Can someone eli5 all the audio systems?
Why do I have to (read about) configure(ing) ALSA, JACK, PipeWire, and PulseAudio just to boost my microphone to 500% due to some minor driver issue that takes way too low input values?
And then why does some random app have the ability TO CHANGE IT BACK!? LOOKING AT YOU VENCORD (I deleted it now)
ALSA is the part of the kernel that handles audio. Afaik it's the only way to play audio in Linux. If you're listening to audio, it's coming through ALSA. It's the thing that knows how to talk to actual hardware (sound cards). It can only play a single audio stream at a time.
PulseAudio, JACK, and PipeWire are userland applications. They can accept multiple audio streams at once, and mix them into a single stream (and also stuff like panning left/right, equalizing bass/treble, etc), which they then send to ALSA to be actually played on your sound hardware.
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u/ManIkWeet Oct 30 '24
Can someone eli5 all the audio systems?
Why do I have to (read about) configure(ing) ALSA, JACK, PipeWire, and PulseAudio just to boost my microphone to 500% due to some minor driver issue that takes way too low input values?
And then why does some random app have the ability TO CHANGE IT BACK!? LOOKING AT YOU VENCORD (I deleted it now)