pw-encplay

Play encoded audio streams through PipeWire

TLDR

Play an encoded audio file

$ pw-encplay [path/to/file]

Play with a specific volume

$ pw-encplay --volume [0.8] [path/to/file]

Play to a specific target node

$ pw-encplay --target [node_id] [path/to/file]

Play with verbose output

$ pw-encplay -v [path/to/file]

pw-encplay plays encoded (compressed) audio streams through a PipeWire server. It is a convenience wrapper for pw-cat in encoded playback mode, passing encoded audio data directly to the PipeWire graph without decoding it first.This enables passthrough of compressed audio formats (such as AC3, DTS, or AAC) to hardware decoders or receivers that support native decoding, preserving the original encoded stream quality.When - is given as the file, data is read from stdin.

PARAMETERS

--volume level

Stream volume (default 1.0).

--rate hz

Sample rate in Hz (default 48000).

--channels num

Number of audio channels (default 2).

--channel-map map

Channel layout (e.g. stereo, surround-51, or custom FL,FR mapping).

--format fmt

Sample format: u8, s8, s16, s24, s32, f32, f64 (default s16).

--target value

Target node: auto, 0, or a specific node ID.

--latency value

Node latency (default 100ms).

-q, --quality level

Resampler quality (0-15, default 4).

-R, --remote name

Connect to a specific PipeWire instance.

-P, --properties json

Extra stream properties as a JSON object.

-v, --verbose

Enable verbose output.

-h, --help

Display help information.

--version

Show version details.

INSTALL

sudo apt install pipewire-bin

sudo apk add pipewire-tools

sudo zypper install pipewire-tools

CAVEATS

Requires a sink that supports the encoded format for passthrough playback. If the connected output does not support the format, no audio will be produced. Typically used with HDMI or S/PDIF outputs connected to AV receivers.

HISTORY

Part of PipeWire, the modern multimedia framework for Linux created by Wim Taymans at Red Hat. PipeWire was first released in 2017 and provides unified audio and video handling, replacing PulseAudio and JACK. The pw-cat family of tools provides simple command-line media playback and capture.