No audio in browser and desktop client

[NeoSheng 0]

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a strange audio issue and would appreciate some help.

 

My setup:

Emby Server (self-hosted)

Playback in both web browser (Chrome) and Emby desktop client

Video: MKV, 1080p H.264

Audio: Spanish EAC3 stereo (128 kbps, 48 kHz)

Playback method: Direct Play (for both video and audio)

 

Problem:
There is no sound at all when playing this file in both the web interface and the desktop client. However other websites have sound (so system audio is working). Emby shows “Audio → Direct Play”.

It seems like EAC3 is being Direct Played instead of transcoded, but I cannot find any obvious transcoding options in my server settings.

 

Questions:

1. Should EAC3 be automatically transcoded to AAC for browser playback?

2.If audio transcoding is disabled, where can I enable it?

3.Could this indicate an ffmpeg or transcoding configuration issue?

 

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if logs are needed and I can provide them.

Thank you!

 

[Abobader 3475]

Hello NeoSheng,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[Luke 42113]

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[pwhodges 2015]

On 03/03/2026 at 08:56, NeoSheng said:

1. Should EAC3 be automatically transcoded to AAC for browser playback?

2.If audio transcoding is disabled, where can I enable it?

1) I would normally expect so, but it depends what the browser reports its capabilities as (for instance, my browser will play AV1 video, as I have installed a codec for it).  However, the Emby Windows client is very capable, so I would expect it to play this easily - it might be interesting for you to provide a log from the client after a failed attempt to play (the address of the client log directory is in the About display in the client settings).

2) This is a per-user setting, so check your user settings in the dashboard.

3) I wouldn't expect this to be an ffmpeg issue - after all, direct play isn't even using it.

Paul