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This reply is also biased, maybe we had some bad experience in the past, but the example you made, Pipewire, is one of the things I was stunned that worked out of the box. It is relatively recent but it is already installed by default on most modern distros, and no "configuration hell" required. Linux applications might not be as good-looking as most of Apple store ones, but most of them sure work.

I'm not saying that you should switch to Linux, you do you, and to be honest Linux is not that friendly anyway. But that is not reason to stone linux to death, the parent comment is not even that offensive for MacOS users, it just asks if switching to linux would be an option, as an thought

Of course it comes installed so you can listen to audio. That isn't what Soundsource does - you CAN make Pipewire work like soundsource, though. Of course my post is biased. I gave my opinion as someone who uses both vs someone who only uses linux and doesn't know osx. Any Linux user telling me that "Linux does more than OSX" is getting my biased reply.

Per app audio redirection, per app effects, per app volume control, system-wide effects, headphone equalizer, auto change inputs/outputs etc. I haven't worked with pipewire in a long time but I had to use another app with some complicated GUI of "wires" or pipes to get the same affect. I can't remember the name of it now.

edit: Wireplumber or Mixx/Raysession, I forget. It was a huge pain comparatively.

Mixx - https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/mixxx/origin...

wireplumber -https://forum.level1techs.com/uploads/default/original/4X/e/...

You sure you aren't thinking of pulseaudio? Pipewire really hasn't even been out "a long time", and does do everything you listed kinda shockingly (to me) easily.

To be fair, I was a fan of pulseaudio even in the early days: being able to set up my desktop, with its decent speakers as just another audio sink for my laptop with its horrible speakers was like magic to me back in the day.

My mac mini and macbook pro would attest that i do know osx and indeed i have been using it for 15 years in work environments. Right after i switched to these from linux, to which i switched from windows and freebsd. Now back to linux. It’s come a long way.

Gotcha, sorry.

lol. SoundSource looks identical to `pavucontrol` which I've been using for close to a decade, without ever touching a single bit of configuration, ever, for PulseAudio or PipeWire.

Or a single line to install EasyEffects which adds effects in the mix, also with zero configuration.

I'm not exaggerating. Tell me something you think SoundSource can do, and I'll show you me doing the same thing with Pavucontrol or EasyEffects in my entirely stock setup.

But sure. You found a screenshot of the ultimate Pipewire power tool that allows you to do things I guarantee SoundSource doesn't, and ran with it.

>They look great and there are a LOT of them that do pretty unique things that I haven't seen in Windows or Linux.

Oh?

lol cool. This app looks like complete trash, and I guarantee isn't as feature filled out of the box, like I said.

But sure.

pavucontrol https://freedesktop.org/software/pulseaudio/pavucontrol//scr... soundsource https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/images/hero@2x.png

I love those of you who think an OSX user wouldn't know linux/linux apps.

edit: Yeah, this does nothing that soundsource does. I wish some of you would actually read the features and stop posting these volume control apps. Not to mention Soundsource was just a quick example. I could name 50 more apps that don't have a Linux alternative or one that is of any quality.

Literally - "A simple volume control tool (mixer) for the PulseAudio sound server."

Then you would name a feature that SoundSource does that Pavucontrol doesn't. But you don't actually know what you're talking about.

For all the talk, it should be trivial for you to make me look foolish right now. Like, so easy, right?

  Show me the UI for telling a specific application to redirect its audio output to a specific device automatically. 
  Show me the UI where I plug in a specific device it switches a specific applications (not all) default automatically to the new device.
  Show me it's headphone EQ. 
  Show me per-app headphone EQ. 
  Show me per app EQ settings. 
  Show me the built in 3D/spatial audio for headphones

Then show me the config file you had to edit to set all of this up. And show me how clean and attractive the UI doing all this is. Then show me it in Pipewire because I don't care about Pulseaudio anyway and would never use that in 2023 with my need for low latency due to my DAW/equipment. Then, in Pipewire, show me how to all this without using Wireplumber or Mixx.

I didn't say you couldn't do things in XYZ. I said the configuration of doing so sucks compared to doing it in another app. Soundsource was just an example. I don't know why you care so much. I could've said Pixelmator (GIMP?) or 30 other apps.

PS: "For all the talk, it should be trivial for you to make me look foolish right now. Like, so easy, right?"

You're this heated up because I like an OSX app more than Linux options? You're acting like I personally care about "winning" this argument. Even if it has these features I still wouldn't use the app. Aesthetics and ease of use is important to my day to day machine. Win the "argument" all you want.

> lol cool. This app looks like complete trash

> You're this heated up because I like an OSX app more than Linux options? You're acting like I personally care about "winning" this argument. Even if it has these features I still wouldn't use the app. Aesthetics and ease of use is important to my day to day machine. Win the "argument" all you want.

I use osx myself and do not like desktop linux for multiple reasons. Though, the fanboys like you are exactly the reason I want to migrate just to not have anything in common with that group.

You're so edgy!! I almost got cut with that comment! 2edgy4me!

You want to change your OS and leave m1 processors because random people on the internet think that OSX has better applications than linux. Hilarious. Like we sit with you at the coffee shop with our lit up Apple logos embarrassing you or something.

Talk about judgmental.

> Hilarious

Mind your own business, fanboy.

I think the application you're looking for is easy effects, which absolutely does profile autoloading.

pavucontrol works on Pipewire too, not just Pulseaudio, for what it's worth

> I would never, ever use Linux as a desktop environment over OSX after the experiences I've had with it over the last 20+ years.

You probably had enough of it. I’d be sick of it after 20 years even if it were the shiniest option out there.

lol You're 100% right. I don't enjoy fixing linux at all after work. I used to do the VFIO GPU gaming desktop w/ linux + windows passthrough but I finally got over it and just installed windows on my desktop.

And there’s not a single problem with that. Though these days you dont need to hack much for gaming.