Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

Audio policy settings

The Audio section includes policy settings that allow user devices to send and receive audio in sessions without reducing performance.

Adaptive Audio

This setting enables or disables adaptive audio. When you enable this policy, the audio quality settings are adjusted dynamically to provide the best user experience. This setting applies to both single-session OS and multi-session OS sessions of VDAs using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2109 or later.

When this setting is prohibited, the audio quality policy is applied. For more information see, Audio quality.

By default, the adaptive audio policy is enabled.

Audio over UDP real-time transport

This setting allows or prevents the transmission and receipt of audio between the VDA and user device over RTP using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). When this setting is disabled, audio is sent and received over TCP.

By default, audio over UDP is allowed.

Audio Plug N Play

This setting allows or prevents the use of multiple audio devices to record and play sound.

By default, the use of multiple audio devices is allowed.

This setting applies only to Windows Multi-session OS machines.

Audio quality

This setting specifies the quality level of sound received in user sessions.

By default, sound quality is set to High - high definition audio.

To control sound quality, choose one of the following options:

  • Select Low - for low speed connections for low-bandwidth connections. Sounds sent to the user device are compressed up to 16 Kbps. This compression results in a significant reduction in the quality of the sound. But also allows reasonable performance for a low-bandwidth connection.

  • Select Medium - optimized for speech to deliver Voice over Internet Protocol applications. This setting delivers media applications in challenging network connections with lines less than 512 Kbps, or significant congestion and packet loss. This codec offers fast encode time, making it ideal for use with softphones and Unified Communications applications when you require server-side media processing.

    Audio sent to the user device is compressed up to 64 Kbps. This compression results in a moderate reduction in the quality of the audio played on the user device while providing low latency and consuming low bandwidth. If Voice over Internet Protocol quality is unsatisfactory, ensure that the Audio over UDP Real-time Transport policy setting is set to Allowed.

    Now, Real-time Transport (RTP) over UDP is only supported when this audio quality is selected. Use this audio quality even for delivering media applications for challenging network connections like low (fewer than 512 Kbps) lines. Also, when there is congestion and packet loss in the network.

  • Select High - high definition audio for connections where bandwidth is plentiful and sound quality is important. Clients can play sound at its native rate. Sounds are compressed at a high quality level maintaining up to CD quality, and using up to 112 Kbps of bandwidth. Transmitting this amount of data can result in increased CPU usage and network congestion.

Bandwidth is consumed only while audio is recording or playing. If both occur at the same time, the bandwidth consumption doubles.

To specify the maximum amount of bandwidth, configure the Audio redirection bandwidth limit or the Audio redirection bandwidth limit percent settings.

Client audio redirection

This setting specifies whether applications hosted on the server can play sounds through a sound device installed on the user device. This setting also specifies whether users can record audio input.

By default, audio redirection is allowed.

After allowing this setting, you can limit the bandwidth consumed by playing or recording audio. Limiting the amount of bandwidth consumed by audio can improve application performance but might also degrade audio quality. Bandwidth is consumed only while audio is recording or playing. If both occur at the same time, the bandwidth consumption doubles. To specify the maximum amount of bandwidth, configure the Audio redirection bandwidth limit or the Audio redirection bandwidth limit percent settings.

On Windows Multi-session OS machines, ensure that the Audio Plug N Play setting is enabled to support multiple audio devices.

Important: Prohibiting Client audio redirection disables all HDX audio functionality.

Client microphone redirection

This setting enables or disables client microphone redirection. When enabled, users can use microphones to record audio input in a session.

By default, microphone redirection is allowed.

For security, users are alerted when untrusted servers by their devices try to access microphones. Users can choose to accept or not accept access. Users can disable the alert on Citrix Workspace app.

On Windows Multi-session OS machines, ensure that the Audio Plug N Play setting is Enabled to support multiple audio devices.

If the Client audio redirection setting is disabled on the user device, this rule has no effect.

Audio policy settings