PulseAudio 0.9.21 Arrives With Device Manager

[phoronix]

Phoronix: PulseAudio 0.9.21 Arrives With Device Manager

It was less than two weeks ago that PulseAudio 0.9.20 was released as a bug-fix release, but PulseAudio 0.9.21 was pushed out today to offer up more bug-fixes. Besides carrying eight bug fixes to this software package that is loved by some and hated by others, PulseAudio 0.9.21 also integrates the device-manager module. PulseAudio's device-manager module is used to keep track of the names and descriptions of any and all audio devices...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=NzczMQ

[bulletxt]

I used to hate pulseaudio, but now it finally works good (at least for me) and I hope it will become the de-fact standard on linux distributions. Almost all softwares I use can take advantage of pulseaudio and everything seems to work perfectly under Kubuntu, even Flash Player blob.

[myxal]

At this time, device-manager will largely be used in integrating support for KDE Phonon.

So, should I expect a replay of the pulseaudio fiasco from Ubuntu 8.04, this time in Kubuntu 10.04? Is this some sort of destiny, that changes in audio stack occur at LTS releases?

(Note: Kubuntu has not switched yet to using PA.)

[DanL]

I don't hate Pulseaudio, per se. It has its uses. What I DO hate is distros forcing people to use it, even if they would prefer to use only ALSA or OSS4. Ubuntu 9.10 is a good example of this. If you remove PA, you lose the gnome mixer, volume control, media keys, etc.

So, should I expect a replay of the pulseaudio fiasco from Ubuntu 8.04, this time in Kubuntu 10.04?

For your sake, I hope they wait until 10.10 if they're going to enable PA "out of the box." The (relatively) good news is that Pulse has matured a bit since then, and that some of the more serious problems in 8.04 were caused by poor default configuration rather than inherent bugs in the code.

[M1AU]

I still love AND hate it. On my Ubuntu 9.10 box sound generally works fine with pulseaudio, though I had some strange behavior with LFE of my 5.1 soundsystem, which I then fixed myself through editing the daemon.conf. Unfortunately most SDL based games still seem to suck with pulseaudio, at least they often simply hang until I kill them manually, or until I kill the pulseaudio daemon.
There still seems still a lot of work to do until the sound experience at least on Ubuntu is acceptable. Pulseaudio seems nonetheless the way to go, even if it still sucks right at the moment.

[DanL]

Pulseaudio seems nonetheless the way to go, even if it still sucks right at the moment.

..excepting OSS4 or standalone ALSA work better for you. Remember, Linux is all about choice and freedom and stuff. Unfortunately, those using accessibility software can't use PA, unless the long-standing bugs have been fixed.

[Craig73]

I never had a position on this, but seeing how Pulse Audio seems to be the root of Skype sound delays, perceived lag in a Java Game I play, and previously (in 9.04) outright hangs (which I blamed on the Intel video drivers, incorrectly), I am a little disappointed. (Especially when many of the 'features' are things most people wouldn't use, or don't seem that easy to use [intuitive and quick after doing it once])