[LAU] Does jackd sits on top of ALSA ?

Robin Gareus robin at gareus.org
Mon Jan 8 23:22:43 UTC 2018


On 01/08/2018 11:57 PM, jonetsu wrote:
> I've been using jackd fro years and will not change.  I have a question
> which is not important at all.. does jackd sits on top of ALSA

Yes, either ALSA, or for old firewire devices on top of 1394.

> or besides it ?

No.

> In other words can a Linux audio system work with only
> jackd ? 

Yes with jack dummy-backend or a netjack: no local soundcard. No actual
audio/midi i/o

> If not, what is the responsibility of ALSA in a system using
> jackd ?

Asking the inverse is easier. in short: as user you only need jack if
you need inter-application routing.

Developers prefer jack because it offers a simple API, and it abstracts
a lot of complexities. e.g. it sets up realtime callbacks (every app
using ALSA directly would have to do that by itself).

HTH,
robin


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