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@RedGreen925 tried also this script, but then it would not have any audio at all.
at first i was bit bothered since i did not have any controls in the task bar, only pavucontrol seemed fnction in the menu (next to alsamixer ofcourse);
but today strangely the audio switching applet is back in the taskbar for XFCE4; don't know if i installed something extra, probably, but glad it now function;
will report after attempted to use alsa only; for the moment the pipewire seems already enhancement.
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@kapqa Yeah computers can be damn strange at times, good to read it now works for you.
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@kapqa Yeah computers can be damn strange at times, good to read it now works for you.
yep it worked for some days only, today yesterday i had to switch to the your linked .xsessionrc
# Added when startx to start pipewire on login to desktop
# https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=5867
# kill any existing pipewire instance to restore sound
pkill -u "$USER" -fx /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse 1>/dev/null 2>&1
pkill -u "$USER" -fx /usr/bin/wireplumber 1>/dev/null 2>&1
pkill -u "$USER" -fx /usr/bin/pipewire 1>/dev/null 2>&1
exec /usr/bin/pipewire &
# wait for pipewire to start before attempting to start related daemons
while [ "$(pgrep -f /usr/bin/pipewire)" = "" ] ; do
sleep 1
done
exec /usr/bin/wireplumber &
exec /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse &
don't know what triggered the change, got a knew kernel probably, and the simpler .xsessionrc would produce a dummy output.
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now i have this older laptop which functioned beautifully with debian wheezy and alsa-only;
since switched to devuan (not really a choicethere)
had several other experience
but now had on this "reference" laptop switched on daedalus (and since there to pipewire) and now excalibur to pipewire/wireplumber
but sound was amiss and tried several configuration from your suggestion and it was just hit&miss and would somehow not function properly.
now maybe i have set it wrong, but since removed the configuration files like .xsessionrc or 98-pipewire or so;
also removed pulseaudio and pipewire/wireplumber packages.
isuee is that sound is very low, even with vlc 200% it is probably 1/4 of original strength, and all relevant faderin amixer is set 100%.
there is some error on boot with alsa which i will hand overlater.
what could be error?
there is probably one package left from pulseaudio?
since i removed only "pulseaudio", there is another libpulse0?
is this also needed for removal?
thanks.
https://ibb.co/fdnJV9D
https://ibb.co/9YrKMCX
https://ibb.co/bvv48hw
https://ibb.co/m6Ch6ZH
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isuee is that sound is very low, even with vlc 200% it is probably 1/4 of original strength, and all relevant faderin amixer is set 100%.
It is not an issue, it is a feature of ALSA.
With normal loudness, you may hear noise produced by the ALSA resampler.
If you do not like this feature, you may compile and install fftrate ALSA plugin (and configure it).
since i removed only "pulseaudio", there is another libpulse0?
is this also needed for removal?
thanks.
Have you read my manual?
It was posted above.
See: _https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=53969#p53969
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It is not an issue, it is a feature of ALSA.
With normal loudness, you may hear noise produced by the ALSA resampler.
If you do not like this feature, you may compile and install fftrate ALSA plugin (and configure it).
no , dont know about that,
but this certainly is not normal on thsi part here, cant be.
linux already has "volume" issue, and with alsa-only on this T60 with wheezy was getting "good" audio;
interestingly, when i re-installed later on again, the same sound was no longer achievable;
so either i suffer delusions, or the alsa was changed in the process or somehow, and it did no longer sound that clear.
either way, i experienced what the laptop is capable of in linux; so might aswell check back in time with debian wheezy;
this feature "low volume" is not seeked since have a bit of hearing condition to put it bluntly prefer a good volume , but certainly cannot bear distortions.
thanks for the posting, will check your manual asap.
EDIT:
it seems fixed now, maybe this command shared here fixed it
sudo /etc/init.d/alsa-utils force-reload
getting error but now alsa is back with "proper""volume"
Shutting down ALSA...done.
Setting up ALSA...warning: 'alsactl -E HOME=/run/alsa -E XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/alsa/runtime restore' failed with error message 'alsa-lib main.c:1554:(snd_use_case_mgr_open) error: failed to import hw:29 use case configuration -2'...done.
the laptop has 2 entry "0:HDA Intel" "29:ThinkPad Console Audio Control" maybe before the re-load the number 29 was being used?
thanks alot!
Last edited by kapqa (2025-01-28 15:09:11)
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I don't know why everyone is attacking pipewire...personally it works for me without any problems. For auto starting pipewire, you can even not use any autostart scripts, but just use the DE autostart mechanism...works very well.
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no , dont know about that
Perhaps, you do not want to know.
It is a very old problem.
fftrate ALSA plugin was created in 2009.
The story of "system wide equalizer" also began in 2009.
For example:
HOWTO systemwide eq with alsaequal
_https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=47899
Today "alsaequal" is easy to install:
_https://askubuntu.com/a/951207
Installation
sudo apt install libasound2-plugin-equal
Start
alsamixer -D equal amixer -D equal
To change to the equalizer in the running program, press F6, choose enter device name... and enter “equal”.
Semi-deaf Linux users do need a sort of "equalizer" to "enhance sound", especially high frequencies.
$ apt info libasound2-plugin-equal
Package: libasound2-plugin-equal
Version: 0.6-8
Priority: optional
Section: libs
Source: alsaequal
Maintainer: Debian Multimedia Maintainers <debian-multimedia@lists.debian.org>
Installed-Size: 72.7 kB
Depends: caps (>= 0.9.11), libasound2 (>= 1.0.16), libc6 (>= 2.14)
Homepage: http://www.thedigitalmachine.net/alsaequal.html
Tag: role::shared-lib
Download-Size: 14.9 kB
APT-Sources: http://deb.devuan.org/merged daedalus/main amd64 Packages
Description: equalizer plugin for ALSA
Alsaequal is a real-time adjustable equalizer plugin for ALSA. It can
be adjusted using an ALSA compatible mixer, like alsamixergui or
alsamixer.
.
Alsaequal uses the Eq CAPS LADSPA Plugin for audio processing, actually
alsaequal is a generic LADSPA plugin interface with real-time access to
the LADSPA controls (the LADSPA plugin included with alsa doesn't allow
for real-time controls) but it was developed for and only tested with
Eq CAPS LADSPA plugin.
getting error but now alsa is back with "proper""volume"
Shutting down ALSA...done. Setting up ALSA...warning: 'alsactl -E HOME=/run/alsa -E XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/alsa/runtime restore' failed with error message 'alsa-lib main.c:1554:(snd_use_case_mgr_open) error: failed to import hw:29 use case configuration -2'...done.
You may try a workaround from stackoverflow
ALSA: failed to import hw:0 use case configuration -2
_https://stackoverflow.com/questions/76333959/alsa-failed-to-import-hw0-use-case-configuration-2
$ man alsactl | grep ucm
-D, --ucm-defaults
-U, --no-ucm
$ whereis alsactl
alsactl: /usr/sbin/alsactl /usr/share/man/man1/alsactl.1.gz
$ /usr/sbin/alsactl -h
$ sudo /usr/sbin/alsactl -d restore
/usr/sbin/alsactl: init_ucm:48: ucm open '-hw:0': -6
...
See also:
Alsa UCM
_https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Alsa_UCM
Do you have the ucm.conf file?
It should be here:
/usr/share/alsa/ucm2/ucm.conf
EDIT:
_https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Alsa_UCM
If an UCM configuration is present for a card then pulseaudio will ignore the built-in profiles and generate a profile based on the UCM files....
1. Disable PulseAudio or PipeWire so ALSA UCM is not active at all.
This may mean, perhaps, that you do not need ALSA UCM, if you are not using PulseAudio and PipeWire.
Therefore, the workaround from stackoverflow may fix the problem.
sudo /usr/sbin/alsactl --debug restore
sudo /usr/sbin/alsactl --debug --no-ucm restore
Or you can simply ignore the "error" message, which is, in fact, just "warning", not "error".
EDIT:
If I understood you correctly, your ALSA was almost silent.
The "force-reload" of ALSA seemed to fix the problem.
Since ALSA UCM is not needed, you may simply ignore the "warning" message, and see how it works.
NOTE: OSS4 is much more louder than ALSA with the same sound card.
The fftrate ALSA plugin makes ALSA louder, but not as loud as OSS4.
Most important, the fftrate improves the sound quality of ALSA, although, of course, I like more the sound of OSS4.
If you are content with the sound quality of ALSA, you may use it as is.
But if you need to configure a software mixer for ALSA (e.g., for video conferencing), it might be a difficult task (without the fftrate plugin).
See, for example:
[Arch Linux forum]: [SOLVED] ALSA and dmix (software mixing)
_https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=275656
Last edited by igorzwx (2025-01-29 00:39:04)
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EDIT:
If I understood you correctly, your ALSA was almost silent.
The "force-reload" of ALSA seemed to fix the problem.
thanks for the @elucidation, now this seems to have fixed it,
have a couple of other laptop that can be @restored to alsa0only
now i dont know alot of things, and with alsa, never had to anything, besides configuration when i wanted to use an usb-soundcard instead of the internal. see, my usecase are very limited, not that i expect everything to magically work, but some time things are better expected.
also, since started on linux journey, found it very strange to say the least , that when wanting to @uninstall say a driver like pulseaudio, this couldwould render the laptop completely broke, like uninstalling the whole desktop, unless one know how to fix via reroute. but this is the wrong place to post this, so ill turn volume down.
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@kapqa
Pulseaudio is not a driver. It is, rather, a sort of malware.
XFCE is buggy and crappy, and it does not support "alsa-only".
The best solution might be Devuan MATE Desktop (without pulseaudio and pipewire).
It works without problems even on very old computers (such as those of 2001).
Although, of course, web browsers are rather slow on very old computers.
To summarize:
The manual is here:
_https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=53969#p53969
See also:
_https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=54059#p54059
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since started on linux journey, found it very strange to say the least , that when wanting to @uninstall say a driver like pulseaudio, this couldwould render the laptop completely broke, like uninstalling the whole desktop
xfce4 and mate-desktop-environment are meta-packages, they can be safely removed.
See: _https://wiki.debian.org/metapackage
Meta-packages are not completely empty, they have inside a list of dependencies.
On the other hand, to fix problems with desktop, you may reinstall your Linux Desktop Environment.
That is, you can simply reinstall a meta-package. For example:
sudo apt-get --reinstall install mate-desktop-environment
See also: _https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/debian-ubuntu-linux-reinstall-a-package-using-apt-get-command/
Desktop environment - ArchWiki
_https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Desktop_environment
If you want to learn something about Linux Desktop environments, you may try to install MATE:
How to Install MATE Desktop and remove XFCE
1. Installing MATE
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mate-desktop-environment
sudo apt install mate-desktop-environment-extras
This may re-install pulseaudio, but it is easy to remove.
You may also need to unhold pulseaudio crap.
$ apt-mark showhold
pavucontrol
pipewire
pipewire-alsa
pipewire-audio
pipewire-audio-client-libraries
pipewire-bin
pipewire-doc
pipewire-jack
pipewire-libcamera
pipewire-media-session
pipewire-media-session-alsa
pipewire-media-session-jack
pipewire-media-session-pulseaudio
pipewire-pulse
pipewire-tests
pipewire-v4l2
pulseaudio
pulseaudio-equalizer
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth
pulseaudio-module-gsettings
pulseaudio-module-jack
pulseaudio-module-lirc
pulseaudio-module-raop
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf
pulseaudio-utils
$ apt-mark
apt 2.6.1devuan1 (amd64)
Usage: apt-mark [options] {auto|manual} pkg1 [pkg2 ...]
Most used commands:
auto - Mark the given packages as automatically installed
manual - Mark the given packages as manually installed
minimize-manual - Mark all dependencies of meta packages as automatically installed.
hold - Mark a package as held back
unhold - Unset a package set as held back
showauto - Print the list of automatically installed packages
showmanual - Print the list of manually installed packages
showhold - Print the list of packages on hold
To select MATE Desktop as default, run
$ sudo update-alternatives --config x-session-manager
There are 3 choices for the alternative x-session-manager (providing /usr/bin/x-session-manager).
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0 /usr/bin/startxfce4 50 auto mode
1 /usr/bin/mate-session 50 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/startxfce4 50 manual mode
3 /usr/bin/xfce4-session 40 manual mode
Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 1
It should be like this:
$ sudo update-alternatives --config x-session-manager
There are 3 choices for the alternative x-session-manager (providing /usr/bin/x-session-manager).
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
0 /usr/bin/mate-session 50 auto mode
* 1 /usr/bin/mate-session 50 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/startxfce4 50 manual mode
3 /usr/bin/xfce4-session 40 manual mode
Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:
SLIM - ArchWiki
_https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SLiM
2. Removing XFCE (optional)
$ sudo dpkg -l | grep .xfce
$ sudo apt purge xfce*
$ sudo apt autoremove
See also:
_https://tecadmin.net/how-to-install-mate-desktop-on-debian-11/
Last edited by igorzwx (2025-01-29 20:16:52)
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thank you, i am still learning to avoid "pulse", but since am operating on several computer, it is not quite straightforward and so easy at times;
my question: if i use a DAC over SPIDF/ with Devuan out of the Box, is then this pulseaudio/pipewire still involved, or will DAC take care of things with Alsa directly?=
Last edited by kapqa (2025-08-21 12:25:40)
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It is advisable to remove pulseaudio and pipewire.
They can be detected with these commands:
fuser -av $(find /dev/snd -type c 2>/dev/null)
inxi -A
You may need to install inxi
sudo apt install inxi
If you are using "a DAC over SPIDF", you may not want, perhaps, your audio file to be resampled by crappy resamplers. The crappy resampling can be performed by pulseaudio, pipewire, ALSA, or by the player in use.
The easiest way to detect unwanted resampling is to play audio formats which are not supported by your DAC.
If they are played, a sort of resampling/conversion is involved.
If, for example, your DAC does not support DXD format, you can convert an audio file (.wav) to DXD format with Petrov's pcm_conv
pcm_conv -f 352800 -b 32f -T fft -v your_file.wav test_DXD.wav
You may also try:
pcm_conv -f 48000 -b 64f -T fft -v your_file.wav test_64bit_Float_48kHz.wav
pcm_conv -f 20000 -b 8 -T fft -v your_file.wav test_8bit_20kHz.wav
You can also create test audio files with Audacity:
sudo apt install audacity
Free DXD samples are available here:
What We Hear With DXD 32-bit Files (Free Sample Downloads)
_https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/music-reviews/what-we-hear-with-dxd-32-bit-files/
Start Audacious with this command
audacious 2>&1
and try to play your test_DXD.wav with Audacious.
You can also debug Audacious with this command:
audacious -VV
You may need to install Audacious
sudo apt install audacious audacious-plugins
and configure it:
Audacious > File > Settings > Audio
Last edited by igorzwx (2025-08-21 15:29:45)
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thank you, at the moment i am using mint (next to kubuntu) but i hope this will apply nontheless;
after receiving the DAC , will test and report, hopefully.
PS. listening to Music on Volumio OS on a older raspberry-PI; it is supposedgly "Alsa" only; would be really nice if there be straightforward "Alsa"only"-Devuan Edition
edit: the DAC should upsample by itself all audio to 24-bit/384kHz. hope this helps. had good experience with the smaller brother, which over SPIDF when used with Mac sounds really great; bit less so maybe over USB with Windows / Linux; thats why i am buying an SPDIF-add-on-card for the Mainboard since it has Header but no onboard Toslink/DigitalAudio. not sure if championing over SPIDF is limited to 192, will find out.
Last edited by kapqa (2025-08-21 16:09:00)
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Post your DAC spec.
By default, macOS resamples everything to 48kHz.
You can check MAC's audio settings with the "Audio Midi Setup" app (which is located in the "Utilities" subfolder of "Applications" folder).
Last edited by igorzwx (2025-08-21 17:17:15)
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if it should arrive it could have specs like those; DAC-Train is that i got unlucky with a Creative PCIe Soundcard was hoping to use (but that card (AE-5 series) issues on warm-boot into Windows 11, making really strange noises; functioned however fine in Linux)
there is a newer edition of this DAC, but it has Bluetooth, and cannot be disabled entirely;
-------------------------------------------
Technical specification
Digital to analogue converters
Dual Wolfson WM8740 24-bit DACs
Digital filter
Analog Devices ADSP21261 DSP; upsampling to 24-bit/384kHz
Analogue filter
2-Pole Dual Differential Bessel Double Virtual Earth Balanced
Frequency response
20Hz to 20kHz (±0.1dB)*
Thd @ 1khz 0dbfs
<0.001% 24-bit
Thd @ 1khz -10dbfs
<0.001%
Thd @ 20khz 0dbfs
<0.002%
Signal to noise ratio
-112dBr
Total correlated jitter
<130pS
Crosstalk @ 1khz
< -130dB
Crosstalk @ 20khz
< -112dB
Output impedance
<50 Ohms
Max. output level (unbalanced)
2.1V rms
Max. output level (balanced)
4.2V rms (2.1V per phase)
Digital input word widths supported
16-24bit
Digital input sampling frequencies supported
32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz**, 192kHz
Audio output upsampling
Fixed 24-bit/384kHz
Max power consumption
12W
Colour
Black or silver
Dimensions (hxwxd)
52 x 215 x 191mm; (2.0 x 8.6 x 7.6”)
Weight
1.2kg/2.6lbs
Headphone output
Thd
at 1kHz 0dBFS 24-bit signal with 22kHz low pass filter = 0.001% at 20khz 0dBFS 24-bit signal with 80kHz low pass filter = 0.003%
S/n
-111dBrA
Frequency response
10Hz - 100kHz
Recommend headphone impedance
32 Ohm to 600 Ohm
*
Steep filter disabled
**
Digital 1 & 2 Inputs only
frequency response of Headphone output is also good, so i am hoping well for this unit;
yes, mac settings were probably left unchanged, but the smaller unit does not do upsampling;
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Digital input word widths supported
16-24bit
Digital input sampling frequencies supported
32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz**, 192kHz
It does not support 32bit Float 352.8 kHz audio format. It can be used to detect unwanted resampling.
Free DXD samples:
_https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/music-reviews/what-we-hear-with-dxd-32-bit-files/
This one is 32bit Float 352.8 kHz:
32-bit: Track 8, "Funeral March Of A Marionette"
https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/9oP4dCgNhs
$ ls *.wav
'08-Faust - Funeral March Of A Marionette - 32bit.wav'
$ mediainfo '08-Faust - Funeral March Of A Marionette - 32bit.wav' | grep Audio -A11
Audio
Format : PCM
Format profile : Float
Codec ID : 3
Codec ID/Hint : IEEE
Duration : 4 min 35 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 22.6 Mb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 352.8 kHz
Bit depth : 32 bits
Stream size : 743 MiB (100%)
Last edited by igorzwx (2025-08-21 18:38:41)
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don't know what a DXD file is; thought of buying a newer one (also Creative;) because those support DSD mostly, but since those SACD/DSD can be quite costly (around 30&40 Euro per release from what i have seen) think this unit could still serve well for the moment; also, i have a Bluray-Player that can playback DSD upto 5644 kHz/8 canali or something.
what do you mean with "it can be used to detect unwanted resampling"? why should i care about that?
Last edited by kapqa (2025-08-21 19:04:07)
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Digital eXtreme Definition (DXD) is a digital audio format
_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_eXtreme_Definition
It is a wave file. For example:
24bit_352.8kHz.wav
32bitFloat_352.8kHz.wav
32bit_384kHz.wav
and the like.
"Unwanted resampling" means that your audio file is resampled by crappy resamplers, and your DAC is playing digital crap.
If your DAC is playing 32bitFloat_352.8kHz.wav, it is playing digital crap (this is how you detect unwanted resampling).
I does not make any sense to buy a DAC, if you are going to play digital crap.
If you do not want to hear digital crap, you have to remove pulseaudio and pipewire, install the fftrate ALSA plugin and configure it correctly.
The manual is here: _https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=6644
EDIT:
It is not always easy to provide a polite answer to a question like this: "Why should I care that 2+2=4, if I want to believe that 2+2=5?"
One may better learn how to configure the sound system, and then think whether he need a DAC.
...good audio wisdom, suggesting a practical approach to improving your sound system by first optimizing what you already have and understanding your current setup before deciding if a DAC is a necessary upgrade for your needs. Configuring your system well and listening to it for a significant period can reveal if a dedicated external DAC would genuinely improve your audio experience or if your existing system's built-in DAC is sufficient.
Last edited by igorzwx (2025-08-21 19:58:10)
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@stopai I am not fond of redhat or freedesktop.org projects and pipewire feels like one of those if it isn't already.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. Feelings are not facts
If you wish to be humbled, try to exalt yourself long term If you wish to be exalted, try to humble yourself long term
Favourite operating systems: Hyperbola Devuan OpenBSD
Peace Be With us All!
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@zapper
Can your DAC play DXD waves?
Free DXD samples are available here:
_https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/music-reviews/what-we-hear-with-dxd-32-bit-files/
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Re-sampling is crap. Music pollution. Nothing more.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/vuu-do/ New Vuu-do isos uploaded August 2025!
Vuu-do GNU/Linux, minimal Devuan-based Openbox and Mate systems to build on. Also a max version for OB.
Devuan 5 mate-mini iso, pure Devuan, 100% no-vuu-do. Devuan 6 version also available for testing.
Please donate to support Devuan and init freedom! https://devuan.org/os/donate
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Resampling is necessary in many run-of-the-mill scenarios. If all you want is to play one stream, that can be done with no resampling. If you want the kind of automagic mixing of multiple inputs and outputs with hotplugged devices over bluetooth and dog knows what else that people tend to expect from a modern system... Some resampling will be happening somewhere.
This is one advantage of pipewire over pulseaudio or ALSA DMIX, it tries quite hard to match your stream to a samplerate your hardware supports, and to never downsample anything if it can be avoided.
Whether or not pipewire's spa resampler is suitable for the cases where it is needed... That's up to your (presumably bat-like) ears to decide.
In general though, unless your resampling algo is really bad (or you're using a SoundBlaster 16), your speakers and listening environment will be doing more to screw up reproduction than anything on the source end.
Last edited by steve_v (2025-08-22 01:58:34)
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. Four times is Official GNOME Policy.
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If pipewire is so good, why is it enforced upon Linux users?
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why is it enforced upon Linux users
It isn't. Pipewire is only "enforced" if you need it's video handling capabilities to work around the intentional "but muh securitee" deficiencies in wayland.
Is it regularly used to excuse those deficiencies? Sure. But that doesn't make it "enforced" any more than any other software that provides functionality which would otherwise be missing.
Is sshd "enforced upon users" because X11 lacks native network encryption, or because rsh was deprecated in 1999?
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. Four times is Official GNOME Policy.
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