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Old 07-18-2021, 06:34 AM   #1
audiojunkie
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Default Question for users using ALSA directly

Those of you who are running straight to ALSA, do have any of the other audio servers installed (ie PulseAudio, JACK, Pipewire)? If so, are there any conflicts that have to be managed? Do you have to disable Pulse secure or any unused audio server to avoid problems? I’ve only ever used JACK, but now I’m thinking of going straight to ALSA, and I want to know if there are any potential problems with having those other servers installed and running ie PulseAudio, while using Reaper. Thanks!
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Old 07-18-2021, 07:26 AM   #2
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Those of you who are running straight to ALSA, do have any of the other audio servers installed (ie PulseAudio, JACK, Pipewire)? If so, are there any conflicts that have to be managed? Do you have to disable Pulse secure or any unused audio server to avoid problems? I’ve only ever used JACK, but now I’m thinking of going straight to ALSA, and I want to know if there are any potential problems with having those other servers installed and running ie PulseAudio, while using Reaper. Thanks!
Since the dawn of DAWs I've always separated system audio from DAW audio so there wouldn't be a possibility of conflict.

That said, I have ALSA, PulseAudio and JACK, using ALSA for REAPER, PulseAudio for OS sound, and JACK through QjackCtl for the stand alone version of Guitarix. I can play YouTube audio and play along with it on guitar or bass through REAPER.

The little blue box in my rack is a monitor control box that besides being able to switch between two sets of monitors and sub, also has four switch selectable inputs that I use for DAW audio, OS audio, V-Drums audio, and TV/Raspberry Pi/Roku audio.
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Old 07-18-2021, 09:41 AM   #3
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Those of you who are running straight to ALSA, do have any of the other audio servers installed (ie PulseAudio, JACK, Pipewire)? If so, are there any conflicts that have to be managed?
If you have JACK running, then it might grab the ALSA interface in which case, don't start JACK. Then just select the ALSA option for your audio interface in Reaper. Reaper should automatically suspend PulseAudio by default, and if not, I believe there is an option to do so.
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Old 07-19-2021, 09:09 AM   #4
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Do not install Pipewire...

I made a positive comment in another thread about it, but that was about it's future potential. It is not ready for action at this time.

If it's not installed by default it in your distro, don't mess with it.
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Old 07-19-2021, 09:32 AM   #5
audiojunkie
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Do not install Pipewire...

I made a positive comment in another thread about it, but that was about it's future potential. It is not ready for action at this time.

If it's not installed by default it in your distro, don't mess with it.
Sounds good! Agreed! :-) In all seriousness, I've been thinking quite the opposite--that JACK, Pipewire, etc., is unnecessary. Having been a JACK user my entire time I've used Linux audio, I have never tried anything else. It hit me recently, that I've been looking forward to Pipewire, and I may never need to use it. Large numbers of people here are just using ALSA with no problems.

Although technically very different, functionally, JACK (as well as PipeWire) can be thought of as Linux's pro audio multiplexer, just like ReWire is the rest of the pro audio world's audio multiplexer.

Overall though, just like ReWire is largely unnecessary, JACK (as well as the upcoming Pipewire), is largely unnecessary if the user has no need of ReWire-like functionality. A DAW, Plugins, and ALSA is sufficient alone.

My question and the answers given above confirm my understanding of this, and as a result, I don't think I'll even bother with JACK (or PipeWire) in the future, since I have no need for ReWire-like multiplexing functionality.

It is essentially old pre-plugin tech that, like ReWire, is going away. In fact, Reason Studios, one of the developers of the original ReWire protocol (along with Steinberg), discontinued the Reason Protocol in 2020.

That said, I think it's nice that PipeWire is continuing support for JACK, since I'll never know when I may need multiplexing capabilities. It's there if I need it.

:-)
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Old 07-19-2021, 09:58 AM   #6
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ALSA is closer to the hardware than JACK or PulseAudio, which both run as layers on top of ALSA. The Linux audio Food Pyramid.

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Old 07-19-2021, 10:03 AM   #7
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ALSA is closer to the hardware than JACK or PulseAudio, which both run as layers on top of ALSA. The Linux audio Food Pyramid.

I can't remember what webpage I originally saw that picture on, but I've always loved it--it really makes things much easier to understand for those who are visual learners. :-)
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