# Can't have surround output in FMOD Studio on Linux **URL:** \ **Category:** FMOD Studio\ **Created:** [September 19, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107 "2024-09-19T06:56:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gahel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@gahel](https://qa.fmod.com/u/gahel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107/1 "2024-09-19T06:56:59Z")
Hi, I’ve been working with a surround sound system and can’t output more than stereo with FMOD Studio on Ubuntu 24.04. I set the the platform as surround in the `build` tab of the `preferences` window and I can see the surround panner. However I can see that fmod only has two output ports with both pulseaudio and ALSA. Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Connor\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/connor_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Connor\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Connor_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 6:32am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107/2 "2024-09-20T06:32:58Z")
Hi, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. What version of FMOD Studio are you using? ---
**Author:** ![gahel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@gahel](https://qa.fmod.com/u/gahel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 8:28am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107/3 "2024-09-20T08:28:30Z")
Hi, I’ve been testing with both 2.02.21 and 2.02.23 with no success ---
**Author:** ![Connor\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/connor_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Connor\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Connor_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107/4 "2024-09-24T01:36:44Z")
Unfortunately, I was not able to reproduce the issue. Am I able to get a screenshot of the available outputs for both PulseAudio and ALSA? ---
**Author:** ![gahel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@gahel](https://qa.fmod.com/u/gahel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107/5 "2024-12-14T01:43:34Z")
Hi again, sorry for the long delay I didn’t have the setup for a while. It is working indeed, I was not understanding how to do it. For anyone that encounters the same issue, FMOD uses pulseaudio configuration and my sound cards don’t have a surround configuration. It would probably work by making one but I went for a different solution. 1. Install `pactl` if you don’t have it already. 2. Create a virtual surround sink: `pactl load-module module-null-sink object.linger=1 media.class=Audio/Sink sink_name=virtual-surround-sink node.description='Virtual\ Surround' channel_map=front-left,front-right,front-center,lfe,side-left,side-right,rear-left,rear-right` You should see it in the sound settings of your system like so: ![Screenshot from 2024-12-13 19-00-33](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/fmod/original/2X/e/eca563889f5dd1bd9c49ed38df226a38945b652f.png) 1. connect the outputs to your soundcard, for example with Helvum 2. In FMOD project’s settings, use the corresponding channel map 3. Set the surround speaker mode to 7.1 in the project platform This solution does not persist after reboot, but you can easily launch a script to create the virtual sink on startup. You can automatically connect the outputs to your soundcard with `pw-link` if you’re using pipewire. ---
**Author:** ![Connor\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/connor_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Connor\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Connor_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 5:46am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/cant-have-surround-output-in-fmod-studio-on-linux/22107/6 "2024-12-17T05:46:17Z")
Thank you for sharing such a detailed solution!