Helvum

Helvum is a neat little tool for Linux that really shines when it comes to managing audio. You might have heard some chatter about PulseAudio and PipeWire. So, what's the deal? Well, PipeWire is like the fresh new player in town, made to be a cleaner and more efficient audio server. It aims to fix some of the bugs and issues people have had with PulseAudio.

PulseAudio vs PipeWire: What’s the Difference?

PulseAudio sets things up so that most apps get their sound from one input device and send it out through a single audio device. On the flip side, PipeWire is way more flexible! It runs a whole media graph, letting you route audio and media between tons of devices and apps.

Why Choose Helvum?

This flexibility makes PipeWire super appealing to all kinds of users. And here comes Helvum, which is one cool example of what makes the Linux community awesome! So, what does Helvum do? It's basically a user-friendly graphical patchbay app for PipeWire.

How Does Helvum Work?

If you're just getting started with audio management, think of Helvum as your go-to interface for creating and deleting connections between devices or programs. This way, you can control where your audio, video, and MIDI data flow!

The Many Uses of Helvum

You can do so many things with it! For example, you could play two sounds at once or direct audio output from Plex into an app's microphone input. Gamers will love this—recording videos while chatting in-game? You can mute some clips but keep others live! The creator of Helvum, Tom Wagner, faced this exact problem before he built the app.

A Good Tool with Room for Improvement

So is Helvum worth it? Absolutely! Just keep in mind it's mainly focused on helping you control the PipeWire server. It gives you an easy way to manage connections between different apps and devices.

What Could Be Better?

No software is perfect though! While Helvum works great as-is (especially in version 0.3.4), there are still some things that could be improved. For instance:

• No help section—so you'll need to figure things out on your own.


• You can’t save changes permanently since it lacks profiles.


• No collapsing features for various elements.


• No plugin support yet (though this might come later).

Your best bet? Keep an eye on their website; they're planning updates like volume control and debug modes!