diff --git a/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh b/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
index 5ee9dede..7137f858 100644
--- a/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
+++ b/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
@@ -19,18 +19,16 @@ VIDEO_HEIGHT="${VIDEO_HEIGHT:-1080}"
 VIDEO_FPS="${VIDEO_FPS:-30}"
 VIDEO_BITRATE="${VIDEO_BITRATE:-3000000}"
 AUDIO_ENABLE="${AUDIO_ENABLE:-0}"
-AUDIO_DEVICE="${AUDIO_DEVICE:-hw:0,0}"
-AUDIO_RATE="${AUDIO_RATE:-16000}"
+AUDIO_DEVICE="${AUDIO_DEVICE:-plughw:0,0}"
+AUDIO_RATE="${AUDIO_RATE:-48000}"
 AUDIO_CHANNELS="${AUDIO_CHANNELS:-2}"
 AUDIO_BITRATE="${AUDIO_BITRATE:-64000}"
-AUDIO_FORMAT="${AUDIO_FORMAT:-s32}"
 
-# Normalize device/rate aggressively to reduce CPU and match the HAT on card0
-AUDIO_DEVICE="hw:0,0"
-AUDIO_RATE=16000
+# Normalize device/rate to match the HAT capture (2ch/48k S32_LE); plughw handles any minor conversions.
+AUDIO_DEVICE="plughw:0,0"
+AUDIO_RATE=48000
 AUDIO_CHANNELS=2
 AUDIO_BITRATE=64000
-AUDIO_FORMAT="s32"
 # Flip the camera 180deg (supported by rpicam-vid/libcamera-vid)
 FLIP_ARGS=(--rotation 180)
 
@@ -87,10 +85,9 @@ run_pipeline() {
 				-thread_queue_size 1024 \
 				-ac "${AUDIO_CHANNELS}" \
 				-ar "${AUDIO_RATE}" \
-				-sample_fmt "${AUDIO_FORMAT}" \
 				-i "${AUDIO_DEVICE}" \
 				-c:v copy \
-				-c:a pcm_s32le \
+				-c:a pcm_s16le \
 				-ac "${AUDIO_CHANNELS}" \
 				-ar "${AUDIO_RATE}" \
 				-flush_packets 1 \
diff --git a/pi/install_roverd.sh b/pi/install_roverd.sh
index 72e3fb62..c738df56 100755
--- a/pi/install_roverd.sh
+++ b/pi/install_roverd.sh
@@ -205,8 +205,8 @@ VIDEO_HEIGHT=720
 VIDEO_FPS=30
 VIDEO_BITRATE=3000000
 AUDIO_ENABLE=1
-AUDIO_DEVICE=hw:0,0
-AUDIO_RATE=16000
+AUDIO_DEVICE=plughw:0,0
+AUDIO_RATE=48000
 AUDIO_CHANNELS=2
 AUDIO_BITRATE=64000
 ENV
diff --git a/pi/roverd/config.go b/pi/roverd/config.go
index e84ad6ff..1a35ebb2 100644
--- a/pi/roverd/config.go
+++ b/pi/roverd/config.go
@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@ func LoadConfig(path string) (*Config, error) {
 		},
 		Audio: AudioConfig{
 			CaptureEnabled: true,
-			CaptureDevice:  "hw:0,0",
-			SampleRate:     16000,
+			CaptureDevice:  "plughw:0,0",
+			SampleRate:     48000,
 			Channels:       2,
 			Bitrate:        64000,
 			TTSEnabled:     false,
diff --git a/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml b/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml
index 620e4c09..024eba98 100644
--- a/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml
+++ b/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ cameraServo:
   allowRawPulse: false
 audio:
   captureEnabled: true
-  captureDevice: hw:0,0
-  sampleRate: 16000
+  captureDevice: plughw:0,0
+  sampleRate: 48000
   channels: 2
   bitrate: 64000
   ttsEnabled: false