transmission, at the cost of slightly more overhead. Longer frame duration is more efficient — less overhead per transmission — but adds a little more delay before you hear anything.
Does Silence detection ever cut off sound I want to hear?
No. It only stops sending while there is genuinely nothing playing, and resumes the instant sound starts again. Because of that, there's essentially no downside to leaving it on, and it saves bandwidth whenever things go quiet — like Sample rate, the change applies on the next audio restart, not instantly.
Are these settings the same as Capture system audio?
No, they're different controls. This page's AUDIO group governs the sound Remio streams to you; Capture system audio lives in the separate SCREEN CAPTURE group on the same Advanced settings page and belongs to the screen-capture pipeline instead. Toggling it causes a brief screen flicker, around 200 milliseconds, because capture restarts to apply the change — see the Advanced settings reference for details.
Do I need to change this every time I switch devices or networks?
No. The setting is global and persists — set it once and it applies to every computer you connect to, on your next session. There's nothing to redo per device or per network.
Related guides
- Advanced settings reference — every setting on that screen, including Capture system audio under SCREEN CAPTURE.
- Audio routing — turning on system audio and where it plays back on your device.
- Audio troubleshooting — silent sessions, crackling, drift, and echo.
- Streaming quality — the video-side counterpart: bitrate, frame rate, and resolution trade-offs.
