PipeWire's Pulseaudio emulation implements several Pulseaudio modules. It only supports its own built-in modules, and cannot load external modules written for Pulseaudio. # Loading modules The built-in modules can be loaded using Pulseaudio client programs, for example `pactl load-module `. They can also added to `pipewire-pulse.conf`, typically by a drop-in file in `~/.config/pipewire/pipewire-pulse.conf.d/` containing the module name and its arguments ``` pulse.cmd = [ { cmd = "load-module" args = "module-null-sink sink_name=foo" flags = [ ] } ] ``` To list all modules currently loaded, with their arguments: ``` pactl list modules ``` For a short list of loaded modules: ``` pactl list modules short ``` Modules may be unloaded using either the module-name or index number: ``` pactl load-module pactl unload-module ``` # Common module options Most modules that create streams/devices support the following properties: ## sink_name, source_name Name for the sink (resp. source). Allowed characters in the name are a-z, A-Z, numbers, period (.) and underscore (_). The length must be 1-128 characters. ## format The sample format. The supported audio formats are: ### PCM - u8: unsigned 8-bit integer - aLaw: A-law encoded 8-bit integer - uLaw: μ-law encoded 8-bit integer - s16le: signed 16-bit little-endian integer - s16be: signed 16-bit big-endian integer - s16, s16ne: native-endian aliases for s16le or s16be - s16re: reverse-endian alias for s16le or s16be - float32le: 32-bit little-endian float - float32be: 32-bit big-endian float - float32, float32ne: native-endian aliases for float32le or float32be - float32re: reverse-endian alias for float32le or float32be - s32le: signed 32-bit little-endian integer - s32be: signed 32-bit big-endian integer - s32, s32ne: native-endian aliases for s32le or s32be - s32re: reverse-endian alias for s32le or s32be - s24le: signed 24-bit little-endian integer (note: ALSA calls this "S24_3LE") - s24be: signed 24-bit big-endian integer (note: ALSA calls this "S24_3BE") - s24, s24ne: native-endian aliases for s24le or s24be - s24re: reverse-endian alias for s24le or s24be - s24-32le: signed 24-bit little-endian integer, packed into a 32-bit integer so that the 8 most significant bits are ignored (note: ALSA calls this "S24_LE") - s24-32be: signed 24-bit big-endian integer, packed into a 32-bit integer so that the 8 most significant bits are ignored (note: ALSA calls this "S24_BE") - s24-32, s24-32ne: native-endian aliases for s24-32le or s24-32be - s24-32re: reverse-endian alias for s24-32le or s24-32be ### Compressed audio formats Below is a list of all supported compressed formats. The code at the beginning of each line is used whenever a textual identifier for a format is needed (for example in configuration files or on the command line). The formats whose identifier ends with -iec61937 have to be wrapped in IEC 61937 frames, which makes the compressed audio behave more like normal PCM audio. - ac3-iec61937: Dolby Digital (DD / AC-3 / A/52) - eac3-iec61937: Dolby Digital Plus (DD+ / E-AC-3) - mpeg-iec61937: MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Part 3 (not MPEG-2 AAC) - dts-iec61937: DTS - mpeg2-aac-iec61937: MPEG-2 AAC (supported since PulseAudio 4.0) - truehd-iec61937: Dolby TrueHD (added in PulseAudio 13.0, but doesn't work yet in practice) - dtshd-iec61937: DTS-HD Master Audio (added in PulseAudio 13.0, but doesn't work yet in practice) - pcm: PCM (not a compressed format, but listed here, because pcm is one of the recognized encoding identifiers) - any: (special identifier for indicating that any encoding can be used) ## rate The sample rate. ##channels Number of audio channels. ## channel_map A channel map. A list of comma-separated channel names. The currently defined channel names are: `left`, `right`, `mono`, `center`, `front-left`, `front-right`, `front-center`, `rear-center`, `rear-left`, `rear-right`, `lfe`, `subwoofer`, `front-left-of-center`, `front-right-of-center`, `side-left`, `side-right`, `aux0`, `aux1` to `aux15`, `top-center`, `top-front-left`, `top-front-right`, `top-front-center`, `top-rear-left`, `top-rear-right`, `top-rear-center` ## sink_properties, source_properties Set additional properties of the sink/source. For example, you can set the description directly when the module is loaded by setting this parameter. ``` load-module module-alsa-sink sink_name=headphones sink_properties=device.description=Headphones ```