Sndio's OSS support (i.e. local playback/recording support) is highly experimental. If you run into problems please file a bug at https://github.com/t6/sndio or send an email to t+sndio@tobik.me. Enable the sndiod server with: sysrc sndiod_enable=YES service sndiod start Please note that by default sndiod is configured with a monitoring sub-device i.e. a device through which you can record everything that plays through sndiod: aucat -f snd/0.monitor -o recording.wav Make sure you override sndiod_flags if this is not wanted: sysrc sndiod_flags="" If you want clients to auto-play to your remote sndio server set sndiod_flags accordingly: sysrc sndiod_flags="-f snd@remotehost/0" Alternatively you can always set the AUDIODEVICE environment variable so clients know where to stream to: export AUDIODEVICE=snd@remotehost/0 There is little sndio support in the FreeBSD ports tree right now. If your favourite port is missing support please take a look at the fork at https://github.com/t6/freebsd-ports-sndio and https://github.com/t6/freebsd-ports-sndio/wiki/Status which contains patches that enable sndio support in various ports. audio/pulseaudio-module-sndio is a PulseAudio module that allows you to play to your sndio server. This is useful for ports that have PulseAudio support but no direct sndio support.