diff --git a/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh b/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
index 6f56d0c4..f3d64a1f 100644
--- a/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
+++ b/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ AUDIO_DEVICE="${AUDIO_DEVICE:-hw:0,0}"
 AUDIO_CODEC="${AUDIO_CODEC:-pcm_s32le}"
 # Keep the audio path simple for the Pi Zero; default to raw PCM (no encoding) and honor overrides.
 AUDIO_RATE="${AUDIO_RATE:-48000}"
-AUDIO_CHANNELS="${AUDIO_CHANNELS:-1}"
+AUDIO_CHANNELS="${AUDIO_CHANNELS:-2}"
 # AUDIO_FORMAT is the ALSA format; FFmpeg expects lowercase.
 AUDIO_FORMAT="${AUDIO_FORMAT:-S32_LE}"
 AUDIO_FORMAT_FFMPEG="$(printf '%s' "${AUDIO_FORMAT}" | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z')"
diff --git a/pi/install_roverd.sh b/pi/install_roverd.sh
index 2142307b..a5e880aa 100755
--- a/pi/install_roverd.sh
+++ b/pi/install_roverd.sh
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ VIDEO_BITRATE=2000000
 AUDIO_ENABLE=0
 AUDIO_DEVICE=hw:0,0
 AUDIO_RATE=48000
-AUDIO_CHANNELS=1
+AUDIO_CHANNELS=2
 ENV
 chown roverd:roverd /var/lib/roverd/video.env
 chmod 0640 /var/lib/roverd/video.env
diff --git a/pi/roverd/config.go b/pi/roverd/config.go
index 9714e84f..f68fe8e3 100644
--- a/pi/roverd/config.go
+++ b/pi/roverd/config.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func LoadConfig(path string) (*Config, error) {
 			CaptureEnabled: false,
 			CaptureDevice:  "hw:0,0",
 			SampleRate:     48000,
-			Channels:       1,
+			Channels:       2,
 			Bitrate:        24000,
 			TTSEnabled:     false,
 			DefaultEngine:  "flite",
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ func validateAudioConfig(cfg *AudioConfig) {
 		cfg.SampleRate = 48000
 	}
 	if cfg.Channels <= 0 {
-		cfg.Channels = 1
+		cfg.Channels = 2
 	}
 	if cfg.Bitrate <= 0 {
 		cfg.Bitrate = 64000
diff --git a/pi/roverd/media_env.go b/pi/roverd/media_env.go
index 4931607c..b4018883 100644
--- a/pi/roverd/media_env.go
+++ b/pi/roverd/media_env.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func UpdatePublisherEnv(media MediaConfig, audio AudioConfig) error {
 		audio.SampleRate = 48000
 	}
 	if audio.Channels <= 0 {
-		audio.Channels = 1
+		audio.Channels = 2
 	}
 	fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "AUDIO_ENABLE=%d\n", boolToInt(audio.CaptureEnabled))
 	fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "AUDIO_DEVICE=%s\n", audioDevice)
diff --git a/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml b/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml
index 7cae8915..58ec554d 100644
--- a/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml
+++ b/pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ audio:
   captureEnabled: false
   captureDevice: hw:0,0
   sampleRate: 48000
-  channels: 1
+  channels: 2
   bitrate: 24000
   ttsEnabled: false
   defaultEngine: flite