PipeWire (and WirePlumber) audio pipeline for "Local Audio-Out" and/or "Local Audio-In" for the Music Assistant add-on?

[Hedda]

Could if be a good idea to implement PipeWire (and WirePlumber) audio pipeline(s) for "Local Audio-Out" and/or "Local Audio-In" config?

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PipeWire

Why OS want use PipeWire is summerized in their FAQ here ("Linux has 1 kernel API named ALSA. PipeWire unifies the 2 user-space servers in practical use: PulseAudio and JACK. With 1 Kernel and 1 user-space audio subsystem, Linux has reached the ideal situation."). PipeWire has been used since Fedora 27 (November 2017) for Wayland screen sharing and has been the default audio server since Fedora 34 (April 2021).

• https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/-/wikis/FAQ#why-another-audio-standard-linux-already-has-13-of-them

I think that PipeWire could more or less also be used as a drop-in replacement for applications that normally interact with PulseAudio, JACK, or ALSA. One specific use case for PipeWire (and WirePlumber) could be useful for is "Local Audio-Input" with the Music Assistant add-on?

• https://github.com/orgs/music-assistant/discussions/1156

  • Added Local Audio Source Provider music-assistant/server#2356

WirePlumber is an optinal modular high-level session / policy manager library that wraps PipeWire's API for external daemons/tools:

• https://pipewire.pages.freedesktop.org/wireplumber/

  • https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/WirePlumber

Was mostly wondering if adding PipeWire support could achieve a better plug-and-play experience (as per HA roadmap goals)?

• https://bootlin.com/blog/an-introduction-to-pipewire/

I have not verified but understand that PipeWire has low-latency performence as long as use high audio sample rate?

• https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/-/wikis/Performance#latency

As I understand PipeWire (and WirePlumber) depends on ALSA and them working in userspace making them useful.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOsp-JlIkkY

PS: Link to PipeWire FAQ for reference:

• https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/-/wikis/FAQ