Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PipeWire VS Helvum

Compare PipeWire VS Helvum and see what are their differences

PipeWire logo PipeWire

Low-latency multimedia framework for Linux audio and video, supporting PulseAudio, JACK, ALSA and GStreamer applications

Helvum logo Helvum

A GTK patchbay for pipewire.
  • PipeWire Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26
  • Helvum Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-23

PipeWire features and specs

  • Unified Audio and Video Management
    PipeWire provides a unified framework for handling both audio and video streams, offering greater flexibility and simplifying the management of multimedia data in Linux environments.
  • Low-Latency Performance
    Designed with low-latency operations in mind, PipeWire offers improved performance for applications that require real-time audio processing, such as professional audio editing and live performance tools.
  • Compatibility
    PipeWire is compatible with existing audio and video frameworks like PulseAudio and JACK, allowing seamless integration and a smoother transition for users and developers migrating to this new system.
  • Security Enhancements
    PipeWire includes enhanced security features that allow better control and permissions over media devices and streams, thus helping protect against unauthorized access or misuse.
  • Modular and Extensible
    With its modular design, PipeWire can be easily extended or customized to meet specific needs, enabling developers to add new functionality or tailor the system to specific use cases.

Possible disadvantages of PipeWire

  • Early Stage Adoption
    As a relatively new technology, PipeWire is still in the early stages of widespread adoption, meaning that some users may experience stability issues or lack some features compared to more mature systems.
  • Learning Curve
    For users and developers accustomed to traditional audio systems, transitioning to PipeWire may involve a learning curve, as they need to familiarize themselves with its design and configuration paradigms.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    Though designed for compatibility, there are instances where applications might not fully support PipeWire yet, leading to potential issues or the need for workarounds.
  • Limited Documentation
    Documentation for PipeWire may not be as extensive or comprehensive as older systems, which can pose challenges for developers and users looking to maximize its usage or troubleshoot problems.

Helvum features and specs

  • User Interface
    Helvum provides a graphical user interface to manage audio routing which is intuitive and visually appealing, making it easier for users to understand the audio data flow.
  • Integration with PipeWire
    Helvum is designed to work seamlessly with PipeWire, a server for handling multimedia on Linux, enabling users to leverage the advanced session management capabilities of PipeWire.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Helvum allows users to inspect, modify, and contribute to the code base, fostering a community-driven approach to development and troubleshooting.

Possible disadvantages of Helvum

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more mature audio management tools, Helvum may have a limited set of features, which could be a drawback for advanced users requiring more complex functionalities.
  • Platform Specific
    Helvum is primarily tailored for Linux systems, which could limit its adoption by users who work across different operating systems.
  • Dependency on PipeWire
    Helvum's functionality heavily relies on PipeWire, meaning any limitations or bugs within PipeWire could directly impact Helvum's performance and user experience.

PipeWire videos

You should use PipeWire... NOW!!!

More videos:

  • Review - PulseAudio Is Dead To Me: Pipewire Is Here To Stay
  • Review - I've replaced JACK and PulseAudio with PipeWire and this is what happened

Helvum videos

Una cosa que deber saber sobre Helvum, el Patchbay GTK para PipeWire

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PipeWire and Helvum)
Audio
44 44%
56% 56
Audio & Music
38 38%
62% 62
Email Marketing
100 100%
0% 0
Audio Recording
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using PipeWire and Helvum. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

PipeWire might be a bit more popular than Helvum. We know about 16 links to it since March 2021 and only 12 links to Helvum. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PipeWire mentions (16)

  • Firefox 116 Should Have Experimental PipeWire Camera Support
    If you don't know what PipeWire is (I didn't), it's an audio-video handler - it replaces things like PulseAudio. https://pipewire.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Are we sure that weston/wayland is the way to go?
    Damn, your "audio server" seems to disagree with you. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • PipeWire 0.3.66
    PipeWire is a server and user space API to deal with multimedia pipelines. This includes:. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Yousican & Linux
    I installed and configured pipewire according to the instructions from the Debian website. And let me tell you, it solved all my problems. The sound quality is good enough for practice, latency is very low. Currently, I just mute my guitar in YS, turn on ToneLib, adjust the volume on the system mixer, and play. Source: over 2 years ago
  • PipeWire Support in Firefox
    > PipeWire is a project that aims to greatly improve handling of audio and video under Linux. It provides a low-latency, graph-based processing engine on top of audio and video devices that can be used to support the use cases currently handled by both PulseAudio and JACK. https://pipewire.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
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Helvum mentions (12)

  • Mirror Desktop Mode in 2 Xreal Air glasses with Sidetrak USB-C hub. Info in Reply
    Helvum allowed me to use drag & drop to manage system audio paths. I strongly suggest reading how it works before using it, let alone installing it. Helvum is very easy to use but it's not obvious how it works, so actually RTM, watch a video (it doesn't come with help built into the app) https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/helvum. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Easy Effects: Audio effects for PipeWire applications
    The example referenced the it's Catia, but qpwgraph https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/rncbc/qpwgraph and helvum https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/helvum should do a good job too. Either way, it's easy to achieve multiple outputs with any of those. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Best way to share my screen with audio if I'm playing a game to a friend?
    You can use helvum to stream the audio of any app to your microphone. There's some issues with this solution though:. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Wanted to create a gaming VM (gpu passthrough to VM) on my laptop but I don't have a mux switch
    Audio didn't pass through correctly for me, but Helvum fixed that. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Brit cops rapped over app that recorded 200k phone calls
    Just patch inputs and outputs to audacity (or your recording software of choice). For pipewire theres helvum[0] or qpwgraph[1]. For JACK there's Catia[2]. [0]: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/helvum [1]: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/rncbc/qpwgraph [2]: https://kx.studio/Applications:Catia. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PipeWire and Helvum, you can also consider the following products

PulseAudio - PulseAudio is a sound system for POSIX OSes, meaning that it is a proxy for your sound applications.

PulseEffects - Limiter, compressor, reverberation, stereo equalizer and auto volume effects for Pulseaudio...

qpwgraph - graph manager dedicated to PipeWire, using the Qt C++ framework, based and pretty much like the same of QjackCtl.

Virtual Audio Cable - Ever wanted to record your speaker output? (loopback) This is for you.

JACK Audio Connection Kit - JACK Audio Connection Kit|Home

Soundflower - Soundflower is a Mac OS X system extension that allows applications to pass audio to other...