fix(android): give the renderer its own USB connection, and add a real-world self test

**The bug.** The renderer was handed `HidUsbLink`'s file descriptor. That link's
own comment states the hazard exactly — "only one thread may drive a
connection's UsbRequests (requestWait() returns ANY completed request; a second
waiter would steal the reader's completions)" — and it is just as true of the
usbfs reap underneath: the isochronous ring and the HID reader were reaping each
other's URB completions. The standalone harness works because it owns its
descriptor by construction, which is precisely why it could never have caught
this. `DsCapture` now opens a dedicated connection via `openAuxConnection()` and
closes it only after the render thread is joined.

**The test.** Nothing exercised the CLIENT path without a host, so the two things
most likely to be wrong were invisible: whether the descriptor handed over is
exclusively ours, and whether the claim succeeds on this kernel. Neither is
unit-testable and a harness proves neither.

`nativePadAudioSelfTest` drives the voice coils with a tone through the real
path — the same aux connection, claim, sink and write loop the renderer uses —
and is triggered by `adb shell setprop debug.punktfunk.pad_audio_selftest 3`,
matching this repo's existing debug.punktfunk.* convention. It runs INSTEAD of
the renderer for that capture, never alongside it: two engines on one descriptor
is the fault being tested for, and I nearly shipped it into the test itself.

Underruns are deliberately not a failure condition — that is producer pacing.
The pass condition is data reaching the bus.

.gitea/workflows/android-promote.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+# Move a versionCode that is ALREADY on Google Play between tracks — no rebuild.
+#
+# Why this is separate from android.yml: promotion must not rebuild. A rebuild produces a fresh
+# versionCode (github.run_number) from possibly-newer sources, so it ships something nobody tested;
+# promoting assigns the byte-identical artifact the testers already ran. Bolting this onto
+# android.yml would mean an `if:` on all ten of its build steps.
+#
+# What it is for:
+#   * promote a tested build up a track (alpha -> production)
+#   * roll production back by re-pointing it at an older versionCode (to_track=production,
+#     version_code=<the good one>, from_track blank)
+#   * halt a rollout (status=halted)
+#
+# Defaults are deliberately the safe ones: dry_run starts TRUE, so a mis-typed versionCode
+# validates and deletes the edit instead of publishing. Flip it to false only when the dry run
+# printed what you meant.
+name: android-promote
+
+# Two concurrent promotions would race on the same Play edit; the loser fails with a stale-edit
+# error. One at a time, and never cancel one mid-flight — a half-applied track change is worse
+# than a queued one.
+concurrency:
+  group: android-promote
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version_code:
+        description: 'versionCode already on Play (e.g. 10816)'
+        required: true
+      to_track:
+        description: 'destination track'
+        required: true
+        default: 'production'
+      from_track:
+        description: 'track to verify it is on, then clear (blank = touch nothing else)'
+        required: false
+        default: 'alpha'
+      notes_tag:
+        description: "tag whose docs/releases/whatsnew/<tag>.txt to attach, e.g. v0.23.0 (blank = none)"
+        required: false
+        default: ''
+      status:
+        description: 'completed (100%) | inProgress (needs user_fraction) | halted | draft'
+        required: true
+        default: 'completed'
+      user_fraction:
+        description: 'staged rollout fraction for inProgress, e.g. 0.2 (blank otherwise)'
+        required: false
+        default: ''
+      dry_run:
+        description: 'validate only, publish nothing'
+        required: true
+        default: 'true'
+
+jobs:
+  promote:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    # Same image as android.yml purely for python3 + openssl (play-upload.py's only deps); it is
+    # already warm on the runner. Nothing here builds.
+    container:
+      image: 192.168.1.58:5010/punktfunk-android-ci:latest
+    timeout-minutes: 15
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Promote
+        env:
+          SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON: ${{ secrets.SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON }}
+          VERSION_CODE: ${{ inputs.version_code }}
+          TO_TRACK: ${{ inputs.to_track }}
+          FROM_TRACK: ${{ inputs.from_track }}
+          NOTES_TAG: ${{ inputs.notes_tag }}
+          STATUS: ${{ inputs.status }}
+          USER_FRACTION: ${{ inputs.user_fraction }}
+          DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
+        run: |
+          set -- --package io.unom.punktfunk \
+                 --promote "$VERSION_CODE" \
+                 --track "$TO_TRACK" --status "$STATUS"
+          # Explicit `if`, not `[ ] && …`: under `sh -e` a false AND-OR list that ends up LAST in
+          # the script aborts the step, and these get reordered.
+          if [ -n "$FROM_TRACK" ]; then set -- "$@" --promote-from "$FROM_TRACK"; fi
+          if [ -n "$USER_FRACTION" ]; then set -- "$@" --user-fraction "$USER_FRACTION"; fi
+          if [ -n "$NOTES_TAG" ]; then
+            NOTES="docs/releases/whatsnew/${NOTES_TAG}.txt"
+            # Fail loudly rather than silently publishing with the PREVIOUS release's text still
+            # showing on the store listing.
+            [ -f "$NOTES" ] || { echo "ERROR: no such notes file: $NOTES"; exit 1; }
+            set -- "$@" --release-notes-file "$NOTES"
+          fi
+          if [ "$DRY_RUN" = "true" ]; then set -- "$@" --no-commit; fi
+          echo "promoting versionCode=$VERSION_CODE -> $TO_TRACK (dry_run=$DRY_RUN)"
+          python3 clients/android/ci/play-upload.py "$@"

.gitea/workflows/android.yml

@@ -34,9 +34,10 @@ on:
       - 'rust-toolchain.toml'
       - 'scripts/ci/**'
       - '.gitea/workflows/android.yml'
-    # Single project version: a `vX.Y.Z` tag is THE release (uploads to Play's `alpha` closed
-    # track for manual promotion + attaches the .aab/.apk to the unified Gitea Release). A main
-    # push is canary (Play `internal`).
+    # Single project version: a `vX.Y.Z` tag is THE release (publishes to Play `production` at
+    # 100% + attaches the .aab/.apk to the unified Gitea Release). A main push is canary
+    # (Play `internal`). Production access was granted 2026-08-01; before that a tag could only
+    # reach `alpha` and someone had to promote it by hand in the Console.
     tags: ['v*']
   pull_request:
     paths:
@@ -75,6 +76,56 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      # FIRST, because it costs a second and everything after it costs ten minutes.
+      #
+      # A release tag MUST carry its own Play "What's new". If the file is absent Play does not
+      # show nothing — it carries the PREVIOUS release's text onto this version, so production
+      # users read notes for a build they are not getting. That is the same defect the v0.22.3
+      # notes shipped (see docs/releases/README.md), and it is invisible until someone reads the
+      # store listing. Failing here also means a missing file cannot leave a half-published
+      # release: nothing is built, nothing is attached to the Gitea release, nothing reaches Play.
+      #
+      # Canary is exempt on purpose: it has no curated notes, and Play reusing text for internal
+      # testers costs nothing.
+      - name: Play release notes gate (tags only)
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        run: |
+          NOTES="docs/releases/whatsnew/${GITHUB_REF_NAME}.txt"
+          if [ ! -f "$NOTES" ]; then
+            echo "ERROR: $NOTES does not exist."
+            echo "A production release needs its own Play 'What's new' (<=500 chars, written for"
+            echo "phone/TV users). Without it Play reuses the previous release's text."
+            echo "See docs/releases/README.md; copy docs/releases/whatsnew/TEMPLATE.txt."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          # A verbatim copy of another release's file is the same bug wearing a hat: the store
+          # listing still describes the wrong build. Cheap to check, and only ever trips on an
+          # actual copy-paste that was never edited.
+          for other in docs/releases/whatsnew/*.txt; do
+            if [ "$other" != "$NOTES" ] && [ "$other" != "docs/releases/whatsnew/TEMPLATE.txt" ]; then
+              if cmp -s "$NOTES" "$other"; then
+                echo "ERROR: $NOTES is byte-identical to $other."
+                echo "Write notes describing THIS release, not the one before it."
+                exit 1
+              fi
+            fi
+          done
+          # Length is checked here as well as in play-upload.py. Not redundant: the uploader is
+          # the last line of defence (and the only one android-promote.yml gets), but it runs at
+          # step 9 — this catches an unedited TEMPLATE copy at step 1 instead of after the build.
+          # Must count CHARACTERS, not bytes: Play's cap is 500 chars and `•` is 3 bytes in UTF-8,
+          # so `wc -c` would reject a file that is comfortably legal.
+          python3 - "$NOTES" <<'PY'
+          import sys
+          path = sys.argv[1]
+          text = open(path, encoding="utf-8").read().strip()
+          if not text:
+              sys.exit(f"ERROR: {path} is empty.")
+          if len(text) > 500:
+              sys.exit(f"ERROR: {path} is {len(text)} chars; Play allows 500. Trim it.")
+          print(f"Play release notes OK: {path} ({len(text)}/500 chars)")
+          PY
+
       # Everything below the checkout used to be four download steps (JDK, SDK,
       # NDK+CMake, cargo-ndk — the flakiest, heaviest part of the job); it is all baked
       # into the image now. This guard only re-asserts the Android targets so a
@@ -122,11 +173,20 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           eval "$(bash scripts/ci/pf-version.sh)"   # -> PF_BASE (one minor ahead of the latest stable tag)
           case "$GITHUB_REF" in
-            refs/tags/v*) VN="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"; TRACK="alpha" ;;   # alpha = built-in closed testing
+            refs/tags/v*) VN="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"; TRACK="production" ;;
             *)            VN="${PF_BASE}-ci${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER}"; TRACK="internal" ;;
           esac
           echo "VERSION_NAME=$VN" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
           echo "PLAY_TRACK=$TRACK" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          # Play's own "What's new" (500-char cap, its own file — the vX.Y.Z.md body is ~34 KB).
+          # On a tag the gate step above already proved this exists, so the else branch is only
+          # ever the canary path. See docs/releases/README.md.
+          NOTES="docs/releases/whatsnew/${GITHUB_REF_NAME}.txt"
+          if [ -f "$NOTES" ]; then
+            echo "PLAY_NOTES=$NOTES" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          else
+            echo "no Play release notes at $NOTES (canary — Play keeps the previous text)"
+          fi
           echo "android version $VN -> Play track '$TRACK'"
 
       - name: Build Release (signed AAB + universal APK)
@@ -199,15 +259,21 @@ jobs:
       # Direct Publishing-API upload instead of r0adkll/upload-google-play — that action hides the
       # real API error behind "Unknown error occurred."; this prints it. stdlib + openssl only (no
       # pip), reuses SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON (raw JSON or base64), auto-handles changesNotSentForReview.
-      # Track: canary main -> `internal`; a vX.Y.Z release -> `alpha` (closed testing) for manual
-      # promotion to production in the Play console.
+      # Track: canary main -> `internal`; a vX.Y.Z release -> `production` at 100% (`completed`).
+      #
+      # A tag therefore ships to real users with no further click. Two things keep that honest:
+      # the tag is only pushed once every platform is green, and Play reviews each production
+      # release before it reaches anyone. To ramp instead of going straight to 100%, this is
+      # `--status inProgress --user-fraction 0.2`; to undo a bad one, halt or roll back from the
+      # Console (or `android-promote.yml`, which can re-point production at an older versionCode).
       - name: Upload to Google Play
         if: github.event_name == 'push' && (github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v'))
         env:
           SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON: ${{ secrets.SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON }}
         run: |
           echo "uploading to Play track '$PLAY_TRACK'"
-          python3 clients/android/ci/play-upload.py \
-            --package io.unom.punktfunk \
-            --aab clients/android/app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab \
-            --track "$PLAY_TRACK" --status completed
+          set -- --package io.unom.punktfunk \
+                 --aab clients/android/app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab \
+                 --track "$PLAY_TRACK" --status completed
+          if [ -n "${PLAY_NOTES:-}" ]; then set -- "$@" --release-notes-file "$PLAY_NOTES"; fi
+          python3 clients/android/ci/play-upload.py "$@"

Cargo.lock

@@ -2893,6 +2893,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "ureq",
  "wasapi",
  "windows 0.62.2 (git+https://github.com/microsoft/windows-rs?rev=acb5a1a7441033d9312b16842af02eb0c2b403dc)",
+ "winreg",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3346,6 +3347,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "opus",
  "punktfunk-core",
  "tracing",
+ "uac-host",
+ "usbfs-iso",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4985,6 +4988,14 @@ version = "1.20.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b6f5e870be6c3b371b77fe0ee0bafb859fa4964b4404c27de1d380043c4dda20"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "uac-host"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "git+https://github.com/unom-io/usbfs-iso?rev=fb01ea69c59e3bf08b3918f53a159287b5187ed2#fb01ea69c59e3bf08b3918f53a159287b5187ed2"
+dependencies = [
+ "usbfs-iso",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "uds_windows"
 version = "1.2.1"
@@ -5064,6 +5075,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "usbfs-iso"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "git+https://github.com/unom-io/usbfs-iso?rev=fb01ea69c59e3bf08b3918f53a159287b5187ed2#fb01ea69c59e3bf08b3918f53a159287b5187ed2"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "usbip-sim"
 version = "0.8.0"

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/HostConnect.kt

@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ suspend fun connectToHost(
             // The host's approval-list / trust-store label for this device — the same
             // Build.MODEL convention the pairing dialogs use for nativePair.
             Build.MODEL ?: "Android",
+            // Tier-A pad audio: ask for the 0xD1 plane only when a setting would render it, so a
+            // user with it off does not make the host provision endpoints it will never feed.
+            settings.padHaptics || settings.padSpeaker,
         )
     }
 }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/Settings.kt

@@ -145,6 +145,26 @@ data class Settings(
      */
     val dsCapture: Boolean = true,
 
+    /**
+     * Render the host's DualSense **voice-coil haptics** on a captured USB pad (tier A).
+     *
+     * The pad's own 4-channel audio device carries them, driven directly over usbfs — Android's
+     * audio framework denylists that device by VID/PID, so there is no supported route to it. When
+     * this is on and the pad is captured, wire rumble for that pad is SUPPRESSED rather than mixed:
+     * the DualSense's firmware treats audio haptics and classic rumble as mutually exclusive, so
+     * the arbitration is a selection. Off, or on an uncaptured/Bluetooth pad, the pad stays on
+     * ordinary rumble (tier C), which on this client already drives the same actuators.
+     */
+    val padHaptics: Boolean = true,
+
+    /**
+     * Render the pad's **built-in speaker** on a captured USB pad. Independent of [padHaptics] —
+     * the host sends the two as separate streams and either can play alone. Off by default: the
+     * speaker is a small, easily-startling loudspeaker in the user's hands, and unlike haptics it
+     * duplicates audio they are already hearing.
+     */
+    val padSpeaker: Boolean = false,
+
     /**
      * How a physical mouse drives the host — the cross-client mouse model (see [MouseMode]).
      * [MouseMode.DESKTOP] (default here) points absolutely; [MouseMode.CAPTURE] locks the pointer
@@ -243,6 +263,8 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
         rumbleOnPhone = prefs.getBoolean(K_RUMBLE_ON_PHONE, false),
         sc2Capture = prefs.getBoolean(K_SC2_CAPTURE, true),
         dsCapture = prefs.getBoolean(K_DS_CAPTURE, true),
+        padHaptics = prefs.getBoolean(K_PAD_HAPTICS, true),
+        padSpeaker = prefs.getBoolean(K_PAD_SPEAKER, false),
         mouseMode = prefs.getString(K_MOUSE_MODE, null)
             ?.let { name -> MouseMode.entries.firstOrNull { it.storedName == name } }
             // Migration: the pre-enum Boolean "pointer_capture" (true = lock the pointer). Its
@@ -277,6 +299,8 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
             .putBoolean(K_RUMBLE_ON_PHONE, s.rumbleOnPhone)
             .putBoolean(K_SC2_CAPTURE, s.sc2Capture)
             .putBoolean(K_DS_CAPTURE, s.dsCapture)
+            .putBoolean(K_PAD_HAPTICS, s.padHaptics)
+            .putBoolean(K_PAD_SPEAKER, s.padSpeaker)
             .putString(K_MOUSE_MODE, s.mouseMode.storedName)
             .putBoolean(K_INVERT_SCROLL, s.invertScroll)
             .apply()
@@ -321,6 +345,8 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
         const val K_RUMBLE_ON_PHONE = "rumble_on_phone"
         const val K_SC2_CAPTURE = "sc2_capture"
         const val K_DS_CAPTURE = "ds_capture"
+        const val K_PAD_HAPTICS = "pad_haptics"
+        const val K_PAD_SPEAKER = "pad_speaker"
         const val K_MOUSE_MODE = "mouse_mode"
 
         /** Legacy Boolean the [K_MOUSE_MODE] enum replaced — read once for migration, never written. */

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/StreamScreen.kt

@@ -496,6 +496,28 @@ fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onDisconnect: () -> Unit) {
         var dsUsbReceiver: BroadcastReceiver? = null
         if (ds != null) {
             feedback.sink = ds
+            // Tier-A pad audio: render the host's 0xD1 streams on the pad's own 4-channel USB
+            // audio device. Bound here rather than inside DsCapture because the session handle
+            // lives at this layer; DsCapture decides WHEN (it knows the wire index and the link
+            // lifetime), this decides WHETHER.
+            if (initialSettings.padHaptics || initialSettings.padSpeaker) {
+                ds.padAudio = object : DsCapture.PadAudioHook {
+                    override fun start(pad: Int, fd: Int) {
+                        val ok = NativeBridge.nativeStartPadAudio(
+                            handle,
+                            pad,
+                            fd,
+                            initialSettings.padHaptics,
+                            initialSettings.padSpeaker,
+                        )
+                        Log.i("punktfunk", "pad audio on pad $pad: ${if (ok) "started" else "unavailable"}")
+                    }
+
+                    // Returns only once the render thread is joined — DsCapture calls this before
+                    // closing the connection whose descriptor that thread borrows.
+                    override fun stop(pad: Int) = NativeBridge.nativeStopPadAudio(handle, pad)
+                }
+            }
             val usbManager = context.getSystemService(Context.USB_SERVICE) as UsbManager
             val usbDev = ds.findUsbDevice()
             when {

clients/android/ci/play-upload.py

@@ -6,13 +6,23 @@ Why hand-rolled: stdlib + `openssl` only (no pip on the runner), and it prints G
 error at the stage it fails instead of a catch-all. Reuses the SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON secret and
 tolerates it being raw JSON *or* base64-encoded JSON.
 
-Usage:
+Usage (upload a new build):
   SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON='<raw-or-base64 SA key>' \
     python3 play-upload.py --package io.unom.punktfunk \
       --aab path/to/app-release.aab --track internal --status completed [--no-commit]
 
---no-commit: do insert -> upload -> track-update -> validate, then delete the edit (publishes
-nothing). Use it to dry-run the credentials/AAB without touching the live track.
+Usage (promote a build that is already on Play, no rebuild):
+  python3 play-upload.py --package io.unom.punktfunk \
+      --promote 10816 --promote-from alpha --track production
+
+Promotion assigns an EXISTING versionCode to another track, so what ships to production is the
+byte-identical artifact the testers ran — rebuilding would burn a fresh versionCode and ship
+something nobody has tested. --promote-from additionally asserts the code really is on that track
+(catches a typo'd versionCode before it reaches production) and empties it in the SAME edit, so
+the move is atomic: testers are never left pinned to a code that production also serves.
+
+--no-commit: do insert -> upload/assign -> track-update -> validate, then delete the edit
+(publishes nothing). Use it to dry-run the credentials/AAB/notes without touching the live track.
 """
 import argparse, base64, json, os, subprocess, sys, tempfile, time
 import urllib.request, urllib.parse, urllib.error
@@ -104,18 +114,79 @@ def access_token(sa) -> str:
     return tok["access_token"]
 
 
+# Play's "What's new" is capped at 500 characters per language. The cap lives in the Console
+# (the REST reference does not state it) and the API rejects longer text at commit — i.e. AFTER
+# the AAB has uploaded — so check it up front and print the actual count.
+NOTES_MAX = 500
+
+
+def load_release_notes(path, language):
+    with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        text = f.read().strip()
+    if not text:
+        sys.exit(f"ERROR: release-notes file is empty: {path}")
+    if len(text) > NOTES_MAX:
+        sys.exit(f"ERROR: release notes are {len(text)} chars, Play allows {NOTES_MAX}: {path}")
+    print(f"release notes: {len(text)}/{NOTES_MAX} chars ({language})")
+    return [{"language": language, "text": text}]
+
+
+def put_track(app, edit, tok, track, version_codes, status, user_fraction=None, notes=None):
+    """PUT one track. An empty version_codes list clears the track (what promotion does to the
+    track it promoted OUT of)."""
+    release = {"status": status, "versionCodes": [str(v) for v in version_codes]}
+    if user_fraction is not None:
+        release["userFraction"] = user_fraction
+    if notes:
+        release["releaseNotes"] = notes
+    # Clearing a track means "no active releases", not "an empty release".
+    body = {"track": track, "releases": [release] if version_codes else []}
+    call("PUT", f"{app}/edits/{edit}/tracks/{track}", token=tok,
+         data=json.dumps(body).encode(), content_type="application/json")
+
+
+def assert_on_track(app, edit, tok, track, vc):
+    """Fail before anything is written if --promote names a versionCode that is not actually on
+    the track we claim to be promoting out of."""
+    got = call("GET", f"{app}/edits/{edit}/tracks/{track}", token=tok)
+    live = [c for r in got.get("releases", []) for c in r.get("versionCodes", [])]
+    if str(vc) not in live:
+        sys.exit(f"ERROR: versionCode {vc} is not on track '{track}' (it has: {live or 'nothing'})")
+    print(f"verified versionCode={vc} is live on '{track}'")
+
+
 def main():
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     ap.add_argument("--package", required=True)
-    ap.add_argument("--aab", required=True)
+    ap.add_argument("--aab", help="upload this bundle (mutually exclusive with --promote)")
+    ap.add_argument("--promote", type=int, metavar="VERSIONCODE",
+                    help="assign an already-uploaded versionCode instead of uploading")
+    ap.add_argument("--promote-from", metavar="TRACK",
+                    help="with --promote: assert the code is on TRACK, then clear TRACK")
     ap.add_argument("--track", default="internal")
     ap.add_argument("--status", default="completed")
+    ap.add_argument("--user-fraction", type=float,
+                    help="staged rollout fraction, 0<f<1; required by --status inProgress")
+    ap.add_argument("--release-notes-file", help="Play 'What's new' text (<=500 chars)")
+    ap.add_argument("--release-notes-language", default="en-US")
     ap.add_argument("--no-commit", action="store_true")
     a = ap.parse_args()
 
-    if not os.path.isfile(a.aab):
+    if bool(a.aab) == bool(a.promote):
+        sys.exit("ERROR: pass exactly one of --aab (upload) or --promote (assign an existing code)")
+    if a.promote_from and not a.promote:
+        sys.exit("ERROR: --promote-from only applies to --promote")
+    # inProgress without a fraction is an API error; halted/completed with one is also rejected.
+    if a.status == "inProgress" and a.user_fraction is None:
+        sys.exit("ERROR: --status inProgress requires --user-fraction")
+    if a.user_fraction is not None and not (0 < a.user_fraction < 1):
+        sys.exit(f"ERROR: --user-fraction must be strictly between 0 and 1 (got {a.user_fraction})")
+    if a.aab and not os.path.isfile(a.aab):
         sys.exit(f"ERROR: AAB not found: {a.aab}")
 
+    notes = load_release_notes(a.release_notes_file, a.release_notes_language) \
+        if a.release_notes_file else None
+
     sa = load_sa()
     tok = access_token(sa)
     print(f"authenticated as {sa['client_email']} (project {sa.get('project_id')})")
@@ -123,17 +194,25 @@ def main():
 
     try:
         edit = call("POST", f"{app}/edits", token=tok)["id"]
-        with open(a.aab, "rb") as f:
-            blob = f.read()
-        print(f"uploading {a.aab} ({len(blob)} bytes) ...")
-        vc = call("POST", f"{UPLOAD}/{a.package}/edits/{edit}/bundles?uploadType=media",
-                  token=tok, data=blob, content_type="application/octet-stream")["versionCode"]
-        print(f"uploaded versionCode={vc}")
-        call("PUT", f"{app}/edits/{edit}/tracks/{a.track}", token=tok,
-             data=json.dumps({"track": a.track,
-                              "releases": [{"status": a.status, "versionCodes": [str(vc)]}]}).encode(),
-             content_type="application/json")
-        print(f"assigned versionCode={vc} -> track={a.track} status={a.status}")
+        if a.promote:
+            vc = a.promote
+            if a.promote_from:
+                assert_on_track(app, edit, tok, a.promote_from, vc)
+        else:
+            with open(a.aab, "rb") as f:
+                blob = f.read()
+            print(f"uploading {a.aab} ({len(blob)} bytes) ...")
+            vc = call("POST", f"{UPLOAD}/{a.package}/edits/{edit}/bundles?uploadType=media",
+                      token=tok, data=blob, content_type="application/octet-stream")["versionCode"]
+            print(f"uploaded versionCode={vc}")
+
+        put_track(app, edit, tok, a.track, [vc], a.status, a.user_fraction, notes)
+        print(f"assigned versionCode={vc} -> track={a.track} status={a.status}"
+              + (f" userFraction={a.user_fraction}" if a.user_fraction is not None else ""))
+        # Same edit as the assignment above, so the code is never active on both tracks at once.
+        if a.promote_from:
+            put_track(app, edit, tok, a.promote_from, [], a.status)
+            print(f"cleared track '{a.promote_from}'")
 
         if a.no_commit:
             call("POST", f"{app}/edits/{edit}:validate", token=tok)

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/DsCapture.kt

@@ -78,6 +78,34 @@ class DsCapture(
     @Volatile
     var onActiveChanged: ((active: Boolean) -> Unit)? = null
 
+    /**
+     * Tier-A pad audio, bound by the app layer (which owns the session handle).
+     *
+     * [start] is called once the router has assigned this pad a wire index — not at claim time,
+     * because the index does not exist until the first report arrives and the host addresses the
+     * `0xD1` stream by that index. [stop] is called **before** the USB link closes, and must not
+     * return until nothing is still writing to the descriptor.
+     */
+    interface PadAudioHook {
+        fun start(pad: Int, fd: Int)
+        fun stop(pad: Int)
+    }
+
+    @Volatile
+    var padAudio: PadAudioHook? = null
+
+    /** True once [PadAudioHook.start] has run for the current capture, so it fires exactly once. */
+    @Volatile private var padAudioStarted = false
+
+    /**
+     * The renderer's OWN connection to the pad.
+     *
+     * It must not share [usb]'s descriptor: two transfer engines on one usbfs descriptor reap each
+     * other's completions (see [HidUsbLink.openAuxConnection]), which strands both the HID reader
+     * and the audio ring. Closed only after the hook's stop has returned.
+     */
+    @Volatile private var padAudioConn: android.hardware.usb.UsbDeviceConnection? = null
+
     val isActive: Boolean get() = model != null
 
     /** First attached Sony USB pad, for the permission flow. Needs no permission to enumerate. */
@@ -111,6 +139,17 @@ class DsCapture(
 
     /** Stop the link and free the wire slot (host tears the virtual pad down). Idempotent. */
     fun stop() {
+        // Before anything touches the link: the pad-audio renderer borrows this connection's
+        // descriptor, and `usb.stop()` closes it. The hook does not return until its thread is
+        // joined, so ordering this first is what makes the borrow sound.
+        if (padAudioStarted) {
+            padAudioStarted = false
+            // stop() joins the render thread, so nothing is using the descriptor after it returns
+            // — only then is it safe to close the connection that owns it.
+            pad?.let { padAudio?.stop(it.index) }
+            padAudioConn?.close()
+            padAudioConn = null
+        }
         val m = model
         if (m != null) {
             // The interfaces are about to release with the kernel driver still detached — a
@@ -133,6 +172,42 @@ class DsCapture(
         if (!DsDevice.parseState(m, report, len, state)) return
         val p = pad ?: router.openExternal(m.pref)?.also {
             pad = it
+            // The wire index exists from here on, and the host addresses pad audio by it. Fired on
+            // the link thread, once per capture.
+            if (!padAudioStarted && padAudio != null) {
+                // A dedicated connection, NOT usb.fileDescriptor — see padAudioConn.
+                val conn = usb.openAuxConnection()
+                val fd = conn?.fileDescriptor ?: -1
+                if (fd >= 0) {
+                    padAudioConn = conn
+                    padAudioStarted = true
+                    // Real-world self test, opt-in: `adb shell setprop debug.punktfunk.pad_audio_selftest 3`
+                    // drives the voice coils for N seconds through the actual client path before
+                    // the renderer takes over — the one check that proves the descriptor, the
+                    // interface claim and the write path all work on THIS device, without needing
+                    // a host to be streaming. Same convention as debug.punktfunk.force_parts.
+                    val secs = runCatching {
+                        Class.forName("android.os.SystemProperties")
+                            .getMethod("get", String::class.java, String::class.java)
+                            .invoke(null, "debug.punktfunk.pad_audio_selftest", "0") as String
+                    }.getOrNull()?.toIntOrNull() ?: 0
+                    if (secs > 0) {
+                        // Diagnostic mode: the self test OWNS this descriptor for the capture, and
+                        // the renderer must not also drive it — two engines on one usbfs
+                        // descriptor reap each other's completions, which is precisely the fault
+                        // this test exists to expose.
+                        Thread({
+                            val r = NativeBridge.nativePadAudioSelfTest(fd, secs, 60)
+                            Log.i(TAG, "pad audio self-test → ${if (r > 0) "PASS ($r frames)" else "FAIL ($r)"}")
+                        }, "pf-pad-selftest").start()
+                    } else {
+                        padAudio?.start(it.index, fd)
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    conn?.close()
+                    Log.w(TAG, "pad audio: could not open a second USB connection")
+                }
+            }
             Log.i(TAG, "captured $m → wire pad ${it.index}")
         } ?: return // all 16 wire indices taken — drop until one frees
         mirrorTyped(p)

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/HidUsbLink.kt

@@ -92,6 +92,40 @@ class HidUsbLink(
     /** First attached matching device, or null. Does not need USB permission to enumerate. */
     fun findDevice(): UsbDevice? = usb.deviceList.values.firstOrNull(config.deviceMatch)
 
+    /**
+     * Open a SECOND connection to the same device, for a consumer that needs its own descriptor.
+     *
+     * **Not a convenience — a correctness requirement.** `UsbDeviceConnection.requestWait()`
+     * returns *any* completed request on that connection, and the same is true of the usbfs reap
+     * ioctl underneath it: two independent transfer engines sharing one descriptor steal each
+     * other's completions. This link's reader owns its connection exclusively (see the note on
+     * [outQueue]), so anything else driving transfers on this device — the isochronous audio
+     * renderer — must open its own.
+     *
+     * usbfs allows the same device to be opened many times, and claims are per (descriptor,
+     * interface), so a claim made on this connection does not conflict with one made on that.
+     *
+     * The caller owns the returned connection and must close it.
+     */
+    fun openAuxConnection(): UsbDeviceConnection? {
+        val dev = device ?: return null
+        return usb.openDevice(dev)
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The open connection's usbfs file descriptor, or -1 when the link is not running.
+     *
+     * Handed to native code that drives interfaces this link deliberately does NOT claim — the
+     * pad's isochronous audio endpoint (see `pad_audio` on the native side), which Android's own
+     * USB API cannot reach because `UsbRequest` rejects anything that is not bulk or interrupt.
+     * usbfs claims are per interface, so a native claim of the audio interface leaves this link's
+     * HID claim untouched.
+     *
+     * **The borrower must stop using it before [stop] runs**: closing the connection while a
+     * transfer is in flight pulls the descriptor out from under the kernel.
+     */
+    val fileDescriptor: Int get() = connection?.fileDescriptor ?: -1
+
     /**
      * Claim [dev]'s controller interface(s) and start the read loop. The caller has already
      * obtained USB permission. Returns false when nothing could be claimed.

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/NativeBridge.kt

@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@ object NativeBridge {
          *  list and trust store show for it, same convention as [nativePair]'s `name`. `null`/blank ⇒
          *  the host falls back to a fingerprint-derived "device abcd1234" label. */
         deviceName: String?,
+        /** Advertise `CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` — the SESSION-level negotiation for the 0xD1 per-pad
+         *  DualSense plane. Without it the host never sets `HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` and emits nothing,
+         *  so a captured pad's own render capabilities would have nothing to gate. */
+        padAudioOk: Boolean,
     ): Long
 
     /** 64-hex SHA-256 of the cert the host presented on [handle]; valid after a successful connect. */
@@ -332,6 +336,46 @@ object NativeBridge {
      */
     external fun nativeSetMicMuted(handle: Long, muted: Boolean)
 
+    /**
+     * Start tier-A DualSense pad audio: render the host's `0xD1` streams on the pad's own
+     * 4-channel USB audio device.
+     *
+     * [fd] is an open [android.hardware.usb.UsbDeviceConnection]'s file descriptor. Native code
+     * **borrows** it — it claims the pad's audio interface through usbfs (which leaves any HID
+     * claim on the same device alone) and never closes the descriptor. The caller must keep the
+     * connection open until [nativeStopPadAudio] returns.
+     *
+     * This also declares the pad's render capability to the host; without it no `0xD1` is sent.
+     *
+     * Returns false when there is nothing to render. A kernel that refuses the interface claim is
+     * NOT reported here — the renderer discovers that on its own thread and the session simply
+     * carries on without tier A, because some OEM kernels refuse and no app-side fix exists.
+     */
+    external fun nativeStartPadAudio(
+        handle: Long,
+        pad: Int,
+        fd: Int,
+        haptics: Boolean,
+        speaker: Boolean,
+    ): Boolean
+
+    /**
+     * Stop tier-A pad audio and join its render thread, and hand the pad back to wire rumble.
+     *
+     * Returns only once the thread is joined — so the `UsbDeviceConnection` may be closed as soon
+     * as this returns, and not before.
+     */
+    external fun nativeStopPadAudio(handle: Long, pad: Int)
+
+    /**
+     * Drive the pad with a test tone through the real render path — no host, no session.
+     *
+     * [fd] must come from a connection **nothing else is driving transfers on**: two engines on
+     * one usbfs descriptor reap each other's completions. Blocks for roughly [seconds]; run it off
+     * the main thread. Returns sample frames written, or negative on failure.
+     */
+    external fun nativePadAudioSelfTest(fd: Int, seconds: Int, hz: Int): Int
+
     /**
      * Is a mic capture actually RUNNING — i.e. did [nativeStartMic] open a stream, and has
      * [nativeStopMic] not been called since? Offer the in-stream mute control on THIS rather than

clients/android/native/Cargo.toml

@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ libc = "0.2"
 # host + Linux client use. audiopus_sys vendors libopus (pure C) and builds it static via cmake —
 # the cargo-ndk build sets LIBOPUS_STATIC=1/LIBOPUS_NO_PKG=1 so it links the bundled lib, not the host's.
 opus = "0.3"
+# Tier-A pad audio (WP9). Android's audio framework denylists the DualSense's output by VID/PID,
+# so the pad's isochronous endpoint is driven directly on the fd `UsbDeviceConnection` hands over.
+# Our own crates, developed openly because the hole they fill — isochronous USB in Rust — is an
+# ecosystem-wide one: https://github.com/unom-io/usbfs-iso
+# Pinned by revision rather than floating: this is a transport under a real-time deadline and it
+# should move when we choose to. Becomes a plain version dependency once the crates are published.
+uac-host = { git = "https://github.com/unom-io/usbfs-iso", rev = "fb01ea69c59e3bf08b3918f53a159287b5187ed2" }
+usbfs-iso = { git = "https://github.com/unom-io/usbfs-iso", rev = "fb01ea69c59e3bf08b3918f53a159287b5187ed2" }
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true

clients/android/native/src/feedback.rs

@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeNextRumble(
         // handle.
         let h = unsafe { &*(handle as *const SessionHandle) };
         match h.client.next_rumble_command(PULL_TIMEOUT) {
+            // A pad rendering tier-A audio must never see wire rumble. `DsDevice` sets
+            // `valid_flag0` bit 1 (`HAPTICS_SELECT`) on every rumble write, and that bit
+            // *disables* audio haptics — so one replayed command would silently mute the voice
+            // coils the 0xD1 stream is driving, for the rest of the session. Dropping it here
+            // (rather than in Kotlin) keeps the rule next to the reason, and covers every caller.
+            Ok(cmd) if crate::pad_audio::is_tier_a((cmd.pad & 0xF) as u8) => -1,
             Ok(cmd) => {
                 (jlong::from(cmd.pad & 0xF) << 49)
                     | (jlong::from(cmd.backstop_ms.min(0xFFFF) as u16) << 32)
@@ -156,6 +162,11 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeNextHidout(
                 out[3..n].copy_from_slice(&data);
                 n
             }
+            HidOutput::AudioCtl { .. } => {
+                // DS5 pad-audio routing/volumes — no Android replay path yet (the 0xD1 sample
+                // plane isn't rendered here either); drop it like TrackpadHaptic.
+                return -1;
+            }
         };
         n as jint
     })

clients/android/native/src/lib.rs

@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ mod discovery;
 mod feedback;
 #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
 mod mic;
+/// Tier-A DualSense pad audio: the 0xD1 plane rendered on the pad's own USB endpoint.
+mod pad_audio;
 mod session;
 mod stats;
 // Ungated like `discovery`: pure `jni` + `punktfunk_core::wol` (no Android framework), so it links

clients/android/native/src/pad_audio.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,770 @@
+//! Pad audio on Android (the 0xD1 plane) — tier A, WP9.
+//!
+//! The Android twin of [`pf_client_core::pad_audio`]: drain the host's per-pad DualSense streams,
+//! Opus-decode haptics (kind 0) and speaker (kind 1), interleave them into the pad's own
+//! 4-channel layout, and render them on the physical pad.
+//!
+//! # Why this needs a USB driver instead of an audio API
+//!
+//! Every other client hands the 4-channel stream to the platform's audio graph — WASAPI on
+//! Windows, PipeWire on Linux, CoreAudio on Apple. **Android has no such option for this device.**
+//! AOSP's `UsbAlsaManager` carries a hardcoded VID/PID denylist that includes the DualSense
+//! (`054c:0ce6`), so the kernel enumerates the pad's playback node and the framework then discards
+//! it: `hasOutput: false`. There is no `AudioDeviceInfo` for `setPreferredDevice` to target, and
+//! `/dev/snd` is closed to apps by SELinux. Android's own `UsbRequest` API cannot help either — it
+//! rejects any endpoint that is not bulk or interrupt.
+//!
+//! So this path drives the pad's isochronous endpoint directly, through `uac-host` on the file
+//! descriptor Java already owns. That is measured, not hoped: on a Nothing Phone (3) the claim
+//! succeeds unprivileged, the gamepad and the pad's microphone both keep working, and the
+//! underrun-free floor is **4 ms in flight** — including under eight-core load with the SoC in
+//! severe thermal throttling.
+//!
+//! # The firmware exclusivity that shapes everything here
+//!
+//! `valid_flag0` bit 1 (`HAPTICS_SELECT`) *disables* audio haptics and selects classic rumble, and
+//! Linux's `hid-playstation` sets it on every force-feedback update — as does SDL, and as does our
+//! own [`crate::feedback`] path. **Tier A and tier C are mutually exclusive in the pad's firmware**,
+//! so a pad rendering this stream must have its wire rumble suppressed rather than mixed. The
+//! arbitration is a selection, never a blend.
+
+use std::collections::VecDeque;
+
+use punktfunk_core::audio::AudioGapTracker;
+use punktfunk_core::quic::{PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER};
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+use punktfunk_core::client::NativeClient;
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+use std::sync::Arc;
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+use std::thread::JoinHandle;
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+/// The pad's render layout: 4 interleaved channels — speaker FL/FR on 0/1, the voice coils on
+/// 2/3. Feeding a 2-channel stream would leave the coils silent rather than fail, which is the
+/// failure mode most worth not having.
+const PAD_CHANNELS: usize = 4;
+
+/// Both plane kinds decode as 48 kHz stereo.
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_os = "android"), allow(dead_code))]
+const SAMPLE_RATE: u32 = 48_000;
+
+/// Ring ceiling, in sample frames. 60 ms — far above the in-flight depth, because this bounds
+/// *decoder* backlog when the USB side stalls, not stream latency. Overflow drops the oldest.
+const MAX_BUFFER_FRAMES: usize = (SAMPLE_RATE as usize / 1000) * 60;
+
+/// Largest Opus frame this decodes in one call: 120 ms at 48 kHz, the codec's maximum.
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_os = "android"), allow(dead_code))]
+const MAX_FRAME_SAMPLES: usize = 5760;
+
+/// How much audio to keep in flight on the USB endpoint.
+///
+/// WP7 measured the underrun-free floor on real hardware at **4 ms** (clean across three sweeps,
+/// including one under eight-core load with the CPU thermally throttled); 3 ms was marginal and
+/// 2 ms never survived. 6 ms takes one step of headroom above that floor, because the same
+/// measurement found isolated transient events roughly once per three seconds that are *not*
+/// depth-dependent — so the floor is a floor, not a target.
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_os = "android"), allow(dead_code))]
+const IN_FLIGHT_MS: u32 = 6;
+
+// ---- tier-A registry ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Which wire pad indices are currently rendering tier-A audio, as a bitmask over the 16 wire
+/// slots.
+///
+/// Read on the rumble poll thread and written on the JNI thread, so it is an atomic rather than a
+/// lock: the reader is on a latency path and must never block behind a start/stop.
+static TIER_A_PADS: std::sync::atomic::AtomicU32 = std::sync::atomic::AtomicU32::new(0);
+
+/// Mark (or clear) a pad as rendering tier-A audio.
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_os = "android"), allow(dead_code))]
+pub(crate) fn set_tier_a(pad: u8, on: bool) {
+    use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
+    let bit = 1u32 << (pad & 0x0f);
+    if on {
+        TIER_A_PADS.fetch_or(bit, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    } else {
+        TIER_A_PADS.fetch_and(!bit, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Is this pad rendering tier-A audio, and therefore forbidden from receiving wire rumble?
+///
+/// **This is a firmware constraint, not a preference.** `valid_flag0` bit 1 (`HAPTICS_SELECT`)
+/// *disables* audio haptics and selects classic rumble, and `DsDevice` sets it on every rumble
+/// write — as Linux's `hid-playstation` and SDL both do. So a single rumble command reaching a
+/// tier-A pad silently mutes the voice coils this stream drives, for the rest of the session.
+/// Tier A and tier C are mutually exclusive **in the pad**: the arbitration selects, never blends.
+pub(crate) fn is_tier_a(pad: u8) -> bool {
+    TIER_A_PADS.load(std::sync::atomic::Ordering::Relaxed) & (1u32 << (pad & 0x0f)) != 0
+}
+
+// ---- the 4-channel mixer ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Interleave the two independent stereo streams into one 4-channel frame stream.
+///
+/// The kinds arrive on different cadences (haptics 5 ms, speaker 10 ms), so each has its own
+/// write cursor and [`pop`](Self::pop) emits everything the further-ahead kind has filled, with
+/// the lagging or absent kind's pair reading silence. A haptics-only session therefore renders
+/// the coils with a silent speaker pair, and vice versa, instead of stalling on the missing kind.
+///
+/// Samples are `i16` — the DualSense's own wire format — so nothing converts on the hot path.
+/// Pure logic, unit-tested below; pacing lives in the USB ring downstream.
+pub(crate) struct QuadMixer {
+    /// Interleaved 4-channel samples; the front is the next frame out. Always
+    /// `ready_frames() * PAD_CHANNELS` long.
+    ring: VecDeque<i16>,
+    /// Per-kind write cursor in FRAMES relative to the ring front, indexed by the wire `kind`.
+    written: [usize; 2],
+    /// Frames dropped to the ceiling — a stalled USB side, visible in the logs.
+    dropped: u64,
+}
+
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_os = "android"), allow(dead_code))]
+impl QuadMixer {
+    pub(crate) fn new() -> QuadMixer {
+        QuadMixer {
+            ring: VecDeque::new(),
+            written: [0; 2],
+            dropped: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Write one decoded stereo chunk (interleaved L/R) for `kind` at that kind's cursor,
+    /// zero-extending as needed. Both cursors shift together on overflow, so the two kinds can
+    /// never skew relative to one another.
+    pub(crate) fn push(&mut self, kind: u8, stereo: &[i16]) {
+        // Name both kinds rather than defaulting: a kind this build does not know belongs
+        // nowhere in a 4-channel frame, and quietly folding it into the coil pair would render
+        // an unknown stream straight into the actuators.
+        let (k, off) = match kind {
+            PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS => (0usize, 2usize),
+            PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER => (1usize, 0usize),
+            _ => return,
+        };
+        let frames = stereo.len() / 2;
+        let base = self.written[k];
+        let need = (base + frames) * PAD_CHANNELS;
+        if self.ring.len() < need {
+            self.ring.resize(need, 0);
+        }
+        for (i, fr) in stereo.chunks_exact(2).enumerate() {
+            let at = (base + i) * PAD_CHANNELS + off;
+            self.ring[at] = fr[0];
+            self.ring[at + 1] = fr[1];
+        }
+        self.written[k] = base + frames;
+        let over = self.ready_frames().saturating_sub(MAX_BUFFER_FRAMES);
+        if over > 0 {
+            self.dropped += over as u64;
+            self.drop_front(over);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Frames ready to output: the further-ahead kind's cursor.
+    pub(crate) fn ready_frames(&self) -> usize {
+        self.written[0].max(self.written[1])
+    }
+
+    /// Frames discarded to the ceiling since construction.
+    pub(crate) fn dropped_frames(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.dropped
+    }
+
+    /// Append every ready frame (interleaved 4-channel) to `out`; returns the frame count.
+    pub(crate) fn pop(&mut self, out: &mut Vec<i16>) -> usize {
+        let frames = self.ready_frames();
+        let n = frames * PAD_CHANNELS;
+        out.extend(self.ring.drain(..n.min(self.ring.len())));
+        for w in &mut self.written {
+            *w = w.saturating_sub(frames);
+        }
+        frames
+    }
+
+    /// Throw the ready frames away — no sink to render them on right now.
+    pub(crate) fn discard(&mut self) {
+        let f = self.ready_frames();
+        self.drop_front(f);
+    }
+
+    fn drop_front(&mut self, frames: usize) {
+        let n = (frames * PAD_CHANNELS).min(self.ring.len());
+        self.ring.drain(..n);
+        let f = n / PAD_CHANNELS;
+        for w in &mut self.written {
+            *w = w.saturating_sub(f);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// ---- decode + packet loss concealment ---------------------------------------------------------
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+/// Per-kind decode state: a stereo 48 kHz Opus decoder, the seq-gap tracker, and the last decoded
+/// frame size, which is the unit PLC synthesises in.
+struct KindStream {
+    dec: opus::Decoder,
+    gaps: AudioGapTracker,
+    frame_samples: usize,
+}
+
+/// Concealment frames to synthesise before decoding `seq`.
+///
+/// Zero until something has decoded, because there is nothing to size the PLC from yet. The
+/// tracker is fed regardless, so a gap seen before the first real frame cannot resurface later as
+/// a phantom. Pure, and unit-tested.
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_os = "android"), allow(dead_code))]
+fn plc_frames(gaps: &mut AudioGapTracker, seq: u32, frame_samples: usize) -> u32 {
+    let missing = gaps.missing_before(seq);
+    if frame_samples == 0 {
+        0
+    } else {
+        missing
+    }
+}
+
+// ---- the USB sink ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Everything that talks to the pad. Linux and Android only: `usbfs` is a Linux kernel ABI, and
+/// this crate also builds as a host cdylib on macOS dev boxes, where the mixer and PLC above still
+/// compile and still run their tests.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+mod sink {
+    use super::{IN_FLIGHT_MS, PAD_CHANNELS, SAMPLE_RATE};
+
+    /// Open the pad's 4-channel playback stream on a descriptor Java owns.
+    ///
+    /// # Safety
+    ///
+    /// `fd` must be a live usbfs descriptor from an open `UsbDeviceConnection` that outlives the
+    /// returned device — this **borrows** it and never closes it, because closing is
+    /// `UsbDeviceConnection.close()`'s job and a double close would strand an unrelated
+    /// descriptor much later.
+    pub(super) unsafe fn device(fd: i32) -> usbfs_iso::UsbFsDevice {
+        // SAFETY: forwarded from this function's own contract, which the JNI entry point upholds
+        // by keeping the Java connection open for the lifetime of the renderer thread.
+        unsafe { usbfs_iso::UsbFsDevice::from_borrowed_fd(fd) }
+    }
+
+    /// Find the pad's 4-channel playback stream and open it.
+    ///
+    /// Four channels is a hard requirement, not a preference: the voice coils *are* channels 3
+    /// and 4, so a 2-channel alternate setting would open successfully and then render haptics
+    /// into nothing.
+    pub(super) fn open<'d>(
+        dev: &'d usbfs_iso::UsbFsDevice,
+    ) -> Result<uac_host::Playback<'d>, uac_host::Error> {
+        let blob = dev.raw_descriptors()?;
+        let function = uac_host::parse(&blob)?;
+        let stream = function
+            .output_streams()
+            .find(|s| usize::from(s.channels()) == PAD_CHANNELS)
+            .ok_or(uac_host::Error::NoAudioFunction)?;
+
+        let opts = uac_host::OpenOptions {
+            depth: usbfs_iso::Depth::Millis(IN_FLIGHT_MS),
+            // One packet per URB: the finest granularity the bus offers, and what WP7 measured
+            // the 4 ms floor with. Packing more multiplies one completion's latency.
+            packets_per_urb: Some(1),
+            // Keep the endpoint fed rather than gapping when the decoder is momentarily late.
+            // A hole in an isochronous stream is silence forever; silence we chose is better.
+            underrun: usbfs_iso::Underrun::FillSilence,
+            ..Default::default()
+        };
+        stream.open_with(dev, uac_host::Format::S16Le, SAMPLE_RATE, opts)
+    }
+}
+
+// ---- the self test ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Drive the pad directly with a synthetic tone, through **the real client path**.
+///
+/// This exists because the two things most likely to be wrong here cannot be unit-tested and are
+/// invisible without a host: whether the descriptor Kotlin handed over is one this renderer may
+/// drive exclusively, and whether the interface claim succeeds on this kernel. A standalone
+/// harness proves neither — it owns its descriptor by construction, which is exactly the condition
+/// that was violated when this renderer was handed the HID link's fd and the two engines began
+/// stealing each other's URB completions.
+///
+/// Opens the sink the same way [`render`] does and writes a sine into the voice-coil pair, which
+/// is felt rather than heard. Returns sample frames written, or a negative [`SelfTest`] code.
+///
+/// # Safety
+///
+/// `fd` must be a live usbfs descriptor whose connection outlives the call, and which **nothing
+/// else is driving transfers on**.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub(crate) unsafe fn self_test(fd: i32, seconds: i32, hz: i32) -> i32 {
+    // SAFETY: the caller's contract.
+    let dev = unsafe { sink::device(fd) };
+    let mut playback = match sink::open(&dev) {
+        Ok(p) => p,
+        Err(e) => {
+            log::warn!("pad audio self-test: could not open the stream: {e}");
+            return SelfTest::OPEN_FAILED;
+        }
+    };
+    log::info!(
+        "pad audio self-test: {} ch {} at {} Hz, {} us in flight",
+        playback.channels(),
+        playback.format(),
+        playback.rate(),
+        playback.schedule().in_flight_us()
+    );
+
+    let rate = playback.rate();
+    let channels = playback.channels() as usize;
+    let frames_per_chunk = (rate as usize / 1000).max(1);
+    let mut chunk = vec![0i16; frames_per_chunk * channels];
+    let mut phase = 0.0f32;
+    let step = std::f32::consts::TAU * hz.clamp(20, 500) as f32 / rate as f32;
+    let total = u64::from(rate) * seconds.clamp(1, 30) as u64;
+    let mut written = 0u64;
+
+    while written < total {
+        for frame in chunk.chunks_mut(channels) {
+            let sample = (phase.sin() * 16_384.0) as i16;
+            phase += step;
+            if phase >= std::f32::consts::TAU {
+                phase -= std::f32::consts::TAU;
+            }
+            frame.fill(0);
+            // Channels 2 and 3 are the voice coils; the speaker pair stays silent so a pass is
+            // unambiguously FELT rather than merely audible.
+            for c in 2..channels {
+                frame[c] = sample;
+            }
+        }
+        if let Err(e) = playback.write_interleaved(&chunk) {
+            log::warn!("pad audio self-test: write failed after {written} frames: {e}");
+            return SelfTest::WRITE_FAILED;
+        }
+        written += frames_per_chunk as u64;
+    }
+    let _ = playback.drain(Duration::from_millis(500));
+
+    let stats = playback.stats();
+    log::info!(
+        "pad audio self-test: {} frames, {} urbs, {} underruns, {} short bytes, {} urb errors",
+        playback.frames_written(),
+        stats.urbs_completed,
+        stats.underruns,
+        stats.short_bytes,
+        stats.urb_errors
+    );
+    // Underruns are a producer-pacing property and deliberately NOT a failure here: the question
+    // this answers is whether the client can drive the pad at all. Data reaching the bus is the
+    // pass condition.
+    if stats.urb_errors > 0 || playback.frames_written() == 0 {
+        return SelfTest::NO_DATA;
+    }
+    playback.frames_written().min(i32::MAX as u64) as i32
+}
+
+/// Negative results from [`self_test`]. Positive values are sample frames written.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub(crate) struct SelfTest;
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+impl SelfTest {
+    /// The claim or stream open failed — the OEM-kernel case, or a descriptor another engine owns.
+    pub(crate) const OPEN_FAILED: i32 = -1;
+    /// The stream opened but a write failed part-way.
+    pub(crate) const WRITE_FAILED: i32 = -2;
+    /// It ran, but nothing reached the bus.
+    pub(crate) const NO_DATA: i32 = -3;
+}
+
+// ---- the renderer worker -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// A running renderer: the stop flag and the thread, joined on drop.
+///
+/// Mirrors [`crate::mic::MicCapture`]'s discipline — dropping the handle is what stops the stream,
+/// so a session teardown that forgets a step cannot leave a thread writing to a descriptor Java is
+/// about to close.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub(crate) struct PadAudio {
+    pad: u8,
+    stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+    join: Option<JoinHandle<()>>,
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+impl Drop for PadAudio {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        self.stop.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
+        if let Some(j) = self.join.take() {
+            let _ = j.join();
+        }
+        // Belt and braces: the thread clears these itself on the way out, but if it died in a way
+        // that skipped that, leaving the pad off wire rumble would cost the user all feedback.
+        set_tier_a(self.pad, false);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Start the renderer for a pad whose descriptor Java has handed over.
+///
+/// Returns `None` when neither kind is enabled (nothing to render) or the thread will not start.
+/// **The caller must keep the `UsbDeviceConnection` open until the returned handle is dropped** —
+/// the renderer borrows the descriptor and never closes it.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub(crate) fn start(
+    client: Arc<NativeClient>,
+    pad: u8,
+    fd: i32,
+    haptics: bool,
+    speaker: bool,
+) -> Option<PadAudio> {
+    if !haptics && !speaker {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let stop = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+    let join = spawn(client, Arc::clone(&stop), pad, fd, haptics, speaker)?;
+    Some(PadAudio {
+        pad,
+        stop,
+        join: Some(join),
+    })
+}
+
+/// Spawn the pad-audio renderer — the 0xD1 plane's single consumer on Android.
+///
+/// `fd` is the pad's usbfs descriptor from `UsbDeviceConnection.getFileDescriptor()`; the caller
+/// **must** keep that connection open until [`stop`](AtomicBool) has been observed and the handle
+/// joined. Returns `None` if the thread could not be started.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub(crate) fn spawn(
+    client: Arc<NativeClient>,
+    stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+    pad: u8,
+    fd: i32,
+    haptics: bool,
+    speaker: bool,
+) -> Option<JoinHandle<()>> {
+    std::thread::Builder::new()
+        .name("pf-pad-audio".into())
+        .spawn(move || run(&client, &stop, pad, fd, haptics, speaker))
+        .map_err(|e| log::warn!("pad-audio thread failed to start: {e}"))
+        .ok()
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+fn run(client: &NativeClient, stop: &AtomicBool, pad: u8, fd: i32, haptics: bool, speaker: bool) {
+    // Ask the scheduler for audio priority. Android does not hand SCHED_FIFO to ordinary app
+    // threads, so -16 (ANDROID_PRIORITY_AUDIO) is the realistic knob — and WP7 measured that it
+    // both applies and is enough to hold the 4 ms floor against eight busy cores.
+    // SAFETY: `setpriority` on the calling thread; no pointers, no shared state.
+    unsafe {
+        libc::setpriority(libc::PRIO_PROCESS, 0, -16);
+    }
+
+    // SAFETY: the caller's contract — the Java connection outlives this thread.
+    let dev = unsafe { sink::device(fd) };
+    // Through a reference, deliberately: `UsbFsDevice` has a `Drop`, and opening the stream in
+    // this same scope would make the borrow outlive the value it borrows.
+    render(&dev, client, stop, pad, haptics, speaker);
+}
+
+/// Open the pad's stream and render on it until the session stops or the device goes away.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+fn render(
+    dev: &usbfs_iso::UsbFsDevice,
+    client: &NativeClient,
+    stop: &AtomicBool,
+    pad: u8,
+    haptics: bool,
+    speaker: bool,
+) {
+    match sink::open(dev) {
+        Ok(mut playback) => {
+            log::info!(
+                "pad audio: pad={pad} {} ch {} at {} Hz, {} us in flight",
+                playback.channels(),
+                playback.format(),
+                playback.rate(),
+                playback.schedule().in_flight_us()
+            );
+            // ONLY NOW commit the trade. Declaring the pad's render capability makes the host
+            // emit 0xD1, and taking the pad off wire rumble is what makes tier A and tier C
+            // mutually exclusive — doing either before the stream is known to open would, on a
+            // kernel that refuses the claim, leave the user with no haptics of any kind.
+            let caps = (if haptics { 0x01 } else { 0 }) | (if speaker { 0x02 } else { 0 });
+            client.set_pad_audio_caps(pad, caps);
+            set_tier_a(pad, true);
+
+            pump(client, stop, haptics, speaker, &mut playback);
+
+            // Give the pad back to wire rumble before this thread goes away.
+            client.set_pad_audio_caps(pad, 0);
+            set_tier_a(pad, false);
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            // A kernel that refuses the claim: some OEM kernels do, and there is no app-side fix.
+            // Nothing was declared and nothing was suppressed, so the session simply carries on
+            // at tier C with ordinary rumble — a clean degrade rather than silent total loss.
+            log::warn!("pad audio unavailable on pad {pad}, staying on rumble: {e}");
+            drain_until_stop(client, stop);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+/// Keep the plane drained without rendering, so a host that is sending 0xD1 does not back up
+/// against a consumer that never reads.
+fn drain_until_stop(client: &NativeClient, stop: &AtomicBool) {
+    while !stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+        if client.next_pad_audio(Duration::from_millis(20)).is_none()
+            && stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// The steady state: decode arriving frames, interleave, and hand whole frames to the pad.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+fn pump(
+    client: &NativeClient,
+    stop: &AtomicBool,
+    haptics: bool,
+    speaker: bool,
+    playback: &mut uac_host::Playback<'_>,
+) {
+    let mut mixer = QuadMixer::new();
+    let mut streams: [Option<KindStream>; 2] = [None, None];
+    let mut pcm: Vec<i16> = Vec::with_capacity(MAX_FRAME_SAMPLES * 2);
+    let mut out: Vec<i16> = Vec::with_capacity(MAX_BUFFER_FRAMES * PAD_CHANNELS);
+
+    while !stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+        let Some(frame) = client.next_pad_audio(Duration::from_millis(10)) else {
+            continue;
+        };
+
+        // The settings gate each kind independently: haptics off but speaker on is a legitimate
+        // configuration, and the host may still be sending both.
+        let wanted = match frame.kind {
+            PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS => haptics,
+            PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER => speaker,
+            _ => false,
+        };
+        if !wanted {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        let k = usize::from(frame.kind).min(1);
+        let st = match &mut streams[k] {
+            Some(s) => s,
+            slot @ None => match opus::Decoder::new(SAMPLE_RATE, opus::Channels::Stereo) {
+                Ok(dec) => slot.insert(KindStream {
+                    dec,
+                    gaps: AudioGapTracker::default(),
+                    frame_samples: 0,
+                }),
+                Err(e) => {
+                    log::warn!("pad audio: no Opus decoder for kind {}: {e}", frame.kind);
+                    continue;
+                }
+            },
+        };
+
+        // Conceal whatever the sequence numbers say is missing, before decoding what arrived.
+        let missing = plc_frames(&mut st.gaps, frame.seq, st.frame_samples);
+        for _ in 0..missing {
+            pcm.resize(st.frame_samples * 2, 0);
+            match st.dec.decode(&[], &mut pcm, false) {
+                Ok(n) => mixer.push(frame.kind, &pcm[..n * 2]),
+                Err(_) => break,
+            }
+        }
+
+        // An empty payload is DTX silence: the tracker has already accounted for the sequence,
+        // and there is nothing to decode.
+        if !frame.opus.is_empty() {
+            pcm.resize(MAX_FRAME_SAMPLES * 2, 0);
+            match st.dec.decode(&frame.opus, &mut pcm, false) {
+                Ok(n) => {
+                    st.frame_samples = n;
+                    mixer.push(frame.kind, &pcm[..n * 2]);
+                }
+                Err(e) => log::debug!("pad audio: opus decode failed: {e}"),
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Hand over whole frames only. `write` stages any remainder internally, so a partial
+        // chunk is never padded with silence mid-stream.
+        out.clear();
+        if mixer.pop(&mut out) > 0 {
+            if let Err(e) = playback.write_interleaved(&out) {
+                if is_fatal(&e) {
+                    log::warn!("pad audio: stream lost: {e}");
+                    return;
+                }
+                log::debug!("pad audio: write hiccup: {e}");
+                mixer.discard();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let _ = playback.drain(Duration::from_millis(100));
+    let stats = playback.stats();
+    log::info!(
+        "pad audio stopped: {} frames, {} underruns, {} short bytes, {} dropped by backlog",
+        playback.frames_written(),
+        stats.underruns,
+        stats.short_bytes,
+        mixer.dropped_frames(),
+    );
+}
+
+/// Is this the end of the stream, or just a bad moment?
+///
+/// A vanished device is unrecoverable here — the descriptor belongs to a `UsbDeviceConnection`
+/// that Java must re-open — so the thread exits and the session continues without tier A. Anything
+/// else is treated as transient.
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+fn is_fatal(e: &uac_host::Error) -> bool {
+    matches!(e, uac_host::Error::Transport(t) if t.is_disconnected())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn speaker_lands_on_the_front_pair_and_haptics_on_the_coils() {
+        let mut m = QuadMixer::new();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, &[100, 200]);
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &[300, 400]);
+        let mut out = Vec::new();
+        assert_eq!(m.pop(&mut out), 1);
+        // Channels 0/1 are the speaker, 2/3 are the voice coils — the pad's own layout.
+        assert_eq!(out, vec![100, 200, 300, 400]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_haptics_only_session_still_renders_with_a_silent_speaker_pair() {
+        // The case that matters most: `pad_speaker = "off"` must not stall the coils waiting for
+        // a kind that will never arrive.
+        let mut m = QuadMixer::new();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &[7, 8, 9, 10]);
+        let mut out = Vec::new();
+        assert_eq!(m.pop(&mut out), 2);
+        assert_eq!(out, vec![0, 0, 7, 8, 0, 0, 9, 10]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_two_kinds_never_skew_when_the_ceiling_drops_frames() {
+        let mut m = QuadMixer::new();
+        // Push well past the ceiling on one kind, then a marker on the other. Both cursors must
+        // have moved together, so the marker still lands on the same output frame boundary.
+        let flood = vec![1i16; (MAX_BUFFER_FRAMES + 500) * 2];
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &flood);
+        assert!(m.dropped_frames() > 0);
+        assert_eq!(m.ready_frames(), MAX_BUFFER_FRAMES);
+
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, &[42, 43]);
+        let mut out = Vec::new();
+        let frames = m.pop(&mut out);
+        assert_eq!(frames, MAX_BUFFER_FRAMES);
+        assert_eq!(out.len(), frames * PAD_CHANNELS);
+        // The speaker sample went to the FRONT of the ring (its cursor was reset with the drop),
+        // not to wherever the flooded kind happened to be.
+        assert_eq!(&out[..4], &[42, 43, 1, 1]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn interleaving_survives_uneven_cadences() {
+        // Haptics arrive at 5 ms and the speaker at 10 ms; popping mid-flight must not lose the
+        // lagging kind's alignment.
+        let mut m = QuadMixer::new();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &[1, 1, 2, 2]);
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, &[9, 9]);
+        let mut out = Vec::new();
+        assert_eq!(m.pop(&mut out), 2);
+        assert_eq!(out, vec![9, 9, 1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 2]);
+
+        // Next round: both cursors are back at zero, so a fresh speaker frame aligns with a fresh
+        // haptics frame rather than inheriting the previous round's offset.
+        out.clear();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, &[5, 5]);
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &[6, 6]);
+        assert_eq!(m.pop(&mut out), 1);
+        assert_eq!(out, vec![5, 5, 6, 6]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_unknown_kind_is_dropped_rather_than_rendered_into_the_coils() {
+        let mut m = QuadMixer::new();
+        m.push(9, &[999, 999]);
+        assert_eq!(
+            m.ready_frames(),
+            0,
+            "an unknown kind must not occupy a channel pair"
+        );
+        let mut out = Vec::new();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &[1, 2]);
+        assert_eq!(m.pop(&mut out), 1);
+        assert_eq!(out, vec![0, 0, 1, 2]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn tier_a_registry_tracks_pads_independently() {
+        // A rumble command reaching a tier-A pad mutes its coils for the session, so this gate
+        // has to be exact rather than approximately right.
+        set_tier_a(3, true);
+        assert!(is_tier_a(3));
+        assert!(!is_tier_a(4));
+        set_tier_a(4, true);
+        assert!(is_tier_a(3) && is_tier_a(4));
+        set_tier_a(3, false);
+        assert!(!is_tier_a(3), "clearing one pad must not clear another");
+        assert!(is_tier_a(4));
+        set_tier_a(4, false);
+        assert!(!is_tier_a(4));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn tier_a_registry_wraps_the_pad_index_into_the_wire_slot_space() {
+        // The wire pad space is 4 bits; an out-of-range index must not shift the mask into
+        // undefined territory (a shift >= 32 is a panic in debug and garbage in release).
+        set_tier_a(0x1f, true);
+        assert!(is_tier_a(0x0f), "0x1f and 0x0f are the same wire slot");
+        set_tier_a(0x0f, false);
+        assert!(!is_tier_a(0x1f));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn discard_empties_without_disturbing_alignment() {
+        let mut m = QuadMixer::new();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &[1, 2, 3, 4]);
+        m.discard();
+        assert_eq!(m.ready_frames(), 0);
+        let mut out = Vec::new();
+        m.push(PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, &[8, 9]);
+        assert_eq!(m.pop(&mut out), 1);
+        assert_eq!(out, vec![8, 9, 0, 0]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn plc_stays_silent_until_something_has_decoded() {
+        let mut g = AudioGapTracker::default();
+        // A gap before the first decode has nothing to size concealment from, and must not be
+        // replayed later as a phantom.
+        assert_eq!(plc_frames(&mut g, 5, 0), 0);
+        assert_eq!(plc_frames(&mut g, 6, 480), 0);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn plc_conceals_a_real_gap_once_a_frame_size_is_known() {
+        let mut g = AudioGapTracker::default();
+        assert_eq!(plc_frames(&mut g, 0, 0), 0);
+        assert_eq!(plc_frames(&mut g, 1, 480), 0);
+        // Sequence 2 and 3 never arrived.
+        assert_eq!(plc_frames(&mut g, 4, 480), 2);
+    }
+}

clients/android/native/src/session/connect.rs

@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeConnect<'lo
     timeout_ms: jint,
     launch: JString<'local>,
     device_name: JString<'local>,
+    pad_audio_ok: jboolean,
 ) -> jlong {
     let host: String = match env.get_string(&host) {
         Ok(s) => s.into(),
@@ -268,7 +269,16 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeConnect<'lo
         // CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK is honest: the async decode loop's presenter feeds
         // report_phase (advisory in v1 — the host arms on report receipt — but the Hello
         // should say what the client does).
-        punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK,
+        // CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO is the SESSION-level negotiation, separate from the per-pad
+        // arrival bits: without it the host never sets HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO and never emits 0xD1,
+        // so declaring a pad's render caps later would have nothing to gate. Gated on the
+        // settings so a user with pad audio off does not make the host provision endpoints.
+        punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK
+            | if pad_audio_ok != 0 {
+                punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO
+            } else {
+                0
+            },
         // Slice-progressive delivery, by decoder truth (Kotlin probes FEATURE_PartialFrame on
         // every decoder this device would use; `debug.punktfunk.force_parts` overrides for the
         // on-glass experiment): AU prefixes then arrive as `Frame::part` pieces and the decode
@@ -291,6 +301,8 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeConnect<'lo
                 audio: Mutex::new(None),
                 #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
                 mic: Mutex::new(None),
+                #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+                pad_audio: Mutex::new(None),
                 // A fresh session is never muted (mute is per-session UI state, not a setting).
                 mic_muted: Arc::new(std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool::new(false)),
             };

clients/android/native/src/session/mod.rs

@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ pub(crate) struct SessionHandle {
     audio: Mutex<Option<crate::audio::AudioPlayback>>,
     #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
     mic: Mutex<Option<crate::mic::MicCapture>>,
+    /// Tier-A DualSense pad audio (the 0xD1 plane), started by `nativeStartPadAudio` once Kotlin
+    /// has claimed the pad's audio interface and handed its descriptor over. Session-lifetime and
+    /// `Option` because a session may have no wired DualSense at all, which is the common case.
+    #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+    pub(crate) pad_audio: Mutex<Option<crate::pad_audio::PadAudio>>,
     /// In-stream mic mute, set via `nativeSetMicMuted` and read per 10 ms frame by the mic's
     /// encode loop ([`crate::mic`]). Session-lifetime rather than per-[`crate::mic::MicCapture`]
     /// for the same reason the stats gate is: the mic stops and restarts across a surface
@@ -99,6 +104,14 @@ impl SessionHandle {
     fn stop_mic(&self) {
         let _ = self.mic.lock().unwrap().take();
     }
+
+    /// Stop pad audio. Dropping the [`crate::pad_audio::PadAudio`] joins its render thread, which
+    /// is what guarantees nothing is still writing to the descriptor when Kotlin closes the
+    /// `UsbDeviceConnection`. Idempotent.
+    #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+    pub(crate) fn stop_pad_audio(&self) {
+        let _ = self.pad_audio.lock().unwrap().take();
+    }
 }
 
 impl Drop for SessionHandle {
@@ -108,6 +121,8 @@ impl Drop for SessionHandle {
         self.stop_audio();
         #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
         self.stop_mic();
+        #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+        self.stop_pad_audio();
     }
 }
 

clients/android/native/src/session/planes.rs

@@ -460,6 +460,110 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeStopMic(
     })
 }
 
+/// `NativeBridge.nativeStartPadAudio(handle, pad, fd, haptics, speaker): Boolean` — start tier-A
+/// DualSense pad audio on a descriptor Kotlin has already obtained.
+///
+/// `fd` comes from `UsbDeviceConnection.getFileDescriptor()` **after** claiming the pad's audio
+/// streaming interface. Kotlin owns that connection and **must keep it open until
+/// `nativeStopPadAudio` returns**: the renderer borrows the descriptor and never closes it, so
+/// closing early would pull it out from under an in-flight isochronous transfer.
+///
+/// Returns `false` when there is nothing to render (both kinds disabled) or the thread would not
+/// start. A kernel that refuses the interface claim is NOT reported here — the renderer discovers
+/// that on its own thread and degrades to tier C, because some OEM kernels refuse and there is no
+/// app-side fix worth blocking a session on.
+#[no_mangle]
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeStartPadAudio(
+    _env: JNIEnv,
+    _this: JObject,
+    handle: jlong,
+    pad: jni::sys::jint,
+    fd: jni::sys::jint,
+    haptics: jboolean,
+    speaker: jboolean,
+) -> jboolean {
+    jni_guard(0, || {
+        if handle == 0 || fd < 0 || !(0..16).contains(&pad) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+        // SAFETY: live handle per the nativeConnect/nativeClose contract.
+        let h = unsafe { &*(handle as *const SessionHandle) };
+        // Replace any previous renderer first: dropping it joins the old thread, so two of them
+        // can never hold the same descriptor at once.
+        h.stop_pad_audio();
+        // The capability declaration and the rumble suppression are NOT done here: the renderer
+        // makes both only once its USB stream actually opens (see `pad_audio::render`). Doing them
+        // at spawn time would, on a kernel that refuses the interface claim, take the pad off wire
+        // rumble and give it nothing in return — no haptics of any kind.
+        match crate::pad_audio::start(
+            std::sync::Arc::clone(&h.client),
+            pad as u8,
+            fd,
+            haptics != 0,
+            speaker != 0,
+        ) {
+            Some(p) => {
+                *h.pad_audio.lock().unwrap() = Some(p);
+                1
+            }
+            None => 0,
+        }
+    })
+}
+
+/// `NativeBridge.nativePadAudioSelfTest(fd, seconds, hz): Int` — drive the pad directly with a
+/// tone through the real client render path, with no host and no session involved.
+///
+/// The check a standalone harness cannot make: it owns its descriptor by construction, so it can
+/// never reveal that the client handed the renderer a descriptor something else was already
+/// driving. Returns sample frames written, or negative on failure (see `pad_audio::SelfTest`).
+#[no_mangle]
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativePadAudioSelfTest(
+    _env: JNIEnv,
+    _this: JObject,
+    fd: jni::sys::jint,
+    seconds: jni::sys::jint,
+    hz: jni::sys::jint,
+) -> jni::sys::jint {
+    jni_guard(-1, || {
+        if fd < 0 {
+            return -1;
+        }
+        // SAFETY: Kotlin holds the owning UsbDeviceConnection open across this call and drives no
+        // other transfers on it (it opens a dedicated connection for exactly this).
+        unsafe { crate::pad_audio::self_test(fd, seconds, hz) }
+    })
+}
+
+/// `NativeBridge.nativeStopPadAudio(handle, pad)` — stop tier-A pad audio and join its thread.
+///
+/// Returns only once the render thread is joined, which is the point: Kotlin may close the
+/// `UsbDeviceConnection` as soon as this returns and not before.
+#[no_mangle]
+#[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeStopPadAudio(
+    _env: JNIEnv,
+    _this: JObject,
+    handle: jlong,
+    pad: jni::sys::jint,
+) {
+    jni_guard((), || {
+        if handle != 0 {
+            // SAFETY: live handle per the nativeConnect/nativeClose contract.
+            let h = unsafe { &*(handle as *const SessionHandle) };
+            h.stop_pad_audio();
+            if (0..16).contains(&pad) {
+                // Withdraw the capability and hand the pad back to wire rumble, in that order:
+                // the host stops sending 0xD1 before tier C resumes, so the two never overlap.
+                h.client.set_pad_audio_caps(pad as u8, 0);
+                crate::pad_audio::set_tier_a(pad as u8, false);
+            }
+        }
+    })
+}
+
 /// `NativeBridge.nativeSetMicMuted(handle, muted)` — mute/unmute the mic uplink mid-stream.
 ///
 /// Muting deliberately does NOT stop the capture: the AAudio input stream, the input-preset rung

clients/session/src/main.rs

@@ -188,6 +188,12 @@ mod session_main {
         if !settings.forward_pad.is_empty() {
             gamepad.set_pinned(Some(settings.forward_pad.clone()));
         }
+        // Pad-audio prefs to OUR gamepad service (same reasoning as the pin above): tier-A
+        // slots declare their render caps at open time, which happens on attach — after this.
+        gamepad.set_pad_audio_prefs(
+            settings.pad_haptics,
+            pf_client_core::pad_audio::speaker_active(&settings.pad_speaker),
+        );
         let mode = Mode {
             width: if settings.width == 0 {
                 native.width
@@ -291,6 +297,11 @@ mod session_main {
             cursor_forward: settings.mouse_mode() == trust::MouseMode::Desktop,
             mic_enabled: settings.mic_enabled,
             echo_cancel: settings.echo_cancel,
+            // Pad audio (0xD1): the DualSense haptics/speaker render settings. The gamepad
+            // service learns the same prefs below so tier-A slots declare their render caps
+            // at open; the session pump gates CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO + the renderer on these.
+            pad_haptics: settings.pad_haptics,
+            pad_speaker: settings.pad_speaker.clone(),
             clipboard,
             // The Settings preference (auto → VAAPI where it exists; the presenter
             // demotes to software on boxes whose Vulkan can't import the dmabufs).

crates/pf-client-core/Cargo.toml

@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ sdl3 = { version = "0.18", features = ["hidapi"] }
 
 [target.'cfg(windows)'.dependencies]
 wasapi = "0.23"
+# Pad-audio correlation (pad_audio.rs): the HID devnode's ContainerID and a render endpoint's
+# stamped PKEY_Device_ContainerId both live in the registry — read-only, which sidesteps COM
+# property stores entirely (the same version the host pins).
+winreg = "0.56"
 sdl3 = { version = "0.18", features = ["hidapi", "build-from-source"] }
 # D3D11VA decode (video_d3d11.rs): device/adapter selection, DXVA probes, and the shared
 # NT-handle hand-off ring. Same pinned rev as clients/windows so the workspace builds ONE

crates/pf-client-core/src/gamepad.rs

@@ -336,6 +336,9 @@ enum Ctl {
     Detach,
     Pin(Option<String>),
     KindOverride(GamepadPref),
+    /// Which pad-audio streams the session's settings want rendered (bit0 = haptics, bit1 =
+    /// speaker) — the settings half of the per-pad tier-A capability declared at slot open.
+    PadAudioPrefs(u8),
     MenuMode(bool),
     MenuRumble(MenuPulse),
 }
@@ -482,6 +485,18 @@ impl GamepadService {
         let _ = self.ctl.send(Ctl::KindOverride(pref));
     }
 
+    /// Declare which pad-audio streams this session's settings want rendered (`haptics` =
+    /// [`Settings::pad_haptics`](crate::trust::Settings::pad_haptics), `speaker` =
+    /// `pad_speaker == "pad"` via [`crate::pad_audio::speaker_active`]). Drives the per-pad
+    /// tier-A capability bits declared to the core at slot open — a WIRED DualSense/Edge
+    /// declares exactly these; every other pad declares 0. Call before [`Self::attach`],
+    /// like [`Self::set_kind_override`]: slots declare at open time. Defaults to "nothing"
+    /// for an embedder that never calls it, keeping the wire bytes exactly as before.
+    pub fn set_pad_audio_prefs(&self, haptics: bool, speaker: bool) {
+        let bits = (haptics as u8) | ((speaker as u8) << 1);
+        let _ = self.ctl.send(Ctl::PadAudioPrefs(bits));
+    }
+
     pub fn attach(&self, connector: Arc<NativeClient>) {
         let _ = self.ctl.send(Ctl::Attach(connector));
     }
@@ -611,6 +626,11 @@ fn axis_value(axis: sdl3::gamepad::Axis, v: i16) -> (u32, i32) {
 struct Ds5Feedback;
 
 impl Ds5Feedback {
+    /// The audio-control region (`ucHeadphoneVolume`…`ucAudioMuteBits`, struct offsets 4..=9).
+    /// The 47-byte effect struct is the USB report 0x02 minus its report-id byte, so struct
+    /// offset 4 = report byte 5 (the same −1 shift that maps report offset 11 to
+    /// [`Self::RIGHT_TRIGGER`] = 10 in [`trigger_packet`](Self::trigger_packet)).
+    const AUDIO: usize = 4;
     const RIGHT_TRIGGER: usize = 10;
     const LEFT_TRIGGER: usize = 21;
     const PAD_LIGHTS: usize = 43;
@@ -644,6 +664,29 @@ impl Ds5Feedback {
         p[Self::PAD_LIGHTS] = bits & 0x1F;
         p
     }
+
+    /// The one-shot tier-A activation packet — the SDL disable-bit trap undone. `p[0]`
+    /// (`ucEnableBits1`) bit0 = "enable rumble emulation" and bit1 = "disable audio haptics"
+    /// (SDL_hidapi_ps5.c); SDL sets BOTH whenever its rumble path runs, which mutes the very
+    /// voice coils the 0xD1 haptics stream drives. Per SDL's own comment — "Leaving emulated
+    /// rumble bits off will restore audio haptics" — a packet with those bits CLEARED (and no
+    /// other valid flag, so nothing else is touched) puts the pad back on audio haptics.
+    fn audio_haptics_packet() -> [u8; 47] {
+        [0u8; 47]
+    }
+
+    /// Fold a host [`HidOutput::AudioCtl`] into an effects packet: `raw` is DS5 output report
+    /// `0x02` bytes 5..=10 verbatim → struct offsets 4..=9 ([`Self::AUDIO`] — headphone/
+    /// speaker/mic volumes + routing), and `p[0]` re-asserts the report's audio-valid flags
+    /// (`flags` bits1..4 = report `flag0` bits 4..7). `flags` bit0 (haptics-select, `flag0`
+    /// bit1 = SDL's "disable audio haptics") is deliberately NOT replayed: bits 0/1 stay
+    /// clear so the pad's audio haptics stay live (see [`audio_haptics_packet`]).
+    fn audio_ctl_packet(flags: u8, raw: &[u8; 6]) -> [u8; 47] {
+        let mut p = [0u8; 47];
+        p[0] = (flags & 0x1E) << 3;
+        p[Self::AUDIO..Self::AUDIO + 6].copy_from_slice(raw);
+        p
+    }
 }
 
 /// One forwarded controller during an attached session: the open SDL handle, its stable wire
@@ -677,6 +720,14 @@ struct Slot {
     /// close lift a click held across detach/unplug.
     held_clicks: [bool; 2],
     last_accel: [i16; 3],
+    /// Pad-audio render capabilities declared for this slot (bit0 = haptics, bit1 = speaker
+    /// — the [`NativeClient::set_pad_audio_caps`] bits). Nonzero only for a tier-A pad (a
+    /// WIRED DualSense/Edge, see [`crate::pad_audio::is_tier_a_ds5`]) under matching
+    /// settings; bit0 set additionally suppresses wire rumble for this slot (the SDL
+    /// disable-bit trap — see [`Worker::render_feedback`]).
+    audio_caps: u8,
+    /// The wire-rumble-suppressed notice fired for this slot (log once, not per command).
+    rumble_suppressed_logged: bool,
 }
 
 impl Slot {
@@ -692,6 +743,8 @@ impl Slot {
             surface_last: [(0, 0, false); 2],
             held_clicks: [false; 2],
             last_accel: [0; 3],
+            audio_caps: 0,
+            rumble_suppressed_logged: false,
         }
     }
 
@@ -725,6 +778,10 @@ struct Worker {
     /// `Auto` = per-pad detection. Applied at slot open to the kind DECLARED to the host, never
     /// to [`Slot::pref`] — the local feedback paths must keep reading the physical pad.
     kind_override: GamepadPref,
+    /// Pad-audio streams the session's settings want rendered (bit0 = haptics, bit1 =
+    /// speaker — [`GamepadService::set_pad_audio_prefs`]). `0` (the default) until an embedder
+    /// declares some: tier-A detection then never runs and every arrival stays caps-less.
+    pad_audio_prefs: u8,
     attached: Option<Arc<NativeClient>>,
     /// Raises the UI escape signal; the escape chord fires it once per press.
     escape_tx: async_channel::Sender<()>,
@@ -925,11 +982,18 @@ impl Worker {
             Ok(pad) => {
                 let mut slot = Slot::new(id, index, pref, pad);
                 Self::set_slot_sensors(&mut slot, true);
+                slot.audio_caps = self.pad_audio_caps_for(id, &slot.pad);
                 // Declare this pad's kind BEFORE any of its input, so the host builds a matching
                 // virtual device (mixed types — pad 0 a DualSense, pad 1 an Xbox pad). The core
                 // re-sends it a few times against datagram loss; an older host ignores it and
                 // uses the session-default kind.
                 if let Some(c) = &self.attached {
+                    // Pad-audio render caps go in FIRST — the core ORs them into this (and
+                    // every re-sent) arrival's flags bits 8/9 toward a capable host. ALWAYS
+                    // set (0 for non-tier-A): wire indices are reused within a connection, so
+                    // a tier-A slot that closes must not leave its bits behind for the next
+                    // pad on the same index (the set_rumble_quirks rule).
+                    c.set_pad_audio_caps(index, slot.audio_caps);
                     send(
                         c,
                         InputKind::GamepadArrival,
@@ -952,6 +1016,27 @@ impl Worker {
                     };
                     c.set_rumble_quirks(index as u16, quirks);
                 }
+                if slot.audio_caps != 0 {
+                    if slot.audio_caps & 0x01 != 0 {
+                        // Tier-A haptics activation: the SDL disable-bit trap. SDL's DS5
+                        // driver sets ucEnableBits1 0x01|0x02 ("enable rumble emulation" +
+                        // "disable audio haptics") whenever its rumble path runs — which
+                        // would MUTE the voice coils the 0xD1 stream drives. One effects
+                        // packet with those bits CLEARED puts the pad back on audio haptics
+                        // ("Leaving emulated rumble bits off will restore audio haptics" —
+                        // SDL_hidapi_ps5.c); wire rumble for this slot is suppressed in
+                        // render_feedback so SDL never re-arms them.
+                        let _ = slot.pad.send_effect(&Ds5Feedback::audio_haptics_packet());
+                    }
+                    // Hand the pad to the session's renderer worker. Windows correlation
+                    // needs the HID interface path; Linux matches the sink by signature.
+                    crate::pad_audio::register_tier_a(index, slot.pad.path());
+                    tracing::info!(
+                        index,
+                        caps = slot.audio_caps,
+                        "tier-A DualSense: pad-audio render caps declared"
+                    );
+                }
                 tracing::info!(
                     id,
                     index,
@@ -965,6 +1050,35 @@ impl Worker {
         }
     }
 
+    /// This pad's pad-audio render capabilities (the bits [`NativeClient::set_pad_audio_caps`]
+    /// takes): the settings prefs for a tier-A pad — a physical DualSense/Edge (by VID:PID,
+    /// never the DECLARED kind: the stream renders on the controller in the user's hands) on
+    /// a WIRED connection — and `0` for everything else (tier B/C are out of scope). Wired
+    /// comes from `SDL_GetGamepadConnectionState`; when SDL answers Unknown, the pad's 4-ch
+    /// audio sibling existing is the fallback signal (Bluetooth exposes no audio device).
+    fn pad_audio_caps_for(&self, id: u32, pad: &sdl3::gamepad::Gamepad) -> u8 {
+        if self.pad_audio_prefs == 0 {
+            return 0; // nothing wanted — skip the (possibly probing) wired check entirely
+        }
+        let jid = sdl3::sys::joystick::SDL_JoystickID(id);
+        let vid = self.subsystem.vendor_for_id(jid).unwrap_or(0);
+        let pid = self.subsystem.product_for_id(jid).unwrap_or(0);
+        if !crate::pad_audio::is_tier_a_ds5(vid, pid, true) {
+            return 0; // not a DualSense/Edge — no wired check needed
+        }
+        use sdl3::joystick::ConnectionState;
+        let wired = match pad.connection_state() {
+            Ok(ConnectionState::Wired) => true,
+            Ok(ConnectionState::Wireless) => false,
+            _ => crate::pad_audio::wired_audio_sibling(pad.path().as_deref()),
+        };
+        if crate::pad_audio::is_tier_a_ds5(vid, pid, wired) {
+            self.pad_audio_prefs
+        } else {
+            0
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Flush a slot's held wire state (so nothing sticks down host-side) and drop it — closing
     /// the SDL handle. The flush only emits wire events, so it is safe even when the device is
     /// already gone (unplug).
@@ -981,6 +1095,11 @@ impl Worker {
             send(&c, InputKind::GamepadRemove, 0, 0, self.slots[i].index);
         }
         let slot = self.slots.remove(i);
+        if slot.audio_caps != 0 {
+            // Take the pad back from the pad-audio renderer (its device-gone path then
+            // re-correlates — and finds nothing until a tier-A pad registers again).
+            crate::pad_audio::unregister_tier_a(slot.index);
+        }
         tracing::info!(
             id = slot.id,
             index = slot.index,
@@ -1269,6 +1388,7 @@ impl Worker {
                     self.refresh_active();
                 }
                 Ok(Ctl::KindOverride(pref)) => self.kind_override = pref,
+                Ok(Ctl::PadAudioPrefs(bits)) => self.pad_audio_prefs = bits & 0x03,
                 Ok(Ctl::MenuMode(on)) => {
                     self.menu_mode = on;
                     if on {
@@ -1540,6 +1660,20 @@ impl Worker {
         // first; the physical silence backstop is in `close_slot_at`).
         while let Ok(cmd) = connector.next_rumble_command(Duration::ZERO) {
             if let Some(slot) = self.slots.iter_mut().find(|s| s.index as u16 == cmd.pad) {
+                // The SDL disable-bit trap: ANY SDL rumble write sets ucEnableBits1
+                // 0x01|0x02, muting the very voice coils the 0xD1 haptics stream drives —
+                // so a slot with tier-A haptics active never issues wire rumble (the stream
+                // carries the feedback; the game's rumble is in its haptics mix).
+                if slot.audio_caps & 0x01 != 0 {
+                    if !slot.rumble_suppressed_logged {
+                        slot.rumble_suppressed_logged = true;
+                        tracing::info!(
+                            pad = slot.index,
+                            "wire rumble suppressed — the pad-audio haptics stream carries feedback"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    continue;
+                }
                 Self::issue_rumble(slot, cmd.low, cmd.high, cmd.backstop_ms);
             }
         }
@@ -1572,6 +1706,17 @@ impl Worker {
                         .pad
                         .send_effect(&Ds5Feedback::trigger_packet(which, effect));
                 }
+                // The audio-control region of a DS5 output report a game wrote host-side
+                // (volumes + routing; the SAMPLES ride 0xD1) — folded back into the physical
+                // pad's effects packet, but only where a tier-A renderer is actually live
+                // (`audio_caps`): replaying speaker volumes at a pad whose audio device
+                // nothing streams to would just mute/blast a future session's start state.
+                // Non-tier-A pads keep dropping it (the pre-pad-audio behaviour).
+                HidOutput::AudioCtl { flags, raw, .. } if is_ds && slot.audio_caps != 0 => {
+                    let _ = slot
+                        .pad
+                        .send_effect(&Ds5Feedback::audio_ctl_packet(flags, &raw));
+                }
                 _ => {}
             }
         }
@@ -1586,6 +1731,8 @@ fn hidout_pad(h: &HidOutput) -> u8 {
         | HidOutput::Trigger { pad, .. }
         | HidOutput::TrackpadHaptic { pad, .. }
         | HidOutput::HidRaw { pad, .. } => *pad,
+        // AudioCtl's pad is u16 on the wire; the index space is 0..MAX_PADS end to end.
+        HidOutput::AudioCtl { pad, .. } => *pad as u8,
     }
 }
 
@@ -1609,6 +1756,7 @@ impl Worker {
             order: Vec::new(),
             pinned: None,
             kind_override: GamepadPref::Auto,
+            pad_audio_prefs: 0,
             attached: None,
             escape_tx,
             disconnect_tx,
@@ -1944,5 +2092,43 @@ mod slot_tests {
             }),
             6
         );
+        // AudioCtl's wire pad is u16; the index space is 0..MAX_PADS end to end.
+        assert_eq!(
+            hidout_pad(&HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+                pad: 7,
+                flags: 0,
+                raw: [0; 6]
+            }),
+            7
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The AudioCtl fold: the 6 raw bytes (DS5 report 0x02 bytes 5..=10) land at effect-struct
+    /// offsets 4..=9, the report's audio-valid flags (AudioCtl.flags bits1..4) come back as
+    /// p[0] bits 4..7, and the rumble-emulation / disable-audio-haptics bits (p[0] bits 0/1)
+    /// stay CLEAR — setting either would mute the voice coils the 0xD1 stream drives.
+    #[test]
+    fn audio_ctl_folds_report_bytes_into_effect_offsets() {
+        let raw = [0x50, 0x60, 0x70, 0x05, 0x11, 0x22];
+        // flags 0b1_0111: haptics-select (bit0) + audio-valid bits 1/2/4 of the condensed form.
+        let p = Ds5Feedback::audio_ctl_packet(0b1_0111, &raw);
+        assert_eq!(&p[4..10], &raw, "report bytes 5..=10 → struct 4..=9");
+        // bits1..4 (0b1011) → flag0 bits 4..7.
+        assert_eq!(p[0], 0b1011_0000);
+        assert_eq!(
+            p[0] & 0x03,
+            0,
+            "haptics-select must NOT replay into p[0] bits 0/1"
+        );
+        // Nothing else is touched: no trigger/LED enable bits, no stray bytes.
+        assert!(p[1..4].iter().all(|&b| b == 0));
+        assert!(p[10..].iter().all(|&b| b == 0));
+        // No audio-valid flags condenses to no enable bits (raw still carried verbatim).
+        let p = Ds5Feedback::audio_ctl_packet(0b0_0001, &raw);
+        assert_eq!(p[0], 0);
+        assert_eq!(&p[4..10], &raw);
+        // The tier-A activation packet is the all-clear: every enable bit off — per
+        // SDL_hidapi_ps5.c, leaving the emulated-rumble bits off restores audio haptics.
+        assert_eq!(Ds5Feedback::audio_haptics_packet(), [0u8; 47]);
     }
 }

crates/pf-client-core/src/lib.rs

@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ pub mod os;
 // Client settings profiles: the override catalog + the one connect-time resolver
 // (design/client-settings-profiles.md §4). Sits beside `trust`, which owns the host records
 // the bindings live on.
+// Pad audio (the 0xD1 plane): DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker rendered on the wired
+// physical pad's own 4-ch audio device — correlation, the per-session renderer worker, and
+// the tier-A pad registry the gamepad worker feeds it through.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", windows))]
+pub mod pad_audio;
 #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", windows))]
 pub mod profiles;
 #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", windows))]

crates/pf-client-core/src/session.rs

@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@ pub struct SessionParams {
     /// Run the uplink through the platform's echo cancellation ([`Settings::echo_cancel`]).
     /// Ignored when `mic_enabled` is false; `PUNKTFUNK_NO_AEC=1` overrides it off.
     pub echo_cancel: bool,
+    /// Render the host's per-pad DualSense voice-coil haptics stream (0xD1 kind 0) on a wired
+    /// physical DualSense ([`crate::trust::Settings::pad_haptics`]). With `pad_speaker` it
+    /// gates the `CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` advertisement and the pad-audio renderer thread.
+    pub pad_haptics: bool,
+    /// Where the DualSense built-in-speaker stream (0xD1 kind 1) goes: `"pad"` | `"mix"` |
+    /// `"off"` ([`crate::trust::Settings::pad_speaker`]; `"mix"` is a TODO that renders as
+    /// off — see [`crate::pad_audio::speaker_active`]).
+    pub pad_speaker: String,
     /// Share the clipboard with this host (the per-host `KnownHost::clipboard_sync`). The
     /// bridge additionally needs the host to advertise `HOST_CAP_CLIPBOARD`.
     pub clipboard: bool,
@@ -356,6 +364,11 @@ fn pump(
             );
         }
     }
+    // Pad audio (0xD1): advertise only when the settings could render a stream — the per-pad
+    // tier-A detection at slot open (gamepad.rs) still decides which pads declare render caps
+    // on their arrivals, so this bit alone changes nothing without a wired DualSense.
+    let pad_speaker_on = crate::pad_audio::speaker_active(&params.pad_speaker);
+    let pad_audio_on = params.pad_haptics || pad_speaker_on;
     let connector = match NativeClient::connect(
         &params.host,
         params.port,
@@ -379,6 +392,11 @@ fn pump(
             0
         }) | (if params.phase_lock {
             punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK
+        } else {
+            0
+            // PAD_AUDIO: the embedder can render per-pad DualSense haptics/speaker (see above).
+        }) | (if pad_audio_on {
+            punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO
         } else {
             0
         }),
@@ -481,6 +499,20 @@ fn pump(
     // app-lifetime service's job (the UI attaches it on Connected). Audio runs on its own
     // thread (one puller per plane), blocking on the audio queue like the Apple client.
     let audio_thread = spawn_audio(connector.clone(), stop.clone());
+    // Pad audio (0xD1): its own drain thread (that plane's single consumer), spawned whenever
+    // the settings could render. The output device is opened LAZILY once frames actually
+    // arrive — which only happens after a tier-A pad declared render caps on its arrival — so
+    // a session without a wired DualSense costs one idle 10 ms poll loop.
+    let pad_audio_thread = pad_audio_on
+        .then(|| {
+            crate::pad_audio::spawn(
+                connector.clone(),
+                stop.clone(),
+                params.pad_haptics,
+                pad_speaker_on,
+            )
+        })
+        .flatten();
     // The shared clipboard (design/clipboard-and-file-transfer.md §5): its own thread, since
     // `next_clip` blocks and the OS clipboard calls can wait on other apps. Returns straight
     // away when the host has no clipboard capability, so spawning is unconditional.
@@ -1046,6 +1078,9 @@ fn pump(
     if let Some(t) = audio_thread {
         let _ = t.join(); // exits within its 100 ms pull timeout once `stop` is set
     }
+    if let Some(t) = pad_audio_thread {
+        let _ = t.join(); // exits within its 10 ms pull timeout once `stop` is set
+    }
     if let Some(t) = clipboard_thread {
         let _ = t.join(); // exits within its next_clip wait once `stop` is set
     }

crates/pf-client-core/src/trust.rs

@@ -912,6 +912,21 @@ pub struct Settings {
     /// `PUNKTFUNK_AUDIO_SOURCE`).
     #[serde(default)]
     pub mic_device: String,
+    /// Render the host's per-pad DualSense voice-coil haptics stream (the 0xD1 plane, kind 0)
+    /// on a WIRED physical DualSense's own audio device (tier A — Bluetooth pads expose no
+    /// audio device). Gates the `CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` advertisement and the per-pad arrival
+    /// capability bit; wire rumble is suppressed for a pad whose haptics stream is live (the
+    /// stream carries the feedback — see `gamepad.rs`, the SDL disable-bit trap). Default ON:
+    /// the capable-and-agreed negotiation means it changes nothing without a capable host AND
+    /// a wired DS5. `default` so pre-existing stores load with it on.
+    #[serde(default = "default_true")]
+    pub pad_haptics: bool,
+    /// Where the DualSense built-in-speaker stream (0xD1 kind 1) is rendered: `"pad"` (default
+    /// — the physical pad's own speaker), `"mix"` (fold it into the main stream audio — a
+    /// declared TODO that renders as `"off"` today; see `pad_audio::speaker_active`), or
+    /// `"off"`. `default` so pre-existing stores load as `"pad"`.
+    #[serde(default = "default_pad_speaker")]
+    pub pad_speaker: String,
     /// Match-window resolution policy (design/midstream-resolution-resize.md D1): the
     /// stream mode follows the session window — the connect asks for the window's pixel
     /// size and a mid-session resize renegotiates the host's virtual display + encoder
@@ -943,6 +958,10 @@ fn default_true() -> bool {
     true
 }
 
+fn default_pad_speaker() -> String {
+    "pad".into()
+}
+
 impl Settings {
     /// The stats-overlay tier, resolving pre-tier stores: an old `show_stats = false`
     /// reads as Off, everything else as Normal (≈ what the pre-tier overlay showed).
@@ -1015,6 +1034,8 @@ impl Default for Settings {
             invert_scroll: false,
             speaker_device: String::new(),
             mic_device: String::new(),
+            pad_haptics: true,
+            pad_speaker: "pad".into(),
             match_window: false,
             last_window_w: 0,
             last_window_h: 0,

crates/pf-inject/src/inject/hidout_dedup.rs

@@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ use punktfunk_core::quic::HidOutput;
 /// bundles rumble + lightbar + player-LEDs + adaptive-triggers into one report, so a pad that is
 /// merely *rumbling* re-sends its (unchanged) lightbar / LED / trigger state on every output report.
 /// The managers already dedup rumble; this does the same for the rich [`HidOutput`] feedback so the
-/// 0xCD plane carries only genuine changes. State (`Led` / `PlayerLeds` / `Trigger`) is deduped by
-/// value; a one-shot `TrackpadHaptic` pulse is always forwarded (each pulse must fire).
+/// 0xCD plane carries only genuine changes. State (`Led` / `PlayerLeds` / `Trigger` / `AudioCtl`)
+/// is deduped by value; a one-shot `TrackpadHaptic` pulse is always forwarded (each pulse must
+/// fire).
 #[derive(Clone, Default)]
 pub struct HidoutDedup {
     led: Option<(u8, u8, u8)>,
     player_leds: Option<u8>,
     /// Last-forwarded adaptive-trigger effect per side: `[0]` = L2, `[1]` = R2.
     trigger: [Option<Vec<u8>>; 2],
+    /// Last-forwarded audio-control state (`flags` + the raw volume/routing bytes).
+    audio_ctl: Option<(u8, [u8; 6])>,
+    /// Once-per-pad-lifetime field-diagnosis flag: set after the first forwarded `AudioCtl`
+    /// carrying the haptics-select bit was logged (cleared with the rest on (re)plug).
+    haptics_select_logged: bool,
 }
 
 impl HidoutDedup {
@@ -60,6 +66,25 @@ impl HidoutDedup {
             }
             // One-shot haptic pulse (Steam voice-coil) — state-less, always fires.
             HidOutput::TrackpadHaptic { .. } => true,
+            HidOutput::AudioCtl { pad, flags, raw } => {
+                let v = Some((*flags, *raw));
+                if self.audio_ctl == v {
+                    false
+                } else {
+                    // Field-diagnosis signal, once per pad lifetime: a title driving the DS5's
+                    // audio haptics (not plain rumble emulation, whose all-zero audio region
+                    // never reaches here) — the trace that tells "the game does audio haptics"
+                    // apart from "the client just doesn't render them".
+                    if flags & 0x01 != 0 && !self.haptics_select_logged {
+                        self.haptics_select_logged = true;
+                        tracing::info!(
+                            "DS5 title asserted haptics-select (audio haptics) pad={pad}"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    self.audio_ctl = v;
+                    true
+                }
+            }
             // Raw as-is passthrough reports must NEVER dedup: the physical device's firmware
             // watchdogs RELY on identical periodic refreshes (Triton rumble re-sent every ~40 ms
             // against a ~50 ms safety timeout, lizard-off every ~3 s) — dropping a repeat would
@@ -123,4 +148,28 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(d.should_forward(&pl(0b101)));
         assert!(d.should_forward(&trig(0, 2)));
     }
+
+    /// `AudioCtl` dedups by value like the other state kinds: an identical repeat (every output
+    /// report re-sends the unchanged audio region) is dropped, a flags-only or raw-only change
+    /// forwards again, and `clear` re-arms — including the once-per-pad haptics-select log flag.
+    #[test]
+    fn audio_ctl_dedups_by_value() {
+        let mut d = HidoutDedup::default();
+        let audio = |flags, vol| HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+            pad: 0,
+            flags,
+            raw: [vol, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
+        };
+        // Identical twice → exactly one emission.
+        assert!(d.should_forward(&audio(0x17, 0x50)));
+        assert!(!d.should_forward(&audio(0x17, 0x50)));
+        // Either half changing (flags, or the raw region) forwards again.
+        assert!(d.should_forward(&audio(0x16, 0x50)));
+        assert!(d.should_forward(&audio(0x16, 0x60)));
+        // The other kinds' state is untouched by audio traffic.
+        assert!(d.should_forward(&HidOutput::PlayerLeds { pad: 0, bits: 1 }));
+        // `clear` (pad re-plug) re-arms the value dedup.
+        d.clear();
+        assert!(d.should_forward(&audio(0x16, 0x60)));
+    }
 }

crates/pf-inject/src/inject/proto/dualsense_proto.rs

@@ -35,10 +35,14 @@ pub const DS_FEATURE_PAIRING: &[u8] = &[ // report 0x09 (pairing info: MAC at by
     0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
 ];
 #[rustfmt::skip]
-pub const DS_FEATURE_FIRMWARE: &[u8] = &[ // report 0x20 (firmware info / build date)
+pub const DS_FEATURE_FIRMWARE: &[u8] = &[ // report 0x20 (firmware info / build date); bytes 44..46
+    // = update version, kept ABOVE Sony's real releases (0x0630 as of 2026-08) — an older value
+    // makes PlayStation Accessories and libScePad titles demand a firmware update the virtual pad
+    // cannot take ("can't complete the update"), and ≥ 0x0224 is what puts writers on the
+    // COMPATIBLE_VIBRATION2 convention parse_ds_output accepts alongside flag0.
     0x20, 0x4A, 0x75, 0x6E, 0x20, 0x31, 0x39, 0x20, 0x32, 0x30, 0x32, 0x33, 0x31, 0x34, 0x3A, 0x34,
     0x37, 0x3A, 0x33, 0x34, 0x03, 0x00, 0x44, 0x00, 0x08, 0x02, 0x00, 0x01, 0x36, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01,
-    0xC1, 0xC8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x54, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00,
+    0xC1, 0xC8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x99, 0x09, 0x00, 0x00,
     0x14, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x0B, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x06, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
 ];
 
@@ -477,7 +481,8 @@ pub struct DsFeedback {
 
 /// Parse a DualSense USB output report (`0x02`) into a [`DsFeedback`]. The byte layout below is
 /// the USB DualSense common report; only the well-understood fields (motor rumble, lightbar RGB,
-/// player LEDs) are surfaced — adaptive-trigger blocks are forwarded raw for the client.
+/// player LEDs) are surfaced — adaptive-trigger blocks and the audio-control region are
+/// forwarded raw for the client.
 ///
 /// Every field is gated on the report's valid-flags (`valid_flag0` at data[1], `valid_flag1`
 /// at data[2]) — writers only set the bits for fields they mean to change (the rest is zeroed),
@@ -494,10 +499,13 @@ pub fn parse_ds_output(pad: u8, data: &[u8], fb: &mut DsFeedback) {
                          // data[4]. Scale 0..255 → 0..0xFFFF, same (low, high) convention as the uinput pad's mixer,
                          // and route to the universal rumble plane (0xCA).
                          // Writers on firmware ≥ 2.24 signal rumble via COMPATIBLE_VIBRATION2 in valid_flag2
-                         // (data[39] BIT2) instead of flag0 BIT0. Our feature report advertises 0x0154 so the
-                         // kernel and SDL stay on the flag0 convention, but a writer that hardcodes v2 would
-                         // otherwise have its rumble — including stops — silently ignored, and a missed stop
-                         // buzzes for the rest of the session (the 500 ms refresh re-sends stale state forever).
+                         // (data[39] BIT2) instead of flag0 BIT0. Our feature report advertises a version
+                         // above 2.24 (DS_FEATURE_FIRMWARE bytes 44..46, chosen to keep Sony's updater
+                         // quiet), so the kernel and SDL write the v2 flag — while older writers, and any
+                         // that never read the version, stay on flag0. Both conventions must land here: a
+                         // rumble dropped on either — including stops — is silently ignored, and a missed
+                         // stop buzzes for the rest of the session (the 500 ms refresh re-sends stale state
+                         // forever).
     if flag0 & 0x03 != 0 || data[39] & 0x04 != 0 {
         let high = (data[3] as u16) << 8;
         let low = (data[4] as u16) << 8;
@@ -533,6 +541,21 @@ pub fn parse_ds_output(pad: u8, data: &[u8], fb: &mut DsFeedback) {
             });
         }
     }
+    // The audio-control region (bytes 5..=10: headphone/speaker/mic volumes + routing), for the
+    // pad-audio path. The wire flags condense the report's audio bits: bit0 = haptics-select
+    // (flag0 BIT1 — set on every SDL rumble write too, which is why it alone never triggers an
+    // emission), bits1..4 = flag0 bits 4..7 (the audio-valid flags gating the region). Emitted
+    // whenever an audio-valid flag is present or the region carries data; downstream dedup
+    // ([`crate::hidout_dedup`]) reduces the per-report repeats to genuine changes.
+    let raw: [u8; 6] = data[5..11].try_into().unwrap();
+    if flag0 & 0xF0 != 0 || raw != [0u8; 6] {
+        let flags = ((flag0 >> 1) & 0x01) | ((flag0 >> 3) & 0x1E);
+        fb.hidout.push(HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+            pad: pad.into(),
+            flags,
+            raw,
+        });
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -835,6 +858,48 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(*DUALSENSE_EDGE_RDESC.last().unwrap(), 0xC0);
     }
 
+    /// A 0x02 report driving the pad's audio (haptics-select + audio-valid flags + the volume/
+    /// routing bytes) surfaces an `AudioCtl` with the exact raw region and the condensed flags;
+    /// a plain rumble write (haptics-select but a silent audio region — every SDL rumble) does
+    /// NOT — that is what `parse_output_respects_valid_flags` pins with its `hidout.is_empty()`.
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_output_surfaces_audio_ctl() {
+        let mut data = vec![0u8; 48];
+        data[0] = 0x02;
+        data[1] = 0xB2; // flag0: haptics-select (BIT1) + audio-valid bits 4/5/7
+        data[5] = 0x50; // headphone volume
+        data[6] = 0x60; // speaker volume
+        data[7] = 0x70; // mic volume
+        data[8] = 0x05; // audio routing / enable bits
+        let mut fb = DsFeedback::default();
+        parse_ds_output(3, &data, &mut fb);
+        // flags: bit0 = flag0 bit1, bits1..4 = flag0 bits 4..7 (0b1011 → 0b10110).
+        assert_eq!(
+            fb.hidout,
+            vec![HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+                pad: 3,
+                flags: 0b1_0111,
+                raw: [0x50, 0x60, 0x70, 0x05, 0x00, 0x00],
+            }]
+        );
+        // A non-zero audio region with NO audio-valid flags still surfaces (dedup collapses the
+        // repeats downstream) — some writers leave stale volumes gated off; the host side wants
+        // the honest bytes either way.
+        let mut data = vec![0u8; 48];
+        data[0] = 0x02;
+        data[9] = 0x01;
+        let mut fb = DsFeedback::default();
+        parse_ds_output(0, &data, &mut fb);
+        assert_eq!(
+            fb.hidout,
+            vec![HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+                pad: 0,
+                flags: 0,
+                raw: [0, 0, 0, 0, 0x01, 0],
+            }]
+        );
+    }
+
     /// A short / wrong-id report yields nothing.
     #[test]
     fn parse_output_rejects_garbage() {

crates/pf-inject/src/inject/uhid_manager.rs

@@ -475,6 +475,7 @@ mod tests {
             index: 2,
             kind: 1,
             capabilities: 0,
+            audio_caps: 0,
         });
         assert!(m.slots.get(2).is_some());
     }

crates/punktfunk-core/src/abi.rs

@@ -670,6 +670,12 @@ pub const PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_TRIGGER: u8 = 3;
 /// side (0 = right pad, 1 = left pad); `effect[0..6]` packs `amplitude` / `period` / `count` as
 /// little-endian `u16`s with `effect_len = 6`. Clients without trackpad coils drop it.
 pub const PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_TRACKPAD_HAPTIC: u8 = 4;
+/// `PunktfunkHidOutput::kind` — the audio-control region of a DS5 output report (pad-audio
+/// routing/volumes; the audio SAMPLES arrive via [`punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio`]).
+/// `which` = the condensed audio flags (bit0 = haptics-select, bits1..4 = the report's
+/// audio-valid flags); `effect[0..6]` = bytes 5..=10 of the report verbatim
+/// (headphone/speaker/mic volumes + routing) with `effect_len = 6`. Forwarded change-only.
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL: u8 = 5;
 /// Capacity of `PunktfunkHidOutput::effect` (the DualSense trigger parameter block).
 pub const PUNKTFUNK_HID_EFFECT_MAX: u8 = 11;
 
@@ -759,6 +765,16 @@ impl PunktfunkHidOutput {
                 out.effect_len = 6;
             }
             HidOutput::HidRaw { .. } => return None,
+            HidOutput::AudioCtl { pad, flags, raw } => {
+                // Same packing idiom as TrackpadHaptic: `which` carries the flags byte,
+                // `effect[0..6]` the raw audio region. The u16 wire pad narrows losslessly —
+                // pads are 0..16 (`input::MAX_PADS`) end to end.
+                out.kind = PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL;
+                out.pad = *pad as u8;
+                out.which = *flags;
+                out.effect[0..6].copy_from_slice(raw);
+                out.effect_len = 6;
+            }
         }
         Some(out)
     }
@@ -1172,6 +1188,25 @@ pub const PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_CLIPBOARD: u8 = 0x02;
 /// the client keeps its pen-as-touch fallback. (Mirrors `quic::HOST_CAP_PEN`;
 /// design/pen-tablet-input.md.)
 pub const PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PEN: u8 = 0x10;
+/// Host-capability bit in [`punktfunk_connection_host_caps`]: the host can capture per-gamepad
+/// audio (DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker) and emit it on the 0xD1 plane toward pads
+/// declared capable via [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`]. Set only when the client
+/// asked via [`PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`]. (Mirrors `quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`.)
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO: u8 = 0x20;
+
+/// Pad-audio `kind` ([`punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio`]): the BACK channel pair — DualSense
+/// voice-coil haptics, 5 ms Opus frames. (Mirrors `quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`.)
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS: u8 = 0;
+/// Pad-audio `kind`: the FRONT channel pair — the controller's built-in speaker, 10 ms Opus
+/// frames. (Mirrors `quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`.)
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER: u8 = 1;
+
+/// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`] `audio_caps` bit: the pad renders the HAPTICS
+/// stream (a real DualSense's voice coils).
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_HAPTICS: u8 = 0x01;
+/// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`] `audio_caps` bit: the pad renders the SPEAKER
+/// stream.
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_SPEAKER: u8 = 0x02;
 
 // Keep the ABI cap bits in lockstep with the wire constants (compile-time guard against drift).
 #[cfg(feature = "quic")]
@@ -1186,6 +1221,20 @@ const _: () = {
     assert!(PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_GAMEPAD_STATE == crate::quic::HOST_CAP_GAMEPAD_STATE);
     assert!(PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_CLIPBOARD == crate::quic::HOST_CAP_CLIPBOARD);
     assert!(PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PEN == crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PEN);
+    assert!(PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO == crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO);
+    assert!(PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO == crate::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO);
+    assert!(PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS == crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS);
+    assert!(PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER == crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER);
+    // The setter's caps bits are the arrival flags bits 8/9 shifted down (the wire packing
+    // `input::encode_gamepad_arrival` applies).
+    assert!(
+        (PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_HAPTICS as u32) << 8
+            == crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS
+    );
+    assert!(
+        (PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_SPEAKER as u32) << 8
+            == crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER
+    );
     assert!(PUNKTFUNK_PEN_IN_RANGE == crate::quic::PEN_IN_RANGE);
     assert!(PUNKTFUNK_PEN_TOUCHING == crate::quic::PEN_TOUCHING);
     assert!(PUNKTFUNK_PEN_BARREL1 == crate::quic::PEN_BARREL1);
@@ -1768,6 +1817,13 @@ pub const PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR: u8 = 0x01;
 /// forward-compatible.
 pub const PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK: u8 = 0x02;
 
+/// [`punktfunk_connect_ex9`] `client_caps` bit: the client understands the pad-audio plane
+/// (0xD1 — per-gamepad DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker). The embedder MUST then drain
+/// [`punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio`] and declare each capable pad via
+/// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`]; the host emits pad audio only when it answers
+/// with [`PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`]. (Mirrors `quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`.)
+pub const PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO: u8 = 0x04;
+
 /// Shared body of [`punktfunk_connect_ex7`] / [`punktfunk_connect_ex8`]: `status_out`
 /// (nullable) is written on EVERY path — `Ok`, the mapped [`PunktfunkError`],
 /// `InvalidArg` for bad arguments, `Panic` if the connect panicked.
@@ -2312,6 +2368,117 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn punktfunk_connection_next_audio_pcm(
     })
 }
 
+/// Pull the next pad-audio frame (0xD1) — one Opus frame of DualSense voice-coil haptics
+/// (`kind` = [`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`], 5 ms) or built-in-speaker audio
+/// ([`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`], 10 ms) for gamepad `*out_pad` — waiting up to
+/// `timeout_ms`. The payload is COPIED into `buf` (no borrow-until-next-call slot); the return
+/// value is its length in bytes, `0` = nothing this poll (timeout — or a DTX/oversized frame,
+/// both of which an embedder treats the same way), `-1` = the session ended (or an invalid
+/// handle/buffer). All pads/kinds share one queue — fan out by `*out_pad`/`*out_kind` to
+/// per-actuator Opus decoders. A frame larger than `buf_len` is dropped like the timeout case
+/// (the plane is lossy by design; any real Opus frame fits a 1500-byte buffer). Only a session
+/// connected with [`PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] against a
+/// [`PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host — with the pad declared via
+/// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`] — ever receives any. Drain from a dedicated
+/// thread (one puller, may run alongside the other planes' pullers).
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// `c` is a valid connection handle; the `out_*` pointers are writable (NULLs are skipped);
+/// `buf` is writable for `buf_len` bytes.
+#[cfg(feature = "quic")]
+#[no_mangle]
+pub unsafe extern "C" fn punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio(
+    c: *mut PunktfunkConnection,
+    out_pad: *mut u8,
+    out_kind: *mut u8,
+    out_seq: *mut u32,
+    out_pts_ns: *mut u64,
+    buf: *mut u8,
+    buf_len: usize,
+    timeout_ms: u32,
+) -> i32 {
+    let r = std::panic::catch_unwind(AssertUnwindSafe(|| {
+        // SAFETY: per the ABI contract - an opaque handle from a `*_new`/`*_pair` that the caller
+        // has not yet freed, or null, which `as_mut`/`as_ref` reports as `None` and the `match`
+        // here handles.
+        let c = match unsafe { c.as_ref() } {
+            Some(c) => c,
+            None => return -1,
+        };
+        if buf.is_null() && buf_len != 0 {
+            return -1;
+        }
+        match c
+            .inner
+            .next_pad_audio(std::time::Duration::from_millis(timeout_ms as u64))
+        {
+            Some(f) => {
+                if f.opus.is_empty() || f.opus.len() > buf_len {
+                    // DTX silence (skipped like the audio-PCM path — decoding an empty payload
+                    // as loss would synthesize concealment) or doesn't fit — report "nothing
+                    // this poll" (the next_hidout HidRaw-skip precedent; truncated Opus would
+                    // be undecodable anyway).
+                    return 0;
+                }
+                // SAFETY: per the ABI contract - each out-param below is OPTIONAL, so it is null-
+                // checked before it is written; `buf` is a caller-owned writable region of
+                // `buf_len` bytes and the copy length was just bounds-checked against it.
+                unsafe {
+                    if !out_pad.is_null() {
+                        *out_pad = f.pad;
+                    }
+                    if !out_kind.is_null() {
+                        *out_kind = f.kind;
+                    }
+                    if !out_seq.is_null() {
+                        *out_seq = f.seq;
+                    }
+                    if !out_pts_ns.is_null() {
+                        *out_pts_ns = f.pts_ns;
+                    }
+                    std::ptr::copy_nonoverlapping(f.opus.as_ptr(), buf, f.opus.len());
+                }
+                f.opus.len() as i32
+            }
+            // `None` folds timeout and closed; the shutdown flag tells them apart so the
+            // embedder's plane loop can exit instead of polling a dead session forever.
+            None if c.inner.is_session_ended() => -1,
+            None => 0,
+        }
+    }));
+    r.unwrap_or(-1)
+}
+
+/// Declare wire pad `pad`'s pad-audio render capabilities (`audio_caps`: OR of
+/// [`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_HAPTICS`] / [`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_SPEAKER`]) — how a client
+/// tells the host WHICH pads can actually play the 0xD1 streams. Call at controller attach,
+/// BEFORE the pad's arrival event is sent (the [`punktfunk_connection_set_rumble_quirks`]
+/// timing): the core folds the bits into the arrival's flags (bits 8/9), and only toward a
+/// [`PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host — never calling this leaves the wire bytes exactly as
+/// before. Latest-wins per pad; unknown bits are masked off.
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// `c` is a valid connection handle. Callable from any thread.
+#[cfg(feature = "quic")]
+#[no_mangle]
+pub unsafe extern "C" fn punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps(
+    c: *mut PunktfunkConnection,
+    pad: u8,
+    audio_caps: u8,
+) -> PunktfunkStatus {
+    guard(|| {
+        // SAFETY: per the ABI contract - an opaque handle from a `*_new`/`*_pair` that the caller
+        // has not yet freed, or null, which `as_mut`/`as_ref` reports as `None` and the `match`
+        // here handles.
+        let c = match unsafe { c.as_ref() } {
+            Some(c) => c,
+            None => return PunktfunkStatus::NullPointer,
+        };
+        c.inner.set_pad_audio_caps(pad, audio_caps);
+        PunktfunkStatus::Ok
+    })
+}
+
 /// Pull the next rumble (force-feedback) update, waiting up to `timeout_ms`. Amplitudes
 /// are 0..0xFFFF (`low` = low-frequency motor, `high` = high-frequency), `(0, 0)` = stop.
 /// Same timeout/closed semantics as [`punktfunk_connection_next_audio`].
@@ -4408,3 +4575,36 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn punktfunk_reanchor_gate_is_holding(
         PunktfunkStatus::Ok
     })
 }
+
+#[cfg(all(test, feature = "quic"))]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// The `AudioCtl` → `PunktfunkHidOutput` mapping: kind 5, pad narrowed, `which` carries the
+    /// flags byte, `effect[0..6]` the raw audio region with `effect_len = 6` (the TrackpadHaptic
+    /// packing idiom — no struct growth, so the size guard above stays at 19).
+    #[test]
+    fn hidout_abi_maps_audio_ctl() {
+        let out = PunktfunkHidOutput::from_hid(&crate::quic::HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+            pad: 3,
+            flags: 0x17,
+            raw: [0x50, 0x60, 0x70, 0x05, 0, 0],
+        })
+        .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(out.kind, PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL);
+        assert_eq!(out.pad, 3);
+        assert_eq!(out.which, 0x17);
+        assert_eq!(out.effect_len, 6);
+        assert_eq!(out.effect[..6], [0x50, 0x60, 0x70, 0x05, 0, 0]);
+        assert_eq!(out.effect[6..], [0; 5]);
+        // A raw passthrough report still has no C representation (skipped at the pull site).
+        assert!(
+            PunktfunkHidOutput::from_hid(&crate::quic::HidOutput::HidRaw {
+                pad: 0,
+                kind: 0,
+                data: vec![0x80],
+            })
+            .is_none()
+        );
+    }
+}

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/mod.rs

@@ -16,11 +16,13 @@ use crate::config::{CompositorPref, GamepadPref, Mode};
 use crate::error::{PunktfunkError, Result};
 use crate::input::InputEvent;
 use crate::quic::{
-    endpoint, ClipControl, ClipKind, ClipOffer, ColorInfo, HdrMeta, HidOutput, ProbeRequest,
-    RfiRequest, RichInput,
+    endpoint, ClipControl, ClipKind, ClipOffer, ColorInfo, HdrMeta, HidOutput, PadAudioFrame,
+    ProbeRequest, RfiRequest, RichInput,
 };
 use crate::session::Frame;
-use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicI64, AtomicU16, AtomicU32, AtomicU64, Ordering};
+use std::sync::atomic::{
+    AtomicBool, AtomicI64, AtomicU16, AtomicU32, AtomicU64, AtomicU8, Ordering,
+};
 use std::sync::mpsc::{Receiver, RecvTimeoutError};
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ use self::control::{CtrlRequest, Negotiated};
 use self::frame_channel::{DecodeLatAcc, FrameChannel, FramePop};
 use self::planes::{
     RumbleUpdate, AUDIO_QUEUE, CLIP_EVENT_QUEUE, CURSOR_SHAPE_QUEUE, CURSOR_STATE_QUEUE,
-    HDR_META_QUEUE, HIDOUT_QUEUE, HOST_TIMING_QUEUE, RUMBLE_QUEUE,
+    HDR_META_QUEUE, HIDOUT_QUEUE, HOST_TIMING_QUEUE, PAD_AUDIO_QUEUE, RUMBLE_QUEUE,
 };
 use self::probe::ProbeState;
 use self::pump::run_pump;
@@ -122,6 +124,14 @@ pub struct NativeClient {
     rumble_sched: Arc<rumble::RumbleShared>,
     /// Inbound DualSense feedback (lightbar / player LEDs / adaptive triggers) — 0xCD datagrams.
     hidout: Mutex<Receiver<HidOutput>>,
+    /// Inbound pad audio (DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker Opus frames) — 0xD1 datagrams.
+    /// Only a session that advertised [`quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] against a
+    /// [`quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host ever receives any.
+    pad_audio: Mutex<Receiver<PadAudioFrame>>,
+    /// Per-pad pad-audio render capabilities (bit0 haptics, bit1 speaker), written by
+    /// [`NativeClient::set_pad_audio_caps`] and OR'd into outgoing gamepad-arrival flags
+    /// (bits 8/9) by the worker's input task — toward a `HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` host only.
+    pad_audio_caps: Arc<[AtomicU8; crate::input::MAX_PADS]>,
     /// Inbound static HDR metadata (ST.2086 mastering + content light level) — 0xCE datagrams.
     hdr_meta: Mutex<Receiver<HdrMeta>>,
     /// Inbound per-AU host capture→send timings — 0xCF datagrams (the client always advertises
@@ -418,6 +428,10 @@ impl NativeClient {
         let rumble_sched = Arc::new(rumble::RumbleShared::new());
         let rumble_feed = rumble::RumbleFeed(rumble_sched.clone());
         let (hidout_tx, hidout_rx) = std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel::<HidOutput>(HIDOUT_QUEUE);
+        let (pad_audio_tx, pad_audio_rx) =
+            std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel::<PadAudioFrame>(PAD_AUDIO_QUEUE);
+        let pad_audio_caps: Arc<[AtomicU8; crate::input::MAX_PADS]> =
+            Arc::new(std::array::from_fn(|_| AtomicU8::new(0)));
         let (hdr_meta_tx, hdr_meta_rx) = std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel::<HdrMeta>(HDR_META_QUEUE);
         let (host_timing_tx, host_timing_rx) =
             std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel::<crate::quic::HostTiming>(HOST_TIMING_QUEUE);
@@ -459,6 +473,7 @@ impl NativeClient {
         let clock_offset_w = clock_offset.clone();
         let decode_lat_w = decode_lat.clone();
         let live_bitrate_w = live_bitrate.clone();
+        let pad_audio_caps_w = pad_audio_caps.clone();
         let ctrl_tx_pump = ctrl_tx.clone(); // the data-plane pump sends adaptive-FEC LossReports
         let worker = std::thread::Builder::new()
             .name("punktfunk-client".into())
@@ -502,6 +517,8 @@ impl NativeClient {
                     rumble_tx,
                     rumble_feed,
                     hidout_tx,
+                    pad_audio_tx,
+                    pad_audio_caps: pad_audio_caps_w,
                     hdr_meta_tx,
                     host_timing_tx,
                     cursor_shape_tx,
@@ -550,6 +567,8 @@ impl NativeClient {
             rumble: Mutex::new(rumble_rx),
             rumble_sched,
             hidout: Mutex::new(hidout_rx),
+            pad_audio: Mutex::new(pad_audio_rx),
+            pad_audio_caps,
             hdr_meta: Mutex::new(hdr_meta_rx),
             host_timing: Mutex::new(host_timing_rx),
             cursor_shape: Mutex::new(cursor_shape_rx),
@@ -1051,6 +1070,33 @@ impl NativeClient {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Pull the next pad-audio frame (0xD1): one Opus frame of DualSense voice-coil haptics
+    /// ([`quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`], 5 ms) or built-in-speaker audio
+    /// ([`quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`], 10 ms) for gamepad `pad`. All pads/kinds share the
+    /// queue — the embedder fans out by `pad`/`kind` to per-actuator Opus decoders. `None` on
+    /// timeout AND once the session ended ([`is_session_ended`](Self::is_session_ended)
+    /// distinguishes, and the plane is best-effort either way). Only a session that advertised
+    /// [`quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] against a [`quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host — with the
+    /// pad's render caps declared via [`set_pad_audio_caps`](Self::set_pad_audio_caps) — ever
+    /// receives any. Drain on a dedicated thread like [`next_audio`](Self::next_audio); one
+    /// puller per the plane contract.
+    pub fn next_pad_audio(&self, timeout: Duration) -> Option<PadAudioFrame> {
+        self.pad_audio.lock().unwrap().recv_timeout(timeout).ok()
+    }
+
+    /// Declare wire pad `pad`'s pad-audio render capabilities: `audio_caps` bit0 = the pad can
+    /// play the HAPTICS stream (a real DualSense's voice coils), bit1 = the SPEAKER stream.
+    /// Call at controller attach, BEFORE the pad's arrival is sent (like
+    /// [`set_rumble_quirks`](Self::set_rumble_quirks)) — the worker ORs the bits into the
+    /// arrival's flags (bits 8/9), and only toward a [`quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host, so an
+    /// embedder that never calls this (or a host that can't capture pad audio) leaves the wire
+    /// bytes exactly as before. Latest-wins per pad; unknown bits are masked off.
+    pub fn set_pad_audio_caps(&self, pad: u8, audio_caps: u8) {
+        if let Some(slot) = self.pad_audio_caps.get(pad as usize) {
+            slot.store(audio_caps & 0x03, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Pull the next static HDR metadata update (ST.2086 mastering display + content light level)
     /// the host sent for an HDR session; same timeout/closed semantics as
     /// [`NativeClient::next_hidout`]. The host sends one near session start and re-sends it on

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/planes.rs

@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ pub(crate) type RumbleUpdate = (u16, u16, u16, Option<u16>);
 /// Same overflow discipline as rumble; the host re-sends on the next feedback change.
 pub(crate) const HIDOUT_QUEUE: usize = 32;
 
+/// Pad-audio frames (`0xD1` — DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker) buffered for the embedder,
+/// ALL pads and kinds on one queue (the embedder fans out by `pad`/`kind`): 64 × 5 ms = 320 ms of
+/// slack on a haptics-only stream, the [`AUDIO_QUEUE`] discipline. A lagging embedder drops the
+/// newest frame (the renderer conceals the gap).
+pub(crate) const PAD_AUDIO_QUEUE: usize = 64;
+
 /// Static HDR metadata (ST.2086 mastering + content light level) buffered for the embedder. Tiny
 /// and low-rate (one on start, re-sent on mastering changes / keyframes); a small ring is ample.
 pub(crate) const HDR_META_QUEUE: usize = 8;

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/pump.rs

@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ pub(super) async fn run_pump(args: WorkerArgs) {
         rumble_tx,
         rumble_feed,
         hidout_tx,
+        pad_audio_tx,
+        pad_audio_caps,
         hdr_meta_tx,
         host_timing_tx,
         cursor_shape_tx,
@@ -92,9 +94,17 @@ pub(super) async fn run_pump(args: WorkerArgs) {
 
     // Input task: embedder events → uplink datagrams, with per-transition gamepad events
     // folded into idempotent seq-stamped snapshots toward a HOST_CAP_GAMEPAD_STATE host
-    // (see [`input_task`]).
+    // (see [`input_task`]). Pad-audio render caps ride arrival flags bits 8/9 ONLY toward a
+    // HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO host — an older host reads the whole flags word as the pad index.
     let gamepad_snapshots = host_caps & crate::quic::HOST_CAP_GAMEPAD_STATE != 0;
-    tokio::spawn(input_task::run(conn.clone(), input_rx, gamepad_snapshots));
+    let pad_audio_arrivals = host_caps & crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO != 0;
+    tokio::spawn(input_task::run(
+        conn.clone(),
+        input_rx,
+        gamepad_snapshots,
+        pad_audio_arrivals,
+        pad_audio_caps,
+    ));
 
     // Mic task: embedder Opus mic frames → 0xCB uplink datagrams (best-effort, dropped on loss).
     // Self-healing latency bound: every frame still queued once this task catches up is standing
@@ -166,6 +176,7 @@ pub(super) async fn run_pump(args: WorkerArgs) {
         rumble_tx,
         rumble_feed,
         hidout_tx,
+        pad_audio_tx,
         hdr_meta_tx,
         host_timing_tx,
         encode_lat.clone(),

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/pump/datagram_task.rs

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ pub(super) async fn run(
     rumble_tx: std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender<RumbleUpdate>,
     rumble_feed: super::super::rumble::RumbleFeed,
     hidout_tx: std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender<crate::quic::HidOutput>,
+    pad_audio_tx: std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender<crate::quic::PadAudioFrame>,
     hdr_meta_tx: std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender<crate::quic::HdrMeta>,
     host_timing_tx: std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender<crate::quic::HostTiming>,
     // The ABR encode signal's accumulator (see [`EncodeLatAcc`]) — fed HERE, not off
@@ -70,6 +71,11 @@ pub(super) async fn run(
                     let _ = hidout_tx.try_send(h);
                 }
             }
+            Some(&crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC) => {
+                if let Some(f) = crate::quic::decode_pad_audio_datagram(&d) {
+                    let _ = pad_audio_tx.try_send(f);
+                }
+            }
             Some(&crate::quic::HDR_META_MAGIC) => {
                 if let Some(m) = crate::quic::decode_hdr_meta_datagram(&d) {
                     let _ = hdr_meta_tx.try_send(m);

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/pump/input_task.rs

@@ -15,8 +15,16 @@ pub(super) async fn run(
     conn: quinn::Connection,
     mut input_rx: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<InputEvent>,
     gamepad_snapshots: bool,
+    // Whether the host advertised HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO: only then do arrivals carry the per-pad
+    // audio-render bits (flags 8/9) — an older host reads the whole flags word as the pad index,
+    // so unexpected high bits would make it drop the kind declaration entirely.
+    pad_audio: bool,
+    // Per-pad audio-render capabilities (bit0 haptics, bit1 speaker), fed by the embedder via
+    // [`NativeClient::set_pad_audio_caps`] and by arrival events already carrying the bits.
+    pad_audio_caps: std::sync::Arc<[std::sync::atomic::AtomicU8; crate::input::MAX_PADS]>,
 ) {
     use crate::input::{GamepadSnapshot, InputKind, MAX_PADS};
+    use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
     // Touched pads only: an entry appears on the first gamepad event for that index, so the
     // refresh never conjures a virtual pad the embedder didn't drive.
     let mut pads: [Option<GamepadSnapshot>; MAX_PADS] = [None; MAX_PADS];
@@ -37,6 +45,17 @@ pub(super) async fn run(
     const ARRIVAL_RESENDS: u8 = 2;
     let mut arrival: [Option<u8>; MAX_PADS] = [None; MAX_PADS];
     let mut arrival_owed: [u8; MAX_PADS] = [0; MAX_PADS];
+    // An arrival's outgoing flags word: the pad index, plus the pad's audio-render bits (8/9)
+    // toward a HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO host. With no declared caps (or an older host) this is
+    // byte-identical to the plain index — the pre-pad-audio wire.
+    let arrival_flags = |idx: usize| -> u32 {
+        let caps = if pad_audio {
+            pad_audio_caps[idx].load(Ordering::Relaxed)
+        } else {
+            0
+        };
+        crate::input::encode_gamepad_arrival(idx as u8, caps)
+    };
     let mut refresh = tokio::time::interval(Duration::from_millis(100));
     refresh.set_missed_tick_behavior(tokio::time::MissedTickBehavior::Delay);
     loop {
@@ -81,13 +100,28 @@ pub(super) async fn run(
                     let _ = conn.send_datagram(rem.encode().to_vec().into());
                     continue;
                 }
-                if gamepad_snapshots && ev.kind == InputKind::GamepadArrival && idx < MAX_PADS {
-                    // Remember the declared kind (`code`) and forward it, arming a re-send burst
-                    // so the host learns it before the pad's first frame even under loss.
-                    arrival[idx] = Some(ev.code as u8);
-                    arrival_owed[idx] = ARRIVAL_RESENDS;
-                    let _ = conn.send_datagram(ev.encode().to_vec().into());
-                    continue;
+                if gamepad_snapshots && ev.kind == InputKind::GamepadArrival {
+                    // The index is the LOW BYTE only — bits 8/9 may carry the pad's audio-render
+                    // caps (an embedder building raw events; the `set_pad_audio_caps` registry is
+                    // the usual source). Fold event-carried bits into the registry so the re-send
+                    // burst keeps them, then send with the negotiation-gated flags word.
+                    let (pad, ev_caps) = crate::input::decode_gamepad_arrival(ev.flags);
+                    let idx = pad as usize;
+                    if idx < MAX_PADS {
+                        if ev_caps != 0 {
+                            pad_audio_caps[idx].fetch_or(ev_caps, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                        }
+                        // Remember the declared kind (`code`) and forward it, arming a re-send
+                        // burst so the host learns it before the pad's first frame even under loss.
+                        arrival[idx] = Some(ev.code as u8);
+                        arrival_owed[idx] = ARRIVAL_RESENDS;
+                        let arr = crate::input::InputEvent {
+                            flags: arrival_flags(idx),
+                            ..ev
+                        };
+                        let _ = conn.send_datagram(arr.encode().to_vec().into());
+                        continue;
+                    }
                 }
                 let _ = conn.send_datagram(ev.encode().to_vec().into());
             }
@@ -104,7 +138,7 @@ pub(super) async fn run(
                                 code: kind as u32,
                                 x: 0,
                                 y: 0,
-                                flags: idx as u32,
+                                flags: arrival_flags(idx),
                             };
                             let _ = conn.send_datagram(arr.encode().to_vec().into());
                         } else {

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/worker.rs

@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ use crate::clipboard::{ClipCommand, ClipEventCore};
 use crate::config::{CompositorPref, GamepadPref, Mode};
 use crate::error::Result;
 use crate::input::InputEvent;
-use crate::quic::{HdrMeta, HidOutput};
-use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicI64, AtomicU32, AtomicU64};
+use crate::quic::{HdrMeta, HidOutput, PadAudioFrame};
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicI64, AtomicU32, AtomicU64, AtomicU8};
 use std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 
@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ pub(crate) struct WorkerArgs {
     /// closed, so the command API always observes connection teardown.
     pub(crate) rumble_feed: super::rumble::RumbleFeed,
     pub(crate) hidout_tx: SyncSender<HidOutput>,
+    /// Inbound pad-audio frames (`0xD1` — DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker), drained by
+    /// [`NativeClient::next_pad_audio`].
+    pub(crate) pad_audio_tx: SyncSender<PadAudioFrame>,
+    /// Per-pad pad-audio render capabilities (bit0 haptics, bit1 speaker), written by
+    /// [`NativeClient::set_pad_audio_caps`] and OR'd into outgoing
+    /// [`GamepadArrival`](crate::input::InputKind::GamepadArrival) flags (bits 8/9) by the input
+    /// task — toward a `HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` host only.
+    pub(crate) pad_audio_caps: Arc<[AtomicU8; crate::input::MAX_PADS]>,
     pub(crate) hdr_meta_tx: SyncSender<HdrMeta>,
     pub(crate) host_timing_tx: SyncSender<crate::quic::HostTiming>,
     pub(crate) cursor_shape_tx: SyncSender<crate::quic::CursorShape>,

crates/punktfunk-core/src/input.rs

@@ -64,7 +64,11 @@ pub enum InputKind {
     GamepadRemove = 13,
     /// Declares which controller KIND a pad presents so a session can MIX types (pad 0 a
     /// DualSense, pad 1 an Xbox pad). `code` = the [`GamepadPref`](crate::config::GamepadPref)
-    /// wire byte, `flags` = pad index. Sent when the client opens a pad slot — before that pad's
+    /// wire byte, `flags` = pad index in the low byte plus the pad's render capabilities in bits
+    /// 8/9 ([`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/[`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER`] — sent only
+    /// toward a [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO) host, so an older host
+    /// keeps reading the whole word as the index; hosts decode via [`decode_gamepad_arrival`]).
+    /// Sent when the client opens a pad slot — before that pad's
     /// first input — and re-sent a few times against datagram loss (like [`GamepadRemove`]). The
     /// host resolves the kind to a buildable backend and routes that pad's virtual device to it; a
     /// pad the client never declares (an older client, or a fully-lost declaration) falls back to
@@ -97,6 +101,34 @@ pub fn decode_gamepad_remove(flags: u32) -> (u8, u8) {
     (flags as u8, (flags >> 24) as u8)
 }
 
+/// [`InputKind::GamepadArrival`] `flags` bit: this pad renders pad-audio HAPTICS — it is (or
+/// forwards to) a real DualSense whose voice-coil actuators can play the
+/// [`PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`](crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS) stream. Rides above the pad
+/// index byte; sent only toward a [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO) host
+/// (an older host reads the whole `flags` word as the index, so unexpected high bits would make
+/// it drop the declaration).
+pub const ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS: u32 = 1 << 8;
+/// [`InputKind::GamepadArrival`] `flags` bit: this pad renders pad-audio SPEAKER — the
+/// [`PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`](crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER) stream. Same wire discipline
+/// as [`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`].
+pub const ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER: u32 = 1 << 9;
+
+/// Pack a [`InputKind::GamepadArrival`] `flags` word: the pad index in the low byte plus
+/// `audio_caps` (bit0 = haptics, bit1 = speaker) as bits 8/9. `audio_caps = 0` reproduces the
+/// pre-pad-audio wire bytes exactly.
+pub fn encode_gamepad_arrival(pad: u8, audio_caps: u8) -> u32 {
+    (pad as u32) | (((audio_caps & 0x03) as u32) << 8)
+}
+
+/// Unpack a [`InputKind::GamepadArrival`] `flags` word into `(pad, audio_caps)`. The pad index
+/// is `flags & 0xFF` — hosts MUST mask rather than take the whole word, or a capability bit
+/// reads as a phantom index; `audio_caps` is bits 8/9 (bit0 = haptics, bit1 = speaker — the
+/// [`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/[`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER`] bits shifted down).
+/// An old-format word (index only) yields `audio_caps = 0`.
+pub fn decode_gamepad_arrival(flags: u32) -> (u8, u8) {
+    (flags as u8, ((flags >> 8) & 0x03) as u8)
+}
+
 /// The gamepad wire contract for [`InputKind::GamepadButton`]/[`InputKind::GamepadAxis`].
 ///
 /// Everything follows the GameStream/XInput conventions end to end: buttons reuse
@@ -348,6 +380,11 @@ pub enum GamepadEvent {
         kind: u8,
         /// LI_CCAP_* bits (0x02 = rumble).
         capabilities: u16,
+        /// Pad-audio render capabilities from a NATIVE-plane arrival's `flags` bits 8/9
+        /// (bit0 = haptics, bit1 = speaker — see [`decode_gamepad_arrival`]). NOT a GameStream
+        /// LI_CCAP bit (that vocabulary lives in `capabilities`); the GameStream plane cannot
+        /// express pad audio and always sets `0`, as does an old client.
+        audio_caps: u8,
     },
 }
 
@@ -443,6 +480,31 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!((pad, seq), (9, 123));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn gamepad_arrival_flags_roundtrip() {
+        // The capability bits ride bits 8/9; the index stays the low byte.
+        for (pad, caps) in [(0u8, 0u8), (3, 0b01), (15, 0b10), (7, 0b11)] {
+            let flags = encode_gamepad_arrival(pad, caps);
+            assert_eq!(decode_gamepad_arrival(flags), (pad, caps));
+            assert_eq!(flags & 0xFF, pad as u32);
+        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            encode_gamepad_arrival(2, 0b11),
+            2 | ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS | ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER
+        );
+        // Old-format compat both ways: a caps-less word (an old client, or a new one toward an
+        // old host) is byte-identical to the plain index, and decodes with caps 0.
+        assert_eq!(encode_gamepad_arrival(5, 0), 5);
+        assert_eq!(decode_gamepad_arrival(5), (5, 0));
+        // Undefined high bits (a future extension) never leak into the index OR the caps.
+        assert_eq!(
+            decode_gamepad_arrival(0xFFFF_0000 | (0b01 << 8) | 9),
+            (9, 1)
+        );
+        // encode masks unknown caps bits, so a sloppy embedder can't corrupt the index space.
+        assert_eq!(encode_gamepad_arrival(1, 0xFF), 1 | (0b11 << 8));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn gamepad_snapshot_roundtrip() {
         let s = GamepadSnapshot {

crates/punktfunk-core/src/lib.rs

@@ -120,7 +120,13 @@ pub use stats::Stats;
 /// uncertainty and the circular arrival-lead statistic the host's controller steers on. Additive;
 /// the wire grows only a new control message (`PhaseReport`, 0x32) an old host never reads and a
 /// strict-prefix append on the 0xCF host-timing tail, so [`WIRE_VERSION`] is unchanged.
-pub const ABI_VERSION: u32 = 14;
+/// v15: added the pad-audio client surface — `punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio` (the 0xD1
+/// per-gamepad DualSense haptics/speaker plane) + `punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps` and
+/// the `PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` / `PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` mirrors. Additive and
+/// capability-gated end to end: the wire grows a new datagram tag (0xD1) an old client never
+/// receives (double-gated caps), a new 0xCD kind (0x06, dropped as unknown by old clients) and
+/// arrival flag bits 8/9 sent only toward a capable host, so [`WIRE_VERSION`] is unchanged.
+pub const ABI_VERSION: u32 = 15;
 
 /// The punktfunk/1 **wire** version — what `Hello`/`Welcome` carry and hosts equality-check.
 /// Deliberately its own constant: [`ABI_VERSION`] tracks the embeddable **C surface**

crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic/caps.rs

@@ -111,6 +111,16 @@ pub const CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR: u8 = 0x01;
 /// simply ignored — no behavior change in either direction.
 pub const CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK: u8 = 0x02;
 
+/// [`Hello::client_caps`] bit: the client understands the pad-audio plane
+/// ([`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`](super::datagram::PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC), `0xD1`) — per-gamepad DualSense
+/// voice-coil haptics + speaker Opus frames, plus the [`HidOutput::AudioCtl`]
+/// (super::datagram::HidOutput) routing/volume events. Active only when the host answers with
+/// [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] AND the pad's arrival declared a renderer for the kind
+/// ([`crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/`_SPEAKER`) — the capable-and-agreed
+/// precedent, per pad; toward an older or incapable host nothing changes. `0x04` — `0x01` is
+/// [`CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR`], `0x02` is [`CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK`].
+pub const CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO: u8 = 0x04;
+
 /// [`Welcome::host_caps`] bit: the host CAN forward the cursor out-of-band (it captures cursor
 /// metadata separately from the frame — the Linux portal `SPA_META_Cursor` path; NOT gamescope,
 /// whose capture carries no cursor, and NOT Windows yet, where DWM composites into the IDD
@@ -132,6 +142,17 @@ pub const HOST_CAP_CURSOR: u8 = 0x08;
 /// [`HOST_CAP_TEXT_INPUT`], `0x01`/`0x02` are gamepad-state / clipboard.
 pub const HOST_CAP_PEN: u8 = 0x10;
 
+/// [`Welcome::host_caps`] bit: the host can capture pad audio — its virtual DualSense exposes
+/// the pad's audio endpoints (voice-coil haptics + speaker), so a game's per-pad audio can be
+/// captured and shipped on the [`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`](super::datagram::PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC) plane.
+/// Set only when the client asked via [`CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`]; when both bits agree, a
+/// capable client marks its pads' render capabilities on their arrivals
+/// ([`crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/`_SPEAKER`) and the host emits `0xD1`
+/// toward exactly those pads. `0x20` — `0x10` is [`HOST_CAP_PEN`], `0x08` is
+/// [`HOST_CAP_CURSOR`], `0x04` is [`HOST_CAP_TEXT_INPUT`], `0x01`/`0x02` are gamepad-state /
+/// clipboard.
+pub const HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO: u8 = 0x20;
+
 /// [`Hello::video_codecs`] bit: the client can decode H.264 / AVC. The GPU-less **software**
 /// encode path (openh264) emits H.264, so a client that wants to stream from a software host MUST
 /// advertise this.
@@ -314,6 +335,28 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn pad_audio_cap_bits_are_distinct() {
+        // The new pad-audio bits pack into the existing caps bytes without colliding with any
+        // taken bit (a collision would silently negotiate an unrelated feature).
+        assert_eq!(
+            CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO & (CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR | CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK),
+            0
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO
+                & (HOST_CAP_GAMEPAD_STATE
+                    | HOST_CAP_CLIPBOARD
+                    | HOST_CAP_TEXT_INPUT
+                    | HOST_CAP_CURSOR
+                    | HOST_CAP_PEN),
+            0
+        );
+        // Single-bit values (a multi-bit cap would OR neighbours in).
+        assert_eq!(CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO.count_ones(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO.count_ones(), 1);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn resolve_codec_canonicalizes_a_multi_bit_preference() {
         // A non-conformant peer may stuff its capability MASK into `preferred` — the result

crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic/datagram.rs

@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
-//! The QUIC-datagram side planes, demultiplexed by their first byte (0xC9–0xCF):
-//! audio, rumble, mic uplink, rich input, HID output, HDR metadata, host timing.
+//! The QUIC-datagram side planes, demultiplexed by their first byte (0xC9–0xD1):
+//! audio, rumble, mic uplink, rich input, HID output, HDR metadata, host timing,
+//! cursor state, pad audio.
 
 /// Datagram wire tags. Video rides UDP; everything low-rate rides QUIC datagrams,
 /// demultiplexed by the first byte: input = [`crate::input::INPUT_MAGIC`] (0xC8, client→host),
 /// audio = [`AUDIO_MAGIC`] (0xC9, host→client), rumble = [`RUMBLE_MAGIC`] (0xCA, host→client),
 /// mic = [`MIC_MAGIC`] (0xCB, client→host), rich-input = [`RICH_INPUT_MAGIC`] (0xCC, client→host),
 /// HID-output = [`HIDOUT_MAGIC`] (0xCD, host→client), HDR metadata = [`HDR_META_MAGIC`]
-/// (0xCE, host→client).
+/// (0xCE, host→client), host timing = [`HOST_TIMING_MAGIC`] (0xCF, host→client), cursor state =
+/// [`CURSOR_STATE_MAGIC`] (0xD0, host→client), pad audio = [`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`] (0xD1,
+/// host→client).
 pub const AUDIO_MAGIC: u8 = 0xC9;
 pub const RUMBLE_MAGIC: u8 = 0xCA;
 /// Microphone uplink: the client's mic, Opus-encoded, client → host (the inverse of
@@ -332,6 +335,7 @@ const HIDOUT_PLAYER_LEDS: u8 = 0x02;
 const HIDOUT_TRIGGER: u8 = 0x03;
 const HIDOUT_TRACKPAD_HAPTIC: u8 = 0x04;
 const HIDOUT_HID_RAW: u8 = 0x05;
+const HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL: u8 = 0x06;
 
 /// [`HidOutput::HidRaw`] `kind`: an OUTPUT report — what the host's hidraw client wrote with
 /// `write()`/`SDL_hid_write` (Triton rumble `0x80`, haptic pulse `0x81`, …). The client replays
@@ -372,6 +376,16 @@ pub enum HidOutput {
     /// hardware safety timeout, and settings (lizard/IMU) are refreshed every ~3 s against the
     /// firmware watchdog — a lost datagram heals on the next refresh.
     HidRaw { pad: u8, kind: u8, data: Vec<u8> },
+    /// The audio-control region of a DS5 output report `0x02` a game wrote to the host's virtual
+    /// pad — the routing/volume side of pad audio (the audio SAMPLES ride the [`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`]
+    /// plane). `raw` is bytes 5..=10 of the report verbatim (headphone/speaker/mic volumes +
+    /// audio routing); `flags` condenses the report's audio valid-flags: bit0 = haptics-select
+    /// (`valid_flag0` bit1 — the title asked for audio haptics on the voice coils), bits1..4 =
+    /// `valid_flag0` bits 4..7 (the audio-valid flags gating `raw`). Wire form
+    /// `[0xCD][0x06][u16 pad LE][u8 flags][6 raw bytes]`. Forwarded change-only (deduped by
+    /// value host-side, like `Led`/`Trigger`) — a merely-rumbling pad re-sends unchanged audio
+    /// state on every output report.
+    AudioCtl { pad: u16, flags: u8, raw: [u8; 6] },
 }
 
 impl HidOutput {
@@ -404,6 +418,12 @@ impl HidOutput {
                 out.extend_from_slice(&[HIDOUT_HID_RAW, *pad, *kind]);
                 out.extend_from_slice(&data[..data.len().min(HID_REPORT_MAX)]);
             }
+            HidOutput::AudioCtl { pad, flags, raw } => {
+                out.push(HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL);
+                out.extend_from_slice(&pad.to_le_bytes());
+                out.push(*flags);
+                out.extend_from_slice(raw);
+            }
         }
         out
     }
@@ -441,6 +461,11 @@ impl HidOutput {
                 // Bounded: at most HID_REPORT_MAX bytes are kept from the (attacker-sized) tail.
                 data: b[4..b.len().min(4 + HID_REPORT_MAX)].to_vec(),
             }),
+            HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL if b.len() >= 11 => Some(HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+                pad: u16::from_le_bytes([b[2], b[3]]),
+                flags: b[4],
+                raw: b[5..11].try_into().unwrap(),
+            }),
             _ => None,
         }
     }
@@ -699,6 +724,72 @@ pub fn decode_cursor_state_datagram(b: &[u8]) -> Option<CursorState> {
     })
 }
 
+/// Pad-audio datagram tag, host → client: per-gamepad audio a game routed
+/// to the host's virtual DualSense — voice-coil haptics and the built-in speaker — for the client
+/// to render on the matching real controller. Next tag after [`CURSOR_STATE_MAGIC`]. The
+/// per-pad AUDIO plane (Opus frames, the [`AUDIO_MAGIC`]/[`MIC_MAGIC`] shape plus pad + kind);
+/// the routing/volume CONTROL side rides [`HidOutput::AudioCtl`]. Emitted only when the session
+/// negotiated it ([`CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](super::caps::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO) ∧
+/// [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](super::caps::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO)) and the pad's arrival declared a
+/// renderer for the kind ([`crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/`_SPEAKER`).
+/// Best-effort like every audio datagram: a lost frame is a concealed gap, never state.
+pub const PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC: u8 = 0xD1;
+
+/// [`PadAudioFrame::kind`]: the BACK channel pair — the DualSense voice-coil actuators (audio
+/// haptics). 5 ms Opus frames, matching the [`AUDIO_MAGIC`] cadence: haptics are felt latency.
+pub const PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS: u8 = 0;
+/// [`PadAudioFrame::kind`]: the FRONT channel pair — the controller's built-in speaker. 10 ms
+/// Opus frames (speaker content tolerates the extra buffering for the better coding efficiency).
+pub const PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER: u8 = 1;
+
+/// Wire length of a pad-audio datagram header: tag + pad + kind + u32 seq + u64 pts = 15 bytes.
+const PAD_AUDIO_HEADER_LEN: usize = 1 + 1 + 1 + 4 + 8;
+
+/// One decoded pad-audio frame (owned — the client's plane queue stores it). `seq`/`pts_ns` are
+/// per-(pad, kind) counters from the host's capture clock, for gap concealment and lip-sync
+/// against the main audio plane.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct PadAudioFrame {
+    /// Gamepad index (the wire pad space, same as rumble/HID-output).
+    pub pad: u8,
+    /// [`PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`] or [`PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`].
+    pub kind: u8,
+    pub seq: u32,
+    pub pts_ns: u64,
+    /// The raw Opus payload — feed it to an Opus decoder as one frame. Empty = DTX silence.
+    pub opus: Vec<u8>,
+}
+
+/// Pad-audio datagram, host → client:
+/// `[0xD1][u8 pad][u8 kind][u32 seq LE][u64 pts_ns LE][opus payload]` — the
+/// [`encode_audio_datagram`]/[`encode_mic_datagram`] layout with a pad + kind prefix, one Opus
+/// frame per datagram (5/10 ms — well under any MTU); QUIC already encrypts.
+pub fn encode_pad_audio_datagram(pad: u8, kind: u8, seq: u32, pts_ns: u64, opus: &[u8]) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut b = Vec::with_capacity(PAD_AUDIO_HEADER_LEN + opus.len());
+    b.push(PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC);
+    b.push(pad);
+    b.push(kind);
+    b.extend_from_slice(&seq.to_le_bytes());
+    b.extend_from_slice(&pts_ns.to_le_bytes());
+    b.extend_from_slice(opus);
+    b
+}
+
+/// Parse a pad-audio datagram → [`PadAudioFrame`]. `None` on bad tag/length (the fixed header
+/// length bounds every read before it happens).
+pub fn decode_pad_audio_datagram(buf: &[u8]) -> Option<PadAudioFrame> {
+    if buf.len() < PAD_AUDIO_HEADER_LEN || buf[0] != PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC {
+        return None;
+    }
+    Some(PadAudioFrame {
+        pad: buf[1],
+        kind: buf[2],
+        seq: u32::from_le_bytes(buf[3..7].try_into().unwrap()),
+        pts_ns: u64::from_le_bytes(buf[7..15].try_into().unwrap()),
+        opus: buf[15..].to_vec(),
+    })
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use crate::quic::*;
@@ -1027,6 +1118,12 @@ mod tests {
                     f
                 },
             },
+            // The DS5 audio-control region (haptics-select + speaker volume asserted).
+            HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+                pad: 1,
+                flags: 0b0_0101,
+                raw: [0x50, 0x60, 0x70, 0x05, 0x00, 0x00],
+            },
         ];
         for ev in &cases {
             let d = ev.encode();
@@ -1045,6 +1142,47 @@ mod tests {
         )
         .is_none());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn audio_ctl_wire_layout_and_truncation() {
+        // The exact 11-byte layout: [0xCD][0x06][u16 pad LE][u8 flags][6 raw bytes].
+        let a = HidOutput::AudioCtl {
+            pad: 0x0201,
+            flags: 0x17,
+            raw: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6],
+        };
+        let d = a.encode();
+        assert_eq!(d, [0xCD, 0x06, 0x01, 0x02, 0x17, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]);
+        assert_eq!(HidOutput::decode(&d), Some(a));
+        // Truncated buffers are rejected outright (fixed length — never a partial read).
+        for n in 2..d.len() {
+            assert_eq!(HidOutput::decode(&d[..n]), None);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pad_audio_datagram_roundtrip_and_truncation() {
+        let opus = [0x5Au8; 61];
+        let d = encode_pad_audio_datagram(3, PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, 42, 9_999, &opus);
+        assert_eq!(d[0], PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC);
+        assert_eq!(d.len(), 15 + opus.len());
+        let f = decode_pad_audio_datagram(&d).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!((f.pad, f.kind, f.seq, f.pts_ns), (3, 0, 42, 9_999));
+        assert_eq!(f.opus, opus);
+        // Truncated headers are rejected outright (never partially read).
+        for n in 0..15 {
+            assert_eq!(decode_pad_audio_datagram(&d[..n]), None);
+        }
+        // Tag separation: a pad-audio datagram is not a session-audio/mic datagram and vice-versa.
+        assert!(decode_audio_datagram(&d).is_none());
+        assert!(decode_mic_datagram(&d).is_none());
+        assert!(decode_pad_audio_datagram(&encode_audio_datagram(1, 2, &opus)).is_none());
+        // Empty payload (DTX) is legal — header-only datagram.
+        let hdr = encode_pad_audio_datagram(0, PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, 0, 0, &[]);
+        assert_eq!(hdr.len(), 15);
+        assert!(decode_pad_audio_datagram(&hdr).unwrap().opus.is_empty());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn cursor_state_roundtrip() {
         for (flags, x, y) in [

crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic/mod.rs

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 //! Split by concern (networking-audit deferred plan §3 — a pure move): `handshake` the
 //! positional Hello/Welcome/Start codecs, `caps` the capability/codec-negotiation
 //! vocabulary, `control` the typed control + clipboard messages, `pairing` the pairing
-//! message codecs with [`pake`] the SPAKE2 itself, `datagram` the 0xC9–0xCF plane codecs,
+//! message codecs with [`pake`] the SPAKE2 itself, `datagram` the 0xC9–0xD1 plane codecs,
 //! `pen` the stylus batch (0xCC kind 0x05) + host stroke tracker,
 //! [`io`] framed stream IO, `clock` skew estimation + mid-stream re-sync, [`endpoint`] the
 //! quinn constructors, [`clipstream`] the per-transfer clipboard fetch streams. Every item

crates/punktfunk-host/Cargo.toml

@@ -259,6 +259,17 @@ windows = { version = "0.62", features = [
     # CoCreateInstance(PolicyConfigClient) — set the default audio playback/recording endpoints via the
     # undocumented IPolicyConfig (audio/windows/audio_control.rs) so mic + desktop audio auto-wire.
     "Win32_System_Com",
+    # Pad-audio endpoint provisioning (audio/windows/pad_endpoint.rs): IMMDevice + IPropertyStore
+    # to stamp the DualSense identity onto the minted endpoints (PROPVARIANT lives in
+    # StructuredStorage and is gated on the Variant feature), DEVPKEY_Device_DriverInfPath to
+    # resolve the installed Steam Streaming Speakers INF, and raw Reg* calls behind the MMDevices
+    # ACL repair + the devnode's pad-index marker value.
+    "Win32_Media_Audio",
+    "Win32_UI_Shell_PropertiesSystem",
+    "Win32_System_Com_StructuredStorage",
+    "Win32_System_Variant",
+    "Win32_Devices_Properties",
+    "Win32_System_Registry",
     # SetUnhandledExceptionFilter + EXCEPTION_POINTERS — the last-resort native-crash logger
     # (src/windows/crash.rs); Kernel gates the CONTEXT type EXCEPTION_POINTERS embeds.
     "Win32_System_Diagnostics_Debug",

crates/punktfunk-host/src/audio.rs

@@ -183,6 +183,12 @@ pub fn open_virtual_mic(_channels: u32) -> Result<Box<dyn VirtualMic>> {
 mod audio_control;
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
 mod linux;
+// DualSense pad-audio endpoint provisioning + loopback capture (design: pad haptics/audio).
+// pub(crate): the session layer queries endpoints by pad index and the CLI exposes the
+// `pad-endpoint` devtest.
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+#[path = "audio/windows/pad_endpoint.rs"]
+pub(crate) mod pad_endpoint;
 #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
 #[path = "audio/windows/wasapi_cap.rs"]
 mod wasapi_cap;

crates/punktfunk-host/src/audio/windows/audio_control.rs

@@ -75,6 +75,17 @@ pub(crate) fn host_audio_requested() -> bool {
     std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_HOST_AUDIO").is_some()
 }
 
+/// Endpoint ids among `renders` that are the host's own pad-audio endpoints — the exclusion
+/// data [`plan`] runs on. Detection lives in [`super::pad_endpoint`] (stamped PFDS container /
+/// devnode marker, registry-only reads); this is just the per-pass collection.
+fn pad_render_ids(renders: &[Endpoint]) -> Vec<String> {
+    renders
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(_, id)| super::pad_endpoint::is_pad_render_endpoint(id))
+        .map(|(_, id)| id.clone())
+        .collect()
+}
+
 /// Enumerate endpoints, compute the assignment, apply the default-device changes (unless
 /// `PUNKTFUNK_KEEP_DEFAULT`), and return the plan for the caller to act on (mic target / loopback
 /// echo guard). `set_playback` — true only from the desktop-audio capture open — additionally
@@ -90,7 +101,17 @@ pub(crate) fn wire_now(set_playback: bool) -> Wiring {
     let want = std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_MIC_DEVICE")
         .ok()
         .map(|s| s.to_lowercase());
-    let wiring = plan(&renders, &captures, want.as_deref(), host_audio_requested());
+    // The host's own pad-audio ("DualSense speaker") endpoints, by id — the pure plan filters
+    // them out of every role. Identity is platform data (stamped container / devnode marker),
+    // so it is collected HERE and passed in, like the candidate lists themselves.
+    let pad_ids = pad_render_ids(&renders);
+    let wiring = plan(
+        &renders,
+        &captures,
+        want.as_deref(),
+        host_audio_requested(),
+        &pad_ids,
+    );
 
     // Log assignment changes exactly once (first plan included).
     static LAST: Mutex<Option<Wiring>> = Mutex::new(None);
@@ -135,7 +156,7 @@ pub(crate) fn wire_now(set_playback: bool) -> Wiring {
     if let Some((mic_name, mic_id)) = &wiring.mic_render {
         if default_render_id().as_deref() == Some(mic_id.as_str()) {
             // Audible preference = the host_audio plan's loopback pick (real hardware first).
-            match plan(&renders, &captures, want.as_deref(), true).loopback_render {
+            match plan(&renders, &captures, want.as_deref(), true, &pad_ids).loopback_render {
                 Some((name, id)) => match set_default_endpoint(&id) {
                     Ok(()) => tracing::info!(mic = %mic_name, device = %name,
                         "default playback was the virtual-mic target — moved it so desktop \
@@ -184,8 +205,10 @@ fn park_marker_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
     pf_paths::config_dir().join("audio-default.prev")
 }
 
-/// The current default RENDER endpoint id, if any.
-fn default_render_id() -> Option<String> {
+/// The current default RENDER endpoint id, if any. pub(crate): the pad-endpoint provisioning
+/// uses it for its default-device guard (a freshly minted pad endpoint must never stay the
+/// default playback device).
+pub(crate) fn default_render_id() -> Option<String> {
     wasapi::DeviceEnumerator::new()
         .ok()?
         .get_default_device(&Direction::Render)
@@ -332,8 +355,9 @@ const _: () = {
 
 /// Set `device_id` as the default audio endpoint for eConsole/eMultimedia/eCommunications via the
 /// undocumented `IPolicyConfig::SetDefaultEndpoint` (the call `mmsys.cpl` makes). Errs if any role
-/// fails.
-fn set_default_endpoint(device_id: &str) -> Result<()> {
+/// fails. pub(crate): the pad-endpoint default-device guard restores the operator's default
+/// through the same machinery.
+pub(crate) fn set_default_endpoint(device_id: &str) -> Result<()> {
     use windows::core::{IUnknown, Interface, GUID, PCWSTR};
     use windows::Win32::System::Com::{CoCreateInstance, CLSCTX_ALL};
 

crates/punktfunk-host/src/audio/windows/wasapi_mic.rs

@@ -253,25 +253,16 @@ pub(crate) fn install_steam_audio_pair() -> bool {
     mic || spk
 }
 
-/// Install one Steam Streaming driver INF by filename via `DiInstallDriverW` (loaded from
-/// `newdev.dll`, like Apollo, to avoid an extra windows-crate feature). See
-/// [`install_steam_audio_pair`] for the contract; `inf_name` is a bare filename under Steam's
-/// per-arch `drivers\Windows10\{arch}\` directory.
-///
-/// Safe: `inf_name` is a `&str` and every FFI argument is built locally from it, so there is no
-/// precondition a caller could break — the `unsafe` is the `LoadLibraryExW`/`transmute`/call chain
-/// inside, which is this function's own business.
-fn try_install_steam_audio(inf_name: &str) -> bool {
-    use windows::core::{s, w, PCWSTR};
-    use windows::Win32::Foundation::HWND;
+/// Full path of a Steam Remote Play driver INF under Steam's per-arch driver directory
+/// (`%CommonProgramFiles(x86)%\Steam\drivers\Windows10\{arch}\<inf_name>`), as a NUL-terminated
+/// UTF-16 buffer. Shared by [`try_install_steam_audio`] and the pad-endpoint provisioning
+/// ([`super::pad_endpoint`]), which feeds the same INF to `UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevicesW`
+/// when no installed Steam Streaming Speakers devnode exposes its `oemNN.inf`. `None` when the
+/// environment expansion fails (existence is the caller's check).
+pub(crate) fn steam_driver_inf_path(inf_name: &str) -> Option<Vec<u16>> {
+    use windows::core::PCWSTR;
     use windows::Win32::System::Environment::ExpandEnvironmentStringsW;
-    use windows::Win32::System::LibraryLoader::{
-        GetProcAddress, LoadLibraryExW, LOAD_LIBRARY_SEARCH_SYSTEM32,
-    };
 
-    if std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_NO_MIC_INSTALL").is_some() {
-        return false;
-    }
     // Steam ships per-arch driver INFs under `Steam\drivers\Windows10\{arch}\`.
     #[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
     let subdir = "x64";
@@ -290,8 +281,33 @@ fn try_install_steam_audio(inf_name: &str) -> bool {
     let n =
         unsafe { ExpandEnvironmentStringsW(PCWSTR(template.as_ptr()), Some(path.as_mut_slice())) };
     if n == 0 || n as usize > path.len() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    path.truncate(n as usize); // keeps the NUL
+    Some(path)
+}
+
+/// Install one Steam Streaming driver INF by filename via `DiInstallDriverW` (loaded from
+/// `newdev.dll`, like Apollo, to avoid an extra windows-crate feature). See
+/// [`install_steam_audio_pair`] for the contract; `inf_name` is a bare filename under Steam's
+/// per-arch `drivers\Windows10\{arch}\` directory.
+///
+/// Safe: `inf_name` is a `&str` and every FFI argument is built locally from it, so there is no
+/// precondition a caller could break — the `unsafe` is the `LoadLibraryExW`/`transmute`/call chain
+/// inside, which is this function's own business.
+fn try_install_steam_audio(inf_name: &str) -> bool {
+    use windows::core::{s, w, PCWSTR};
+    use windows::Win32::Foundation::HWND;
+    use windows::Win32::System::LibraryLoader::{
+        GetProcAddress, LoadLibraryExW, LOAD_LIBRARY_SEARCH_SYSTEM32,
+    };
+
+    if std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_NO_MIC_INSTALL").is_some() {
         return false;
     }
+    let Some(path) = steam_driver_inf_path(inf_name) else {
+        return false;
+    };
 
     // SAFETY: a static NUL-terminated literal, loaded from System32 only (the flag), so this cannot
     // pick up a planted `newdev.dll` from the working directory. The handle is checked before use.

crates/punktfunk-host/src/audio/wiring_plan.rs

@@ -102,13 +102,28 @@ fn virtualish(lname: &str) -> bool {
 /// Compute the assignment. `mic_want` is the operator override (`PUNKTFUNK_MIC_DEVICE`,
 /// lowercased): when set it beats the built-in candidate order for the mic target. `host_audio`
 /// flips the loopback preference to real hardware (audio audible on the host too); the default
-/// (`false`) prefers the silent sink so audio plays on the client only.
+/// (`false`) prefers the silent sink so audio plays on the client only. `pad_renders` are the
+/// endpoint IDs of the host's own pad-audio ("DualSense speaker") endpoints — platform data
+/// collected by `audio_control`, since a pad endpoint is identified by its stamped container /
+/// devnode, not by any name rule this module could express.
 pub(crate) fn plan(
     renders: &[Endpoint],
     captures: &[Endpoint],
     mic_want: Option<&str>,
     host_audio: bool,
+    pad_renders: &[String],
 ) -> Wiring {
+    // 0. Pad-audio endpoints are invisible to the plan: never the mic target (client voice
+    //    would play out of a pad "speaker"), never a loopback source (a game's controller
+    //    audio cues would stream as desktop audio). Their names carry no virtual marker —
+    //    they are stamped "DualSense Wireless Controller" on purpose — so without this
+    //    exclusion the loopback rules would read one as real hardware.
+    let renders: Vec<Endpoint> = renders
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(_, id)| !pad_renders.iter().any(|p| p == id))
+        .cloned()
+        .collect();
+    let renders = renders.as_slice();
     let find_render = |needle: &str| {
         renders
             .iter()
@@ -191,7 +206,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("Microphone (Webcam)"),
             ep("CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
         ];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false, &[]);
         assert_eq!(
             w.mic_render.unwrap().0,
             "CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"
@@ -220,7 +235,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
             ep("Microphone (Steam Streaming Microphone)"),
         ];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false, &[]);
         assert_eq!(
             w.mic_render.unwrap().0,
             "CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"
@@ -240,7 +255,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
             ep("Speakers (Steam Streaming Microphone)"),
         ];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, true);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, true, &[]);
         assert_eq!(
             w.loopback_render.unwrap().0,
             "Speakers (Apple Audio Device)"
@@ -257,7 +272,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("CABLE In 16ch (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
         ];
         for host_audio in [false, true] {
-            let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, host_audio);
+            let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, host_audio, &[]);
             assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none(), "host_audio={host_audio}");
         }
     }
@@ -269,7 +284,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn headless_cable_only_mic_wins() {
         let renders = [ep("CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)")];
         let captures = [ep("CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)")];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false, &[]);
         assert!(w.mic_render.is_some(), "mic must claim the only cable");
         assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none(), "no echo-safe loopback exists");
     }
@@ -287,7 +302,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
             ep("Microphone (Steam Streaming Microphone)"),
         ];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false, &[]);
         assert_eq!(
             w.mic_render.unwrap().0,
             "CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"
@@ -311,7 +326,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("Speakers (Realtek HD Audio)"),
         ];
         let captures = [ep("Microphone (Steam Streaming Microphone)")];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false, &[]);
         assert_eq!(
             w.mic_render.unwrap().0,
             "Speakers (Steam Streaming Microphone)"
@@ -325,7 +340,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn steam_mic_only_no_echo() {
         let renders = [ep("Speakers (Steam Streaming Microphone)")];
         let captures = [ep("Microphone (Steam Streaming Microphone)")];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, false, &[]);
         assert!(w.mic_render.is_some());
         assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none());
     }
@@ -338,7 +353,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
             ep("Speakers (Steam Streaming Speakers)"),
         ];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false, &[]);
         assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none());
     }
 
@@ -350,7 +365,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("Voicemeeter Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO)"),
         ];
         let captures = [ep("Voicemeeter Out B1 (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO)")];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, Some("voicemeeter input"), false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &captures, Some("voicemeeter input"), false, &[]);
         assert_eq!(
             w.mic_render.unwrap().0,
             "Voicemeeter Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO)"
@@ -366,7 +381,7 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn no_virtual_device() {
         let renders = [ep("Speakers (Realtek HD Audio)")];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false, &[]);
         assert!(w.mic_render.is_none());
         assert_eq!(w.loopback_render.unwrap().0, "Speakers (Realtek HD Audio)");
     }
@@ -384,7 +399,7 @@ mod tests {
         ];
         let captures = [ep("Voicemeeter Out B1 (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO)")];
         for host_audio in [false, true] {
-            let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, host_audio);
+            let w = plan(&renders, &captures, None, host_audio, &[]);
             assert_eq!(
                 w.mic_render.as_ref().unwrap().0,
                 "Voicemeeter Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO)",
@@ -407,7 +422,7 @@ mod tests {
             ep("Voicemeeter Aux Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter AUX VAIO)"),
         ];
         for host_audio in [false, true] {
-            let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, host_audio);
+            let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, host_audio, &[]);
             assert!(w.mic_render.is_some(), "host_audio={host_audio}");
             assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none(), "host_audio={host_audio}");
         }
@@ -422,7 +437,34 @@ mod tests {
             ep("CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"),
             ep("Speakers (Some Virtual Audio Device)"),
         ];
-        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false);
+        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false, &[]);
+        assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none());
+    }
+
+    /// A provisioned pad-audio endpoint (stamped "DualSense Wireless Controller") is invisible
+    /// to the plan. Its name carries NO virtual marker — on purpose, games must read it as the
+    /// pad's speaker — so the name rules alone would classify it as real hardware and hand it
+    /// the loopback; only the id exclusion prevents that. Measured fact: the wiring plan on the
+    /// target box already enumerated a stamped endpoint among `renders`.
+    #[test]
+    fn pad_endpoints_invisible() {
+        let renders = [
+            ep("DualSense Wireless Controller"),
+            ep("Speakers (Realtek HD Audio)"),
+        ];
+        let pads = [renders[0].1.clone()];
+        let w = plan(&renders, &[], None, false, &pads);
+        assert_eq!(w.loopback_render.unwrap().0, "Speakers (Realtek HD Audio)");
+        // Even an operator mic override matching the pad's name must not claim it; with the
+        // pad as the only render endpoint there is honestly no mic target and no loopback.
+        let w = plan(
+            &renders[..1],
+            &[],
+            Some("wireless controller"),
+            false,
+            &pads,
+        );
+        assert!(w.mic_render.is_none());
         assert!(w.loopback_render.is_none());
     }
 }

crates/punktfunk-host/src/devtest.rs

@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ pub fn dualsense_windows_test(args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
                 index: idx,
                 kind: 2,
                 capabilities: 0,
+                audio_caps: 0,
             });
             println!(
                 "virtual {} up — cycling Cross + sweeping the left stick for {secs}s. Watch \
@@ -430,6 +431,7 @@ pub fn dualsense_windows_test(args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
             index: idx,
             kind: 1,
             capabilities: 0,
+            audio_caps: 0,
         });
         println!(
             "virtual Xbox 360 (XUSB) up — sweeping LS + toggling A for {secs}s. Check with \
@@ -486,6 +488,50 @@ pub fn dualsense_windows_test(args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Windows: pad-audio endpoint provisioning — `pad-endpoint ensure|remove|status [--index N]`.
+/// `ensure` runs the idempotent startup path (reuse-or-create the devnode, bind the Steam
+/// Streaming Speakers driver, stamp the DualSense identity + 4ch/48k formats, report whether
+/// the stamps are SERVED); `status` prints the devnode/endpoint and per-stamp stored vs served
+/// state without changing anything; `remove` deletes the devnode via pnputil — the escape
+/// hatch only, endpoints are persistent by design. Stamping needs SYSTEM (the MMDevices ACL);
+/// run `ensure` under the service account or PsExec when the property-store route is denied.
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+pub fn pad_endpoint(args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+    use crate::audio::pad_endpoint as pe;
+    let idx: u8 = args
+        .iter()
+        .skip_while(|a| *a != "--index")
+        .nth(1)
+        .and_then(|s| s.parse().ok())
+        .unwrap_or(0);
+    match args.get(1).map(String::as_str) {
+        Some("ensure") => {
+            let p = pe::ensure(idx)?;
+            println!(
+                "pad-endpoint ensure: pad {} devnode {} endpoint {} needs_aeb_kick={}",
+                p.pad_index, p.device_instance, p.endpoint_id, p.needs_aeb_kick
+            );
+            Ok(())
+        }
+        Some("remove") => match pe::find(idx)? {
+            Some(p) => {
+                pe::remove(&p);
+                println!(
+                    "pad-endpoint remove: requested removal of {}",
+                    p.device_instance
+                );
+                Ok(())
+            }
+            None => {
+                println!("pad-endpoint remove: no pad-audio devnode for index {idx}");
+                Ok(())
+            }
+        },
+        Some("status") => pe::print_status(idx),
+        _ => anyhow::bail!("usage: punktfunk-host pad-endpoint <ensure|remove|status> [--index N]"),
+    }
+}
+
 /// Mirror a physical monitor and pull frames from it — the on-glass gate for per-monitor capture
 /// (`design/per-monitor-portal-capture.md` P2/P3), without needing a client to connect.
 ///

crates/punktfunk-host/src/gamestream/gamepad.rs

@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ pub fn decode(plaintext: &[u8]) -> Option<GamepadEvent> {
             index: *b.first()?,
             kind: *b.get(1)?,
             capabilities: le16(2)? as u16,
+            // GameStream's LI_CCAP vocabulary can't express pad audio — native-plane only.
+            audio_caps: 0,
         }),
         _ => None,
     }
@@ -138,6 +140,7 @@ mod tests {
             index,
             kind,
             capabilities,
+            ..
         }) = decode(&wrap(MAGIC_CONTROLLER_ARRIVAL, &body))
         else {
             panic!("expected Arrival");

crates/punktfunk-host/src/main.rs

@@ -602,6 +602,10 @@ fn real_main() -> Result<()> {
         // hold it, driving the real *WindowsManager end to end. `--index N`, `--seconds N`.
         #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
         Some("dualsense-windows-test") => devtest::dualsense_windows_test(&args),
+        // Windows: pad-audio endpoint provisioning (`ensure`/`status`) + the pnputil removal
+        // escape hatch (`remove`). `--index N` selects the pad slot (default 0).
+        #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+        Some("pad-endpoint") => devtest::pad_endpoint(&args),
         // Capture→encode→file pipeline spike (dev tool).
         Some("spike") => spike::run(parse_spike(&args[1..])?),
         // Native punktfunk/1 host (QUIC control plane + UDP data plane).

crates/punktfunk-host/src/native.rs

@@ -64,6 +64,12 @@ use pairing::pair_ceremony;
 mod audio;
 use audio::audio_thread;
 
+/// Per-pad DualSense audio (the 0xD1 plane): loopback capture of the pre-provisioned pad
+/// endpoints → per-kind silence gate → stereo Opus → `PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC` datagrams. The input
+/// thread spawns/reaps one streamer per arriving pad (`input`); the Welcome advertises the cap
+/// via `pad_audio::host_cap` (`handshake`).
+mod pad_audio;
+
 /// The native input plane (plan §W1); the session setup spawns `input_thread` and feeds it a
 /// channel of `ClientInput`. The `Pads` router + rumble live there too.
 mod input;
@@ -344,6 +350,14 @@ pub(crate) async fn serve(
     // binds its capture device) and self-heals when the backend dies (PipeWire restart, Windows
     // endpoint churn).
     let mic_service = crate::audio::MicPump::start();
+    // Windows, env-gated (PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO / _SLOTS): pre-provision the per-pad "DualSense
+    // speaker" render endpoints once per host lifetime — idempotent devnode + stamp work on a
+    // dedicated COM thread, results published for sessions to query by pad index
+    // (crate::audio::pad_endpoint::endpoint_for). If any stamp is stored-but-not-served, the
+    // worker performs ONE AudioEndpointBuilder+Audiosrv restart now, before any session exists.
+    // Failures log once and leave the feature off: pads still work, just without pad audio.
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    crate::audio::pad_endpoint::provision_at_startup();
     // Host-lifetime worker that fires debounced TV-session restores (the managed gamescope path
     // restores the box's autologin gaming session on idle, not per-disconnect — see
     // `vdisplay::restore_managed_session`). Held for serve()'s lifetime; dropping it stops it.
@@ -1164,9 +1178,14 @@ async fn serve_session(
     let input_handle = {
         let conn = conn.clone();
         let gamepad = welcome.gamepad;
+        // Pad audio (0xD1) negotiated: the Welcome advertised the cap (Windows + provisioned
+        // endpoints + the client asked — handshake reads `pad_audio::host_cap`). Read back off
+        // the Welcome rather than recomputed, so the input thread's spawns cannot disagree
+        // with what the client was told.
+        let pad_audio_on = welcome.host_caps & punktfunk_core::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO != 0;
         std::thread::Builder::new()
             .name("punktfunk1-input".into())
-            .spawn(move || input_thread(input_rx, conn, inj_tx, gamepad))
+            .spawn(move || input_thread(input_rx, conn, inj_tx, gamepad, pad_audio_on))
             .context("spawn input thread")?
     };
     // One reader for ALL client→host datagrams, demuxed by magic byte (two read_datagram loops

crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/handshake.rs

@@ -544,6 +544,16 @@ pub(super) async fn negotiate(
                 punktfunk_core::quic::HOST_CAP_PEN
             } else {
                 0
+            }
+            // Per-pad DualSense audio (0xD1 + HidOutput::AudioCtl): granted only when the
+            // client asked AND this host can capture it — Windows with the feature enabled
+            // and at least one pad endpoint provisioned at startup. A capable client then
+            // marks its pads' renderers on their arrivals; the input thread streams toward
+            // exactly those pads (`super::pad_audio`).
+            | if super::pad_audio::host_cap(hello.client_caps) {
+                punktfunk_core::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO
+            } else {
+                0
             },
         // The negotiated session AEAD (resolved above) + its 32-byte key toward a ChaCha
         // client; toward everyone else cipher 0 keeps the Welcome byte-identical to the

crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/input.rs

@@ -515,6 +515,75 @@ impl Pads {
     }
 }
 
+/// Per-pad 0xD1 streamers (`super::pad_audio`), keyed by pad index like every per-pad table
+/// here (bounded by [`MAX_WIRE_PADS`]; only slots 0..4 can ever have a provisioned endpoint —
+/// `spawn` refuses the rest). Spawned when a negotiated session's DualSense-family arrival
+/// declares renderer bits, reaped on remove / re-declare / session teardown.
+struct PadAudioSlots {
+    /// `(kinds, handle)` per running pad — `kinds` is the arrival's audio-caps mask, kept so
+    /// an identical re-arrival (they are re-sent against datagram loss) is a no-op.
+    slots: [Option<(u8, pad_audio::PadAudioHandle)>; MAX_WIRE_PADS],
+}
+
+impl PadAudioSlots {
+    fn new() -> PadAudioSlots {
+        PadAudioSlots {
+            slots: std::array::from_fn(|_| None),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Idempotent spawn: same kinds → keep the running streamer; changed kinds → restart with
+    /// the new mask; not running → spawn (a slot without an endpoint stays empty — bounded
+    /// retries, since arrivals are only re-sent a few times per slot open).
+    fn ensure(&mut self, conn: &quinn::Connection, pad: u8, kinds: u8) {
+        let idx = pad as usize;
+        if idx >= MAX_WIRE_PADS {
+            return;
+        }
+        if let Some((have, _)) = &self.slots[idx] {
+            if *have == kinds {
+                return; // identical re-arrival — keep the running streamer
+            }
+            tracing::info!(
+                pad = idx,
+                "pad-audio kinds changed — restarting the streamer"
+            );
+            self.stop(idx);
+        }
+        let stop = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+        if let Some(h) = pad_audio::spawn(conn.clone(), pad, kinds, stop) {
+            self.slots[idx] = Some((kinds, h));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Stop + reap one pad's streamer. The join rides a detached reaper thread: a quiet pad's
+    /// capturer can sit out its ~5 s recv timeout, and this thread must keep its ≤4 ms
+    /// feedback cadence (games block on GET_REPORT handshakes) — the reaper still joins, just
+    /// not here. A failed reaper spawn falls back to the handle's own drop (signal + join).
+    fn stop(&mut self, idx: usize) {
+        if let Some((_, h)) = self.slots.get_mut(idx).and_then(|s| s.take()) {
+            h.signal();
+            let _ = std::thread::Builder::new()
+                .name("punktfunk1-padreap".into())
+                .spawn(move || h.stop());
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Session teardown: flag every streamer FIRST so they wind down concurrently, then join —
+    /// the worst case is ONE quiet-endpoint recv timeout (~5 s), well inside the session's
+    /// 10 s side-thread join grace, not one per pad.
+    fn stop_all(&mut self) {
+        for s in self.slots.iter().flatten() {
+            s.1.signal();
+        }
+        for s in &mut self.slots {
+            if let Some((_, h)) = s.take() {
+                h.stop();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// One client→host input item, both planes on ONE channel so the input thread wakes the
 /// moment either arrives (a second rich channel drained after the 4 ms recv timeout cost
 /// every pure-gyro motion sample up to 4 ms of quantization).
@@ -669,8 +738,13 @@ pub(super) fn input_thread(
     conn: quinn::Connection,
     inj_tx: std::sync::mpsc::Sender<InputEvent>,
     gamepad: GamepadPref,
+    pad_audio_on: bool,
 ) {
     let mut pads = Pads::new(gamepad);
+    // Per-pad 0xD1 audio streamers, live only when the Welcome granted the cap (`pad_audio_on`
+    // — read back off the negotiated host_caps). Spawned on DualSense-family arrivals that
+    // declare renderer bits, reaped on remove/teardown below.
+    let mut pad_streams = PadAudioSlots::new();
     // Motion-cadence observability (debug level): inter-arrival percentiles per 5 s window,
     // the measurement a "gyro feels floaty" report needs. Bounded: 5 s at even a 1 kHz pad
     // is 5000 u32s.
@@ -829,16 +903,53 @@ pub(super) fn input_thread(
                         rumble_seen[idx] = false;
                         rumble_seq[idx] = 0;
                         rumble_stop_burst[idx] = 0;
+                        // The unplugged pad's 0xD1 streamer goes with it (seq-gated like the
+                        // rest of this arm, so a reordered stale removal can't kill the
+                        // stream of a re-plugged pad). A re-plug re-arrives and re-spawns.
+                        pad_streams.stop(idx);
                     }
                 }
                 InputKind::GamepadArrival => {
                     // Per-pad controller kind declaration (mixed types): route this pad's future
-                    // frames to a backend of the declared kind. `code` = the GamepadPref wire byte,
-                    // `flags` = pad index. Applied before the pad's first frame (the client sends it
-                    // on slot open), so the device is built as the right type from the start.
-                    let idx = ev.flags as usize;
+                    // frames to a backend of the declared kind. `code` = the GamepadPref wire
+                    // byte, `flags` = pad index in the LOW BYTE — bits 8/9 carry the pad's
+                    // audio-render caps (haptics/speaker) from a pad-audio-capable client, so
+                    // the index MUST come from `decode_gamepad_arrival`, never the whole word.
+                    // Applied before the pad's first frame (the client sends it on slot open),
+                    // so the device is built as the right type from the start. The audio caps
+                    // are surfaced here for the 0xD1 capture path (which emits pad audio only
+                    // toward pads that declared a renderer).
+                    let (pad, audio_caps) = punktfunk_core::input::decode_gamepad_arrival(ev.flags);
+                    let idx = pad as usize;
                     let kind = GamepadPref::from_u8(ev.code as u8);
+                    if audio_caps != 0 {
+                        tracing::debug!(
+                            pad = idx,
+                            haptics = audio_caps & 0x01 != 0,
+                            speaker = audio_caps & 0x02 != 0,
+                            "pad-audio render caps declared (arrival flags bits 8/9)"
+                        );
+                    }
                     pads.set_kind(idx, kind);
+                    // Pad audio (0xD1): stream toward DualSense-family pads that declared a
+                    // renderer, only on a session that negotiated the cap. Idempotent across
+                    // the arrival re-sends (same kinds keeps the running streamer); a
+                    // re-declare without bits — or as a kind with no pad audio — stops it.
+                    if pad_audio_on {
+                        let want = if matches!(
+                            kind,
+                            GamepadPref::DualSense | GamepadPref::DualSenseEdge
+                        ) {
+                            audio_caps
+                        } else {
+                            0
+                        };
+                        if want != 0 {
+                            pad_streams.ensure(&conn, pad, want);
+                        } else {
+                            pad_streams.stop(idx);
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
                 _ => {
                     // Track press/release so a mid-press disconnect can be undone below.
@@ -994,6 +1105,9 @@ pub(super) fn input_thread(
             flags: 0,
         });
     }
+    // Reap the per-pad 0xD1 streamers with the session (after the instant release sends above
+    // — this can block on a quiet pad's capturer timeout, see PadAudioSlots::stop_all).
+    pad_streams.stop_all();
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]

crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/pad_audio.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,641 @@
+//! Per-pad DualSense audio (the 0xD1 pad-audio plane): WASAPI loopback of a pre-provisioned pad
+//! endpoint ([`crate::audio::pad_endpoint`]) → 4-ch de-interleave into the speaker (front) and
+//! voice-coil haptics (back) pairs → per-kind silence gate → stereo Opus (48 kHz, CBR, LowDelay)
+//! → [`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`](punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC) datagrams. One thread per
+//! arriving pad, spawned/reaped by the input thread ([`super::input`]) as arrivals declare
+//! renderers and pads leave. Modeled on the session audio thread ([`super::audio`]): the same
+//! reopen-with-backoff on capture death, the same monotonic-seq-kept-across-reopens discipline,
+//! the same power-of-two encode-warn throttle.
+
+use super::*;
+
+/// `kinds` bit for the haptics stream (bit N = wire kind N — the same packing the arrival's
+/// audio-caps bits use, see [`punktfunk_core::input::decode_gamepad_arrival`]).
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+pub(super) const KIND_BIT_HAPTICS: u8 = 1 << punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS;
+/// `kinds` bit for the speaker stream.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+pub(super) const KIND_BIT_SPEAKER: u8 = 1 << punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER;
+
+/// Haptics frames are 5 ms (the session-audio cadence — haptics are felt latency); speaker
+/// frames are 10 ms (speaker content tolerates the buffering for the coding efficiency). Both
+/// are the wire contract's cadences (`punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_*`).
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const HAPTICS_FRAME_MS: u32 = 5;
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const SPEAKER_FRAME_MS: u32 = 10;
+/// Samples per frame (per channel) at 48 kHz: 240 / 480.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES: usize =
+    crate::audio::SAMPLE_RATE as usize * HAPTICS_FRAME_MS as usize / 1000;
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const SPEAKER_FRAME_SAMPLES: usize =
+    crate::audio::SAMPLE_RATE as usize * SPEAKER_FRAME_MS as usize / 1000;
+/// The capture's channel count — the pad endpoint is stamped quad (FL FR BL BR: front pair =
+/// speaker, back pair = voice coils). Mirrors `pad_endpoint::PAD_CHANNELS` (Windows-gated, so
+/// the pure splitter logic keeps its own copy).
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const CAP_CHANNELS: usize = 4;
+
+/// Peak (absolute sample) at or above which a frame counts as signal — the gate OPENS on that
+/// very frame (haptics are felt latency; the first active frame must ship). ≈ −60 dBFS.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const GATE_OPEN_PEAK: f32 = 1e-3;
+/// How long the gate keeps sending after the last signal frame before it CLOSES (hangover):
+/// long enough that a decaying haptic tail (and the client decoder's own tail) is never
+/// clipped, short enough that an idle pad costs nothing in steady state.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+const GATE_HANGOVER_MS: u32 = 250;
+
+/// Per-kind Opus bitrate — a stereo voice-coil / pad-speaker pair needs far less than the
+/// session plane's 128 kbps; 64 kbps CBR keeps every frame comfortably under one MTU.
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+const PAD_AUDIO_BITRATE: i32 = 64_000;
+
+/// The per-kind silence gate — the steady-state-cost feature: an idle pad endpoint (games
+/// rarely render pad audio) must cost ZERO encodes and ZERO datagrams, not a permanent 200 Hz
+/// stream of coded silence. Opens the instant a frame carries signal ([`GATE_OPEN_PEAK`]);
+/// closes only after [`GATE_HANGOVER_MS`] of continuous sub-threshold frames. Pure logic,
+/// unit-tested below.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+struct SilenceGate {
+    /// Consecutive sub-threshold frames that close the gate ([`GATE_HANGOVER_MS`] ÷ frame ms).
+    hangover_frames: u32,
+    /// Consecutive sub-threshold frames seen so far while open.
+    quiet: u32,
+    /// Starts closed: a pad no game ever renders into never opens (and never sends).
+    open: bool,
+}
+
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+impl SilenceGate {
+    fn new(frame_ms: u32) -> SilenceGate {
+        SilenceGate {
+            hangover_frames: (GATE_HANGOVER_MS / frame_ms).max(1),
+            quiet: 0,
+            open: false,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Feed one frame; `true` = encode + send it. Signal opens the gate on THIS frame; the
+    /// frame that completes the hangover closes it and is itself suppressed (the client
+    /// already has ~250 ms of ramped-out silence by then).
+    fn feed(&mut self, frame: &[f32]) -> bool {
+        if frame.iter().any(|s| s.abs() >= GATE_OPEN_PEAK) {
+            self.open = true;
+            self.quiet = 0;
+        } else if self.open {
+            self.quiet += 1;
+            if self.quiet >= self.hangover_frames {
+                self.open = false;
+                self.quiet = 0;
+            }
+        }
+        self.open
+    }
+}
+
+/// One kind's send-admission + seq bookkeeping (pure logic — the capture thread wraps it with
+/// the encoder and the datagram send). `seq` is monotonic per (pad, kind) and NEVER advances
+/// while the gate is closed: frozen-seq = deliberate silence — the client tells silence from
+/// loss by seq continuity (the mic-mute discipline, pf-client-core/src/audio.rs). It is also
+/// kept across capture reopens (the session audio thread's discipline, audio.rs): the client
+/// sees a gap, not a restart.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+struct LaneCtl {
+    gate: SilenceGate,
+    seq: u32,
+}
+
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+impl LaneCtl {
+    fn new(frame_ms: u32) -> LaneCtl {
+        LaneCtl {
+            gate: SilenceGate::new(frame_ms),
+            seq: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Admit one frame: `Some(seq)` = encode + send it with this seq (advanced for the next);
+    /// `None` = gated — do not send, do not advance. An encode failure AFTER admission leaves a
+    /// one-frame seq gap, which the client conceals exactly like datagram loss.
+    fn admit(&mut self, frame: &[f32]) -> Option<u32> {
+        if !self.gate.feed(frame) {
+            return None;
+        }
+        let seq = self.seq;
+        self.seq = self.seq.wrapping_add(1);
+        Some(seq)
+    }
+}
+
+/// De-interleave one 4-ch block (FL FR BL BR) into its stereo pairs: `(front, back)` — front =
+/// speaker (channels 0/1), back = voice-coil haptics (channels 2/3). A ragged tail (not a
+/// multiple of 4 — the capturer only ever delivers whole frames) is dropped, never smeared
+/// across channels.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+fn split_quad(block: &[f32]) -> (Vec<f32>, Vec<f32>) {
+    let mut front = Vec::with_capacity(block.len() / 2);
+    let mut back = Vec::with_capacity(block.len() / 2);
+    for s in block.chunks_exact(CAP_CHANNELS) {
+        front.extend_from_slice(&s[..2]);
+        back.extend_from_slice(&s[2..4]);
+    }
+    (front, back)
+}
+
+/// Accumulates interleaved 4-ch capture and cuts it into the wire contract's per-kind stereo
+/// frames — haptics every 5 ms from the back pair, speaker every 10 ms from the front pair —
+/// emitting ONLY the kinds enabled in `kinds` (a disabled kind is never even split out, so it
+/// can never reach an encoder). Pure logic, unit-tested; the capture thread wraps it.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+struct PadFramer {
+    kinds: u8,
+    /// Raw interleaved 4-ch accumulation, drained in 5 ms blocks.
+    acc: Vec<f32>,
+    /// Front-pair stereo accumulation toward the next 10 ms speaker frame.
+    front: Vec<f32>,
+}
+
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "windows", test))]
+impl PadFramer {
+    fn new(kinds: u8) -> PadFramer {
+        PadFramer {
+            kinds,
+            acc: Vec::with_capacity(HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES * CAP_CHANNELS * 4),
+            front: Vec::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Feed one capture chunk; `emit(kind, stereo_frame)` fires for each completed frame
+    /// (haptics first — it is the latency-critical pair).
+    fn feed(&mut self, chunk: &[f32], mut emit: impl FnMut(u8, &[f32])) {
+        self.acc.extend_from_slice(chunk);
+        let block_len = HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES * CAP_CHANNELS;
+        while self.acc.len() >= block_len {
+            let block: Vec<f32> = self.acc.drain(..block_len).collect();
+            let (front, back) = split_quad(&block);
+            if self.kinds & KIND_BIT_HAPTICS != 0 {
+                emit(punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, &back);
+            }
+            if self.kinds & KIND_BIT_SPEAKER != 0 {
+                self.front.extend_from_slice(&front);
+                let frame_len = SPEAKER_FRAME_SAMPLES * 2;
+                while self.front.len() >= frame_len {
+                    let frame: Vec<f32> = self.front.drain(..frame_len).collect();
+                    emit(punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, &frame);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Drop the partial frames straddling a capture gap (reopen). The seq/gate state is NOT
+    /// here — [`LaneCtl`] deliberately survives reopens, so the client sees a gap, not a
+    /// restart.
+    fn clear(&mut self) {
+        self.acc.clear();
+        self.front.clear();
+    }
+}
+
+/// A running per-pad streamer. [`stop`](PadAudioHandle::stop) (or drop) flags the thread and
+/// joins it; [`signal`](PadAudioHandle::signal) only flags — the input thread's teardown flags
+/// every pad first so the joins overlap instead of serializing the capturer's worst-case ~5 s
+/// quiet-endpoint recv timeout.
+pub(super) struct PadAudioHandle {
+    stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+    join: Option<std::thread::JoinHandle<()>>,
+}
+
+impl PadAudioHandle {
+    /// Flag the streamer to wind down without waiting for it.
+    pub(super) fn signal(&self) {
+        self.stop.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
+    }
+
+    /// Stop + reap. Bounded by the capturer's ~5 s quiet-endpoint recv timeout in the worst
+    /// case — the mid-session reap paths run this on a detached reaper thread for that reason
+    /// (`input.rs::PadAudioSlots::stop`); session teardown affords it inline (the 10 s
+    /// side-thread join grace covers it).
+    pub(super) fn stop(mut self) {
+        self.reap();
+    }
+
+    fn reap(&mut self) {
+        self.signal();
+        if let Some(join) = self.join.take() {
+            let _ = join.join();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// A handle dropped without `stop()` (reaper-spawn failure) still winds its thread down.
+impl Drop for PadAudioHandle {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        self.reap();
+    }
+}
+
+/// Whether this session's Welcome should advertise
+/// [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](punktfunk_core::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO): the client asked
+/// ([`CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO)), this is a Windows
+/// host with the feature on (`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO` != "0"), and startup provisioning published
+/// at least one endpoint (`pad_endpoint::provision_at_startup`). Still-running provisioning
+/// reads as "none yet": a session racing host startup simply negotiates without pad audio and
+/// picks it up on its next connect.
+pub(super) fn host_cap(client_caps: u8) -> bool {
+    let asked = client_caps & punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO != 0;
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    {
+        asked
+            && std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO").is_none_or(|v| v != "0")
+            && crate::audio::pad_endpoint::provisioned_endpoints()
+                .is_some_and(|eps| !eps.is_empty())
+    }
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
+    {
+        // Only the Windows virtual DualSense exposes pad audio endpoints today.
+        let _ = asked;
+        false
+    }
+}
+
+/// Start the per-pad streamer toward `conn` for `pad`, streaming the kinds in `kinds` (bit 0 =
+/// haptics, bit 1 = speaker — the arrival's audio-caps packing). `stop` is this handle's own
+/// flag (fresh per spawn — pad streamers stop individually, not with the session). `None` when
+/// the slot has no provisioned endpoint (provisioning failed or still running, or the slot is
+/// past `PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_SLOTS` — only 0..4 can ever have one) or the thread cannot spawn;
+/// the pad itself keeps working either way, just without audio.
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+pub(super) fn spawn(
+    conn: quinn::Connection,
+    pad: u8,
+    kinds: u8,
+    stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+) -> Option<PadAudioHandle> {
+    if kinds & (KIND_BIT_HAPTICS | KIND_BIT_SPEAKER) == 0 {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let Some(ep) = crate::audio::pad_endpoint::endpoint_for(pad) else {
+        tracing::debug!(
+            pad,
+            "pad-audio arrival for a slot without a provisioned endpoint — not streaming"
+        );
+        return None;
+    };
+    if ep.endpoint_id.is_empty() {
+        // The devnode-without-endpoint shape (`find`) — never in the provisioned set, but
+        // cheap to refuse rather than spin the open/backoff loop on an empty id.
+        return None;
+    }
+    let stop_t = stop.clone();
+    match std::thread::Builder::new()
+        .name(format!("punktfunk1-pad{pad}"))
+        .spawn(move || pad_audio_thread(conn, pad, kinds, ep.endpoint_id, stop_t))
+    {
+        Ok(join) => Some(PadAudioHandle {
+            stop,
+            join: Some(join),
+        }),
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::warn!(pad, error = %e, "pad-audio thread spawn failed — pad streams without audio");
+            None
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Stub — pad endpoints exist only behind the Windows virtual DualSense; other hosts run pads
+/// without the audio side (and never advertise the cap, see [`host_cap`]).
+#[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
+pub(super) fn spawn(
+    _conn: quinn::Connection,
+    _pad: u8,
+    _kinds: u8,
+    _stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+) -> Option<PadAudioHandle> {
+    None
+}
+
+/// One enabled kind's encoder lane: admission/seq control + its stereo Opus encoder + the
+/// power-of-two warn throttle (a stuck encoder would otherwise fail ~200 times a second).
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+struct Lane {
+    kind: u8,
+    ctl: LaneCtl,
+    enc: opus::Encoder,
+    encode_errs: u64,
+}
+
+/// Build one stereo encoder per enabled kind: 48 kHz LowDelay hard-CBR like the session audio
+/// plane ([`super::audio`]), at the pad plane's 64 kbps.
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+fn build_lanes(kinds: u8) -> Result<Vec<Lane>, opus::Error> {
+    let mut lanes = Vec::new();
+    for (bit, kind, frame_ms) in [
+        (
+            KIND_BIT_HAPTICS,
+            punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS,
+            HAPTICS_FRAME_MS,
+        ),
+        (
+            KIND_BIT_SPEAKER,
+            punktfunk_core::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER,
+            SPEAKER_FRAME_MS,
+        ),
+    ] {
+        if kinds & bit == 0 {
+            continue;
+        }
+        let mut enc = opus::Encoder::new(
+            crate::audio::SAMPLE_RATE,
+            opus::Channels::Stereo,
+            opus::Application::LowDelay,
+        )?;
+        enc.set_bitrate(opus::Bitrate::Bits(PAD_AUDIO_BITRATE)).ok();
+        enc.set_vbr(false).ok();
+        lanes.push(Lane {
+            kind,
+            ctl: LaneCtl::new(frame_ms),
+            enc,
+            encode_errs: 0,
+        });
+    }
+    Ok(lanes)
+}
+
+/// The per-pad streaming thread: loopback capture → framer → per-kind gate/encode → 0xD1
+/// datagrams. Capture death reopens with the session-audio backoff ([`INJECTOR_REOPEN_BACKOFF`],
+/// encoders + seq kept); a send error ends the thread (the connection — the session — is gone).
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+fn pad_audio_thread(
+    conn: quinn::Connection,
+    pad: u8,
+    kinds: u8,
+    endpoint_id: String,
+    stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+) {
+    use crate::audio::AudioCapturer as _;
+    let mut lanes = match build_lanes(kinds) {
+        Ok(l) => l,
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::warn!(pad, error = %e, "pad-audio opus encoder init failed — pad continues without audio");
+            return;
+        }
+    };
+    if lanes.is_empty() {
+        return; // spawn() refuses kinds == 0 — belt and braces
+    }
+    let mut framer = PadFramer::new(kinds);
+    // One Opus frame per datagram; 64 kbps CBR at ≤10 ms is ~80 bytes — sized with the session
+    // plane's slack.
+    let mut opus_buf = vec![0u8; 1500];
+    // Reopen-with-backoff (the audio.rs discipline): a capture death (endpoint invalidated,
+    // audio-engine restart) reopens instead of muting the pad for the rest of the session. The
+    // first open ALSO rides this loop, so an open lost to endpoint churn starts late, not never.
+    let mut capturer: Option<crate::audio::pad_endpoint::PadLoopbackCapturer> = None;
+    let mut last_failed: Option<std::time::Instant> = None;
+    tracing::info!(
+        pad,
+        haptics = kinds & KIND_BIT_HAPTICS != 0,
+        speaker = kinds & KIND_BIT_SPEAKER != 0,
+        "pad audio streaming (0xD1, Opus 48 kHz, silence-gated)"
+    );
+    'session: while !stop.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
+        if capturer.is_none() {
+            if last_failed.is_some_and(|t| t.elapsed() < INJECTOR_REOPEN_BACKOFF) {
+                std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(200));
+                continue;
+            }
+            match crate::audio::pad_endpoint::PadLoopbackCapturer::open(&endpoint_id) {
+                Ok(c) => {
+                    if last_failed.take().is_some() {
+                        tracing::info!(pad, "pad-audio capture reopened");
+                    }
+                    capturer = Some(c);
+                    framer.clear(); // drop the partial frames straddling the gap
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    tracing::debug!(pad, error = %format!("{e:#}"), "pad-audio open failed — will retry");
+                    last_failed = Some(std::time::Instant::now());
+                    std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(200));
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        // An empty chunk is a QUIET endpoint (the capturer's idle timeout), not a death — keep
+        // it; only a genuine Err (capture thread ended) drops the capturer for reopen.
+        let chunk = match capturer.as_mut().unwrap().next_chunk() {
+            Ok(c) => c,
+            Err(e) => {
+                tracing::warn!(pad, error = %format!("{e:#}"), "pad-audio capture lost — reopening");
+                capturer = None;
+                last_failed = Some(std::time::Instant::now());
+                continue;
+            }
+        };
+        let mut session_gone = false;
+        framer.feed(&chunk, |kind, frame| {
+            if session_gone {
+                return;
+            }
+            let Some(lane) = lanes.iter_mut().find(|l| l.kind == kind) else {
+                return; // framer emits only enabled kinds — unreachable, but never panic here
+            };
+            // Gated = deliberate silence: no datagram AND a frozen seq (the client tells
+            // silence from loss by seq continuity).
+            let Some(seq) = lane.ctl.admit(frame) else {
+                return;
+            };
+            let pts_ns = now_ns();
+            match lane.enc.encode_float(frame, &mut opus_buf) {
+                Ok(n) => {
+                    let d = punktfunk_core::quic::encode_pad_audio_datagram(
+                        pad,
+                        kind,
+                        seq,
+                        pts_ns,
+                        &opus_buf[..n],
+                    );
+                    if conn.send_datagram(d.into()).is_err() {
+                        session_gone = true; // connection gone — the session is over
+                    }
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    lane.encode_errs += 1;
+                    if lane.encode_errs.is_power_of_two() {
+                        tracing::warn!(
+                            pad,
+                            kind,
+                            error = %e,
+                            count = lane.encode_errs,
+                            "pad-audio opus encode failed — dropping frame"
+                        );
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        });
+        if session_gone {
+            break 'session;
+        }
+    }
+    // Dropping the capturer stops its WASAPI thread. Nothing to park: pad capture is per-pad,
+    // per-session by design (unlike the session audio slot there is no cross-session reuse).
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use punktfunk_core::quic::{PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER};
+
+    /// A stereo frame of `n` samples at a constant level.
+    fn frame(level: f32, n: usize) -> Vec<f32> {
+        vec![level; n * 2]
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gate_opens_immediately_and_closes_after_hangover() {
+        let mut g = SilenceGate::new(HAPTICS_FRAME_MS);
+        // 250 ms of 5 ms frames.
+        assert_eq!(g.hangover_frames, 50);
+        // Closed from birth: an idle pad never sends.
+        assert!(!g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        // A peak at exactly the threshold opens on THIS frame (haptics are felt latency).
+        assert!(g.feed(&frame(GATE_OPEN_PEAK, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        // 49 quiet frames ride the hangover; the 50th completes 250 ms and is suppressed.
+        for _ in 0..49 {
+            assert!(g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        }
+        assert!(!g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        // ... and stays closed.
+        assert!(!g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        // Sub-threshold wiggle does not reopen; real signal does (negative peaks count).
+        assert!(!g.feed(&frame(9e-4, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        assert!(g.feed(&frame(-0.5, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        // A loud frame mid-hangover rearms the full 250 ms.
+        for _ in 0..49 {
+            assert!(g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        }
+        assert!(g.feed(&frame(0.02, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        for _ in 0..49 {
+            assert!(g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        }
+        assert!(!g.feed(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gate_hangover_scales_with_frame_ms() {
+        let mut g = SilenceGate::new(SPEAKER_FRAME_MS);
+        assert_eq!(g.hangover_frames, 25); // 250 ms of 10 ms frames
+        assert!(g.feed(&frame(0.1, SPEAKER_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        for _ in 0..24 {
+            assert!(g.feed(&frame(0.0, SPEAKER_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+        }
+        assert!(!g.feed(&frame(0.0, SPEAKER_FRAME_SAMPLES)));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn seq_freezes_while_gated_and_survives_reopen() {
+        let mut lane = LaneCtl::new(HAPTICS_FRAME_MS);
+        // Two audible frames: seq 0, 1.
+        assert_eq!(lane.admit(&frame(0.5, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)), Some(0));
+        assert_eq!(lane.admit(&frame(0.5, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)), Some(1));
+        // The hangover is still sent (seq advances), then the gate closes and seq FREEZES —
+        // deliberate silence the client tells from loss by continuity.
+        for i in 0..49u32 {
+            assert_eq!(lane.admit(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)), Some(2 + i));
+        }
+        for _ in 0..500 {
+            assert_eq!(lane.admit(&frame(0.0, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)), None);
+        }
+        // A capture reopen resets ONLY the framer (PadFramer::clear) — LaneCtl is deliberately
+        // untouched, so the next audible frame CONTINUES the sequence (gap, not restart).
+        assert_eq!(lane.admit(&frame(0.9, HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)), Some(51));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn splitter_exact_pairs() {
+        // Interleave [FL FR BL BR] × 2 frames with distinct values everywhere.
+        let quad = [0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 13.0];
+        let (front, back) = split_quad(&quad);
+        assert_eq!(front, [0.0, 1.0, 10.0, 11.0]);
+        assert_eq!(back, [2.0, 3.0, 12.0, 13.0]);
+        // A ragged tail (never produced by the capturer) is dropped, not smeared.
+        let (front, back) = split_quad(&quad[..7]);
+        assert_eq!((front.len(), back.len()), (2, 2));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn framer_cuts_the_wire_cadence() {
+        let mut f = PadFramer::new(KIND_BIT_HAPTICS | KIND_BIT_SPEAKER);
+        let mut got: Vec<(u8, usize, f32)> = Vec::new();
+        // 10 ms of capture (480 samples), fed in ragged chunks: exactly two 5 ms haptics
+        // frames from the back pair, then one 10 ms speaker frame from the front pair.
+        let mut quad = Vec::new();
+        for _ in 0..2 * HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES {
+            quad.extend_from_slice(&[0.25, 0.25, -0.5, -0.5]);
+        }
+        for chunk in quad.chunks(101) {
+            f.feed(chunk, |kind, frame| got.push((kind, frame.len(), frame[0])));
+        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            got,
+            vec![
+                (PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, 2 * HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES, -0.5),
+                (PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, 2 * HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES, -0.5),
+                (PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER, 2 * SPEAKER_FRAME_SAMPLES, 0.25),
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn framer_masks_disabled_kinds() {
+        // 20 ms of all-ones capture: 4 potential haptics frames, 2 potential speaker frames.
+        let quad = vec![1.0f32; 4 * HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES * CAP_CHANNELS];
+        let mut kinds_seen = Vec::new();
+        // Haptics-only: the front pair is never split out, let alone encoded.
+        let mut f = PadFramer::new(KIND_BIT_HAPTICS);
+        f.feed(&quad, |kind, _| kinds_seen.push(kind));
+        assert_eq!(kinds_seen, vec![PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS; 4]);
+        // Speaker-only: no haptics frames.
+        let mut f = PadFramer::new(KIND_BIT_SPEAKER);
+        kinds_seen.clear();
+        f.feed(&quad, |kind, _| kinds_seen.push(kind));
+        assert_eq!(kinds_seen, vec![PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER; 2]);
+        // kinds = 0 is never spawned, but the framer must still be total: nothing comes out.
+        let mut f = PadFramer::new(0);
+        kinds_seen.clear();
+        f.feed(&quad, |kind, _| kinds_seen.push(kind));
+        assert!(kinds_seen.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn framer_clear_drops_partials_only() {
+        let mut f = PadFramer::new(KIND_BIT_HAPTICS | KIND_BIT_SPEAKER);
+        let mut emitted = 0;
+        // 100 samples: no frame boundary reached yet.
+        f.feed(&vec![0.1; 100 * CAP_CHANNELS], |_, _| emitted += 1);
+        assert_eq!(emitted, 0);
+        f.clear();
+        // After the gap: exactly one haptics frame from 240 fresh samples — the 100 stale
+        // samples are gone (they would skew every later frame boundary).
+        f.feed(
+            &vec![0.2; HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES * CAP_CHANNELS],
+            |kind, frame| {
+                emitted += 1;
+                assert_eq!(
+                    (kind, frame.len()),
+                    (PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS, 2 * HAPTICS_FRAME_SAMPLES)
+                );
+            },
+        );
+        assert_eq!(emitted, 1);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn host_cap_requires_the_client_bit() {
+        // Without CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO the answer is no on EVERY platform (on Windows the
+        // env + provisioning legs are environment-dependent — not unit-tested here).
+        assert!(!host_cap(0));
+        assert!(!host_cap(punktfunk_core::quic::CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR));
+    }
+}

docs/releases/README.md

@@ -31,6 +31,35 @@ even across a tag re-point.
 Canary / `-rc` builds have **no** file here on purpose: they get no curated body and are not
 announced.
 
+## Google Play "What's new": `whatsnew/vX.Y.Z.txt`
+
+Play shows its own release notes on the Play Store listing and in the Play Store app, and caps
+them at **500 characters per language** — the `vX.Y.Z.md` body is two orders of magnitude too
+long, so it gets its own short file: `docs/releases/whatsnew/vX.Y.Z.txt`.
+
+Write it for a **phone/TV user**, not a host operator: only what changed in the Android app is
+worth their 500 characters. Plain text (Play renders no markdown), one `•` bullet per line, same
+voice rules as below. Copy `whatsnew/TEMPLATE.txt`.
+
+**A `vX.Y.Z` tag without this file fails the android job before it builds.** This is a hard gate,
+not a warning, because the failure it prevents is silent: when the file is missing Play does not
+show an empty "What's new" — it **carries the previous release's text onto the new version**, so
+the store listing describes a build nobody is getting, and nothing surfaces that but reading the
+listing. It is the same shape as the v0.22.3 notes announcing a feature that release never
+contained. The gate also rejects a file byte-identical to another release's, which is that bug
+reached by copy-paste instead of by omission.
+
+The gate runs first in the job, so a miss costs a second and leaves nothing half-published —
+no build, no assets on the Gitea release, nothing on Play. Two more checks sit downstream:
+`play-upload.py` refuses text over the 500-char cap (printing the real count) before it uploads,
+because the API only rejects oversized notes at commit, by which point the AAB is already on Play.
+
+Canary is exempt: it has no curated notes, and Play reusing text for internal testers costs
+nothing.
+
+Same freeze rule as the notes: once the tag exists, this file is the record of what that
+versionCode shipped.
+
 ## Voice & format
 
 **Write for the people who USE Punktfunk to stream their games and desktops — not for the people who

docs/releases/whatsnew/TEMPLATE.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+• <The headline change, in what the user gets — not what was built.>
+• <Second thing. Name devices they recognize: a phone, an Android TV, a DualSense.>
+• <Third. Stop at what fits; 500 characters is the hard cap, and it is small.>
+
+HOW TO USE THIS FILE
+  Copy to vX.Y.Z.txt, replace every line, delete this block. It is skipped by the CI gate by
+  name, so leaving it in place never blocks a release — but a copy that still says "<The
+  headline change>" will ship to the Play Store exactly as written. Nothing checks your prose.
+
+WHAT BELONGS HERE
+  Only what changed in the ANDROID APP. Host-side work — Windows installers, gamescope, the web
+  console — means nothing to someone reading a phone app's store listing, and it is spending
+  characters you do not have. The full release notes in ../vX.Y.Z.md are where that lives.
+
+RULES THE CI GATE ENFORCES (.gitea/workflows/android.yml)
+  * The file must exist for a vX.Y.Z tag, or the release fails before it builds. Play does not
+    show "no notes" when the file is missing — it carries the PREVIOUS release's text onto the
+    new version, and nobody notices until they read the store listing.
+  * It must not be byte-identical to another release's file.
+  * play-upload.py refuses anything over 500 characters and prints the real count.
+
+RULES NOTHING ENFORCES
+  * Plain text. No markdown — Play renders none of it, so `**bold**` ships as asterisks.
+  * One `•` bullet per line.
+  * Same voice as ../README.md: lead with what the user can now do, no internal vocabulary.
+  * Frozen once the tag exists. Editing it later does not change what already shipped; it only
+    misleads the next person who reads it as the record of that versionCode.

docs/releases/whatsnew/v0.23.0.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+• Much lower latency: a new frame scheduler cut glass-to-glass delay by about a third on the phones we measured, and the host can now line its capture up with your screen.
+• Microphone: mute it mid-stream, and echo cancellation is on by default.
+• DualSense controllers work over USB.
+• AV1 is picked automatically when your phone and host both support it.

include/punktfunk_core.h

@@ -58,7 +58,13 @@
 // uncertainty and the circular arrival-lead statistic the host's controller steers on. Additive;
 // the wire grows only a new control message (`PhaseReport`, 0x32) an old host never reads and a
 // strict-prefix append on the 0xCF host-timing tail, so [`WIRE_VERSION`] is unchanged.
-#define ABI_VERSION 14
+// v15: added the pad-audio client surface — `punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio` (the 0xD1
+// per-gamepad DualSense haptics/speaker plane) + `punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps` and
+// the `PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` / `PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO` mirrors. Additive and
+// capability-gated end to end: the wire grows a new datagram tag (0xD1) an old client never
+// receives (double-gated caps), a new 0xCD kind (0x06, dropped as unknown by old clients) and
+// arrival flag bits 8/9 sent only toward a capable host, so [`WIRE_VERSION`] is unchanged.
+#define ABI_VERSION 15
 
 // The punktfunk/1 **wire** version — what `Hello`/`Welcome` carry and hosts equality-check.
 // Deliberately its own constant: [`ABI_VERSION`] tracks the embeddable **C surface**
@@ -82,6 +88,13 @@
 // little-endian `u16`s with `effect_len = 6`. Clients without trackpad coils drop it.
 #define PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_TRACKPAD_HAPTIC 4
 
+// `PunktfunkHidOutput::kind` — the audio-control region of a DS5 output report (pad-audio
+// routing/volumes; the audio SAMPLES arrive via [`punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio`]).
+// `which` = the condensed audio flags (bit0 = haptics-select, bits1..4 = the report's
+// audio-valid flags); `effect[0..6]` = bytes 5..=10 of the report verbatim
+// (headphone/speaker/mic volumes + routing) with `effect_len = 6`. Forwarded change-only.
+#define PUNKTFUNK_HIDOUT_AUDIO_CTL 5
+
 // Capacity of `PunktfunkHidOutput::effect` (the DualSense trigger parameter block).
 #define PUNKTFUNK_HID_EFFECT_MAX 11
 
@@ -266,6 +279,28 @@
 // design/pen-tablet-input.md.)
 #define PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PEN 16
 
+// Host-capability bit in [`punktfunk_connection_host_caps`]: the host can capture per-gamepad
+// audio (DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker) and emit it on the 0xD1 plane toward pads
+// declared capable via [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`]. Set only when the client
+// asked via [`PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`]. (Mirrors `quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`.)
+#define PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO 32
+
+// Pad-audio `kind` ([`punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio`]): the BACK channel pair — DualSense
+// voice-coil haptics, 5 ms Opus frames. (Mirrors `quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`.)
+#define PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS 0
+
+// Pad-audio `kind`: the FRONT channel pair — the controller's built-in speaker, 10 ms Opus
+// frames. (Mirrors `quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`.)
+#define PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER 1
+
+// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`] `audio_caps` bit: the pad renders the HAPTICS
+// stream (a real DualSense's voice coils).
+#define PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_HAPTICS 1
+
+// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`] `audio_caps` bit: the pad renders the SPEAKER
+// stream.
+#define PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_SPEAKER 2
+
 // [`punktfunk_connect_ex9`] `client_caps` bit: render the host cursor locally (the cursor
 // channel, `design/remote-desktop-sweep.md` M2).
 #define PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR 1
@@ -276,6 +311,13 @@
 // forward-compatible.
 #define PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK 2
 
+// [`punktfunk_connect_ex9`] `client_caps` bit: the client understands the pad-audio plane
+// (0xD1 — per-gamepad DualSense voice-coil haptics + speaker). The embedder MUST then drain
+// [`punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio`] and declare each capable pad via
+// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`]; the host emits pad audio only when it answers
+// with [`PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`]. (Mirrors `quic::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`.)
+#define PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO 4
+
 // `*ttl_ms` sentinel written by [`punktfunk_connection_next_rumble2`] for a legacy (v1) rumble
 // datagram — an old host that sent no self-termination lease. The client then falls back to its
 // own staleness heuristic for that update instead of a host-supplied deadline.
@@ -342,6 +384,19 @@
 // Fixed serialized size of an [`InputEvent`] on the wire (tag + fields).
 #define INPUT_WIRE_LEN (((((1 + 1) + 4) + 4) + 4) + 4)
 
+// [`InputKind::GamepadArrival`] `flags` bit: this pad renders pad-audio HAPTICS — it is (or
+// forwards to) a real DualSense whose voice-coil actuators can play the
+// [`PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`](crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS) stream. Rides above the pad
+// index byte; sent only toward a [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO) host
+// (an older host reads the whole `flags` word as the index, so unexpected high bits would make
+// it drop the declaration).
+#define ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS (1 << 8)
+
+// [`InputKind::GamepadArrival`] `flags` bit: this pad renders pad-audio SPEAKER — the
+// [`PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`](crate::quic::PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER) stream. Same wire discipline
+// as [`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`].
+#define ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER (1 << 9)
+
 // The number of gamepads addressable on the wire (`flags` pad index 0..15). Shared by the
 // client's snapshot fold and the host's per-pad accumulators.
 #define MAX_PADS 16
@@ -627,6 +682,18 @@
 #define CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK 2
 #endif
 
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// [`Hello::client_caps`] bit: the client understands the pad-audio plane
+// ([`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`](super::datagram::PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC), `0xD1`) — per-gamepad DualSense
+// voice-coil haptics + speaker Opus frames, plus the [`HidOutput::AudioCtl`]
+// (super::datagram::HidOutput) routing/volume events. Active only when the host answers with
+// [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] AND the pad's arrival declared a renderer for the kind
+// ([`crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/`_SPEAKER`) — the capable-and-agreed
+// precedent, per pad; toward an older or incapable host nothing changes. `0x04` — `0x01` is
+// [`CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR`], `0x02` is [`CLIENT_CAP_PHASE_LOCK`].
+#define CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO 4
+#endif
+
 #if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
 // [`Welcome::host_caps`] bit: the host CAN forward the cursor out-of-band (it captures cursor
 // metadata separately from the frame — the Linux portal `SPA_META_Cursor` path; NOT gamescope,
@@ -652,6 +719,19 @@
 #define HOST_CAP_PEN 16
 #endif
 
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// [`Welcome::host_caps`] bit: the host can capture pad audio — its virtual DualSense exposes
+// the pad's audio endpoints (voice-coil haptics + speaker), so a game's per-pad audio can be
+// captured and shipped on the [`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`](super::datagram::PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC) plane.
+// Set only when the client asked via [`CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`]; when both bits agree, a
+// capable client marks its pads' render capabilities on their arrivals
+// ([`crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/`_SPEAKER`) and the host emits `0xD1`
+// toward exactly those pads. `0x20` — `0x10` is [`HOST_CAP_PEN`], `0x08` is
+// [`HOST_CAP_CURSOR`], `0x04` is [`HOST_CAP_TEXT_INPUT`], `0x01`/`0x02` are gamepad-state /
+// clipboard.
+#define HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO 32
+#endif
+
 #if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
 // [`Hello::video_codecs`] bit: the client can decode H.264 / AVC. The GPU-less **software**
 // encode path (openh264) emits H.264, so a client that wants to stream from a software host MUST
@@ -939,7 +1019,9 @@
 // audio = [`AUDIO_MAGIC`] (0xC9, host→client), rumble = [`RUMBLE_MAGIC`] (0xCA, host→client),
 // mic = [`MIC_MAGIC`] (0xCB, client→host), rich-input = [`RICH_INPUT_MAGIC`] (0xCC, client→host),
 // HID-output = [`HIDOUT_MAGIC`] (0xCD, host→client), HDR metadata = [`HDR_META_MAGIC`]
-// (0xCE, host→client).
+// (0xCE, host→client), host timing = [`HOST_TIMING_MAGIC`] (0xCF, host→client), cursor state =
+// [`CURSOR_STATE_MAGIC`] (0xD0, host→client), pad audio = [`PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC`] (0xD1,
+// host→client).
 #define PUNKTFUNK_AUDIO_MAGIC 201
 #endif
 
@@ -1043,6 +1125,31 @@
 #define CURSOR_RELATIVE_HINT 2
 #endif
 
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// Pad-audio datagram tag, host → client: per-gamepad audio a game routed
+// to the host's virtual DualSense — voice-coil haptics and the built-in speaker — for the client
+// to render on the matching real controller. Next tag after [`CURSOR_STATE_MAGIC`]. The
+// per-pad AUDIO plane (Opus frames, the [`AUDIO_MAGIC`]/[`MIC_MAGIC`] shape plus pad + kind);
+// the routing/volume CONTROL side rides [`HidOutput::AudioCtl`]. Emitted only when the session
+// negotiated it ([`CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](super::caps::CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO) ∧
+// [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](super::caps::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO)) and the pad's arrival declared a
+// renderer for the kind ([`crate::input::ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/`_SPEAKER`).
+// Best-effort like every audio datagram: a lost frame is a concealed gap, never state.
+#define PAD_AUDIO_MAGIC 209
+#endif
+
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// [`PadAudioFrame::kind`]: the BACK channel pair — the DualSense voice-coil actuators (audio
+// haptics). 5 ms Opus frames, matching the [`AUDIO_MAGIC`] cadence: haptics are felt latency.
+#define PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS 0
+#endif
+
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// [`PadAudioFrame::kind`]: the FRONT channel pair — the controller's built-in speaker. 10 ms
+// Opus frames (speaker content tolerates the extra buffering for the better coding efficiency).
+#define PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER 1
+#endif
+
 #if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
 // QUIC application error code a punktfunk/1 client closes the control connection with on a
 // **deliberate quit** (a user "stop", not a network drop). The host reads it off the connection's
@@ -1357,7 +1464,11 @@ enum PunktfunkInputKind
     PUNKTFUNK_INPUT_KIND_GAMEPAD_REMOVE = 13,
     // Declares which controller KIND a pad presents so a session can MIX types (pad 0 a
     // DualSense, pad 1 an Xbox pad). `code` = the [`GamepadPref`](crate::config::GamepadPref)
-    // wire byte, `flags` = pad index. Sent when the client opens a pad slot — before that pad's
+    // wire byte, `flags` = pad index in the low byte plus the pad's render capabilities in bits
+    // 8/9 ([`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_HAPTICS`]/[`ARRIVAL_FLAG_PAD_AUDIO_SPEAKER`] — sent only
+    // toward a [`HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`](crate::quic::HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO) host, so an older host
+    // keeps reading the whole word as the index; hosts decode via [`decode_gamepad_arrival`]).
+    // Sent when the client opens a pad slot — before that pad's
     // first input — and re-sent a few times against datagram loss (like [`GamepadRemove`]). The
     // host resolves the kind to a buildable backend and routes that pad's virtual device to it; a
     // pad the client never declares (an older client, or a fully-lost declaration) falls back to
@@ -2262,6 +2373,50 @@ PunktfunkStatus punktfunk_connection_next_audio_pcm(PunktfunkConnection *c,
                                                     uint32_t timeout_ms);
 #endif
 
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// Pull the next pad-audio frame (0xD1) — one Opus frame of DualSense voice-coil haptics
+// (`kind` = [`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_HAPTICS`], 5 ms) or built-in-speaker audio
+// ([`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_KIND_SPEAKER`], 10 ms) for gamepad `*out_pad` — waiting up to
+// `timeout_ms`. The payload is COPIED into `buf` (no borrow-until-next-call slot); the return
+// value is its length in bytes, `0` = nothing this poll (timeout — or a DTX/oversized frame,
+// both of which an embedder treats the same way), `-1` = the session ended (or an invalid
+// handle/buffer). All pads/kinds share one queue — fan out by `*out_pad`/`*out_kind` to
+// per-actuator Opus decoders. A frame larger than `buf_len` is dropped like the timeout case
+// (the plane is lossy by design; any real Opus frame fits a 1500-byte buffer). Only a session
+// connected with [`PUNKTFUNK_CLIENT_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] against a
+// [`PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host — with the pad declared via
+// [`punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps`] — ever receives any. Drain from a dedicated
+// thread (one puller, may run alongside the other planes' pullers).
+//
+// # Safety
+// `c` is a valid connection handle; the `out_*` pointers are writable (NULLs are skipped);
+// `buf` is writable for `buf_len` bytes.
+int32_t punktfunk_connection_next_pad_audio(PunktfunkConnection *c,
+                                            uint8_t *out_pad,
+                                            uint8_t *out_kind,
+                                            uint32_t *out_seq,
+                                            uint64_t *out_pts_ns,
+                                            uint8_t *buf,
+                                            uintptr_t buf_len,
+                                            uint32_t timeout_ms);
+#endif
+
+#if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
+// Declare wire pad `pad`'s pad-audio render capabilities (`audio_caps`: OR of
+// [`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_HAPTICS`] / [`PUNKTFUNK_PAD_AUDIO_CAP_SPEAKER`]) — how a client
+// tells the host WHICH pads can actually play the 0xD1 streams. Call at controller attach,
+// BEFORE the pad's arrival event is sent (the [`punktfunk_connection_set_rumble_quirks`]
+// timing): the core folds the bits into the arrival's flags (bits 8/9), and only toward a
+// [`PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CAP_PAD_AUDIO`] host — never calling this leaves the wire bytes exactly as
+// before. Latest-wins per pad; unknown bits are masked off.
+//
+// # Safety
+// `c` is a valid connection handle. Callable from any thread.
+PunktfunkStatus punktfunk_connection_set_pad_audio_caps(PunktfunkConnection *c,
+                                                        uint8_t pad,
+                                                        uint8_t audio_caps);
+#endif
+
 #if defined(PUNKTFUNK_FEATURE_QUIC)
 // Pull the next rumble (force-feedback) update, waiting up to `timeout_ms`. Amplitudes
 // are 0..0xFFFF (`low` = low-frequency motor, `high` = high-frequency), `(0, 0)` = stop.

packaging/windows/drivers/pf-gamepad/src/lib.rs

@@ -109,10 +109,13 @@ static DS_FEATURE_PAIRING: [u8; 20] = [ // 0x09 pairing info (MAC at 1..7)
     0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
 ];
 #[rustfmt::skip]
-static DS_FEATURE_FIRMWARE: [u8; 64] = [ // 0x20 firmware info
+static DS_FEATURE_FIRMWARE: [u8; 64] = [ // 0x20 firmware info; bytes 44..46 = update version,
+    // kept ABOVE Sony's real releases (0x0630 as of 2026-08) — an older value makes PlayStation
+    // Accessories and libScePad titles demand a firmware update the virtual pad cannot take.
+    // Mirrors inject/proto/dualsense_proto.rs DS_FEATURE_FIRMWARE; keep the two in sync.
     0x20, 0x4A, 0x75, 0x6E, 0x20, 0x31, 0x39, 0x20, 0x32, 0x30, 0x32, 0x33, 0x31, 0x34, 0x3A, 0x34,
     0x37, 0x3A, 0x33, 0x34, 0x03, 0x00, 0x44, 0x00, 0x08, 0x02, 0x00, 0x01, 0x36, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01,
-    0xC1, 0xC8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x54, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00,
+    0xC1, 0xC8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x99, 0x09, 0x00, 0x00,
     0x14, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x0B, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x06, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
 ];
 

packaging/winget/server/README.md

@@ -108,16 +108,34 @@ trusted certificate, which is what the edge vhost provides in production.
 
 1. **DNS** — `winget.punktfunk.unom.io` → the unom-1 hcloud box, in the `unom.io` Cloudflare zone
    (DNS-only, same as `docs`). ✅ *done*
-2. **Caddy vhost** on unom-1, next to the existing `docs.punktfunk.unom.io` block:
+2. **Caddy vhost** — in **`unom/infra`, `caddy/Caddyfile`**, next to the existing
+   `docs.punktfunk.unom.io` block. ✅ *done*
 
    ```caddyfile
    winget.punktfunk.unom.io {
-       reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:3240
+       import security_headers
+       reverse_proxy localhost:3240
    }
    ```
 
-   Until this exists the hostname resolves but the TLS handshake fails — Caddy has no certificate
-   for a name it does not serve. That is the expected state, not a broken deploy.
+   ⚠ **Not by hand on the box.** `~/caddy/Caddyfile` on unom-1 looks like the config but is a copy
+   that `deploy-all.sh` rsyncs over from `unom/infra`, and there is no `.git` there to warn you. A
+   vhost added only on the box survives until the next deploy and no longer: this one was
+   hand-added on 2026-07-26, and the 2026-07-31 hardening commit rewrote the file from the repo's
+   own copy and deleted it — its message says "all 7 vhosts" when there were 8 live.
+
+   Until the vhost exists the hostname resolves but the TLS handshake fails — Caddy has no
+   certificate for a name it does not serve. That is the expected state on first setup, not a
+   broken deploy, but it is also exactly how the clobber presents later: an `internal_error`
+   (alert 80) with no peer certificate, which winget reports as
+   `WINHTTP_CALLBACK_STATUS_FLAG_SECURITY_CHANNEL_ERROR` / `0x8a15003b` and which looks like a
+   client bug. Diagnose by SNI, not by port 80 — Caddy 308s *every* Host to https, including names
+   it has never heard of, so a redirect there proves nothing:
+
+   ```bash
+   openssl s_client -connect winget.punktfunk.unom.io:443 \
+     -servername winget.punktfunk.unom.io </dev/null 2>&1 | grep -E '^subject=|alert'
+   ```
 3. Run `deploy-services.yml` to place the compose file and start the container. It serves 503 until
    a catalogue exists — expected, and visible on `/healthz`.
 4. Publish a stable tag, or build and ship the catalogue by hand: