Conversely, on each machine on which you wish to receive and play back sound, you must enable the Network Server tab options - primarily “Enable network access to local sounds devices,” though you should probably check both options beneath it to permit auto-discovery and not require authentication. On each machine that you wish to use as a sound source, you must enable the “Make discoverable PulseAudio network sound devices available locally” option in Network Access. There are four tabs: Network Access, Network Server, Multicast/RTP, and Simultaneous Output.įor routing audio from one machine to another, we’ll use just the first two tabs. This Preferences window is far more than a simple customization utility it activates and deactivates several high-end features if you know where to look. Launch the PulseAudio Volume Control app (if it is not already running) on all of the machines you intend to route audio between, and launch the PulseAudio Preferences app with paprefs & as well. Once we get that working, we’ll set up a virtual device that multicasts audio to every machine that wants to hear it. First we’ll set up a virtual device for remote access to a particular machine. The key to sharing audio is setting up virtual devices in addition to the physical. Have a look at Output Devices and Input Devices, though - both of these tabs list all of the available audio routing options that PulseAudio currently knows about.Īt the bottom you’ll find a selection box that lets you display only physical devices (i.e., actual sound cards) or other subsets of the total. Playback and Recording show only activity from running applications, so they are not much use when you first get started. What you’ll see is an app with five-tabs: Playback, Recording, Output Devices, Input Devices, and Configuration. Whichever desktop you use, open the PulseAudio Volume Control application: from a command line, run pavucontrol &. Then, go to Settings / Multimedia System Selector / Audio, and select PulseAudio.
![use pulseaudio use pulseaudio](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7rXIg1qUvMc/X5sNPZmifEI/AAAAAAAAE20/eQmK0FkvN2sq2QUMHszlcWB-_hlWE_ZEACLcBGAsYHQ/s1047/pulseaudio-dlna-chromecast-sound-settings.png)
You will then need to open System Settings / Sound and choose GStreamer as the default backend. Start by installing all of the available PulseAudio packages as described above. Luckily, all Linux audio layers provide so much abstraction that it is almost always possible to map any pair of them to each other, and using Phonon on top of PulseAudio is no exception. KDE-based distributions normally use the Phonon audio layer. If you still can’t sort out the application in question, it is best to visit the discussion forum for your Linux distribution - all to often, small differences in configuration details like autospawning daemons and buried preferences are the culprits.
#Use pulseaudio how to#
If you experience trouble with a particular app, start by consulting the PulseAudio wiki’s Perfect Setup page, which documents how to configure the behavior of a variety of specific applications.
#Use pulseaudio install#
You should go ahead and install all of the PulseAudio packages provided by your distribution - particularly paprefs, pavucontrol, and pulseaudio-utils.
![use pulseaudio use pulseaudio](https://linuxhint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p3-5.png)
The list can include video players like MythTV or MPlayer, or audio conferencing tools like Skype. Unfortunately there are always exceptions, most often among dedicated multimedia apps that prefer to behave according to their own configuration rules rather than broader standards.
![use pulseaudio use pulseaudio](https://www.collabora.com/assets/images/blog/iStock-896190198a.jpg)
PulseAudio is the default sound server for most GNOME-based desktop Linux distributions, so after installation, the GNOME desktop’s PulseAudio configuration should work with most general-purpose applications that produce audio output.
#Use pulseaudio full#
Full PulseAudio nirvana entails digging into the project in depth, but you can at least get your feet wet over the weekend, directing and even multicasting audio between Linux machines on your local network.
![use pulseaudio use pulseaudio](https://sxi.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/pulse_audio_ubuntu.png)
Sadly, though, it is usually used just as a bare-bones drop-in replacement for older, buggier sound servers like ESD - because that is the most common use case, and because the PulseAudio documentation and tools aren’t caught up to the same level as the underlying library. PulseAudio is a Linux sound server that, through abstraction layers, promises a myriad of flexible audio features: combining multiple sound cards into a single, multi-channel device, changing output devices on the fly for running applications, even redirecting input and output between machines over the network.