<![CDATA[Audio support for Windows VM on XCP-ng]]>Hello,

I have a project where I need to replace a physical Windows PC with a VM running on XCP-ng.

Current use case:

  • The physical PC continuously broadcasts audio through a 3.5 mm jack output connected to external speakers/amplifier.
  • I want to migrate this workload to a Windows VM hosted on XCP-ng.
  • The VM will mainly be used for continuous audio playback.

I would like to know the best and most stable solution regarding audio support on XCP-ng.

Questions:

  1. Does XCP-ng officially support audio devices for Windows VMs?
  2. Is USB sound card passthrough the recommended approach?
  3. Has anyone successfully used a USB audio adapter with Windows 11 VM on XCP-ng for continuous audio output?
  4. Are there recommended compatible USB sound cards/chipsets?
  5. Is PCI passthrough of an internal sound card supported/reliable on XCP-ng?
  6. Any known stability issues for 24/7 audio playback?
  7. Would Windows 11 be better than Windows Server for this use case?

Environment:

  • Hypervisor: XCP-ng
  • Guest OS planned: Windows 11
  • Audio output required: physical 3.5 mm jack
  • Goal: replace a physical audio broadcasting PC

Thank you for your feedback and recommendations.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/12226/audio-support-for-windows-vm-on-xcp-ngRSS for NodeMon, 18 May 2026 14:04:16 GMTMon, 18 May 2026 09:48:03 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Audio support for Windows VM on XCP-ng on Mon, 18 May 2026 11:32:04 GMT]]>@taghjichte From my testing you would need to passthought a device for audio. If need for professional audio work then yes a pci passthough would be the perferred option. With that said.

@dinhngtu As for sound I have never looked much into it but the only vm I heard make sound is from Fedora even while booted from install iso. Kubuntu or windows with xen drivers installed no audio. (find for me at the moment)

While audio seems to work in Fedora from iso it seems to be limited to left channel. Local system is connected to 5.1 sound.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/105530https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/105530Mon, 18 May 2026 11:32:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Audio support for Windows VM on XCP-ng on Mon, 18 May 2026 11:43:45 GMT]]>@taghjichte A PCI card should be more reliable than an USB card in most cases. Do you have realtime/low latency audio requirements or is it simply for normal playback (music etc)? Virtualization will work fine for typical playback but for low latency, you might want some specific tuning. Also, you might want to test DPC latencies with the Xen drivers when there's I/O activity.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/105529https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/105529Mon, 18 May 2026 11:43:45 GMT