1 correction though: You claim “you can't rely on ALSA as it will take control of the entire sound device, so you can only use it to handle one application at a time. So no hardware multiplexing.”

That’s false. I remember my main advantage switching from OSS to ALSA was being to play 2 apps at the same time. I still feel like #PulseAudio is the new kid on the block—now I feel old👴

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Linux_Sound_Architecture explicitly lists “Hardware mixing of multiple channels.” as a feature.

software framework

^{Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)}

Pipewire is better because it supports audio and video devices and does both PulseAudio and JACK functionality. But the correct answer would be, "the one that works for me!" If Pipewire not working properly, then continue using PulseAudio.

#linux #pipewire #pulseaudio #jack #audio