Pulsemixer: A useful CLI and Curses mixer for PulseAudio
For those of us who are regular users of GNU/Linux distributions as the sole or main operating system, it is no secret that the most modern process management technologies (Systemd), graphics (Wayland), audio (PipeWire), and package management (Flatpak/Snap/AppImage) In recent years they have gained ground, and they are here to stay and reign. And of course, this has meant that now almost everything is used and solved graphically (without using the terminal), in favor of those less technical or advanced users. However, we still see and have Distro projects that tend to be maintained with current, stable technologies such as SysVinit, Xorg, and PulseAudio/ALSA, in addition to its native package management systems (deb, rpm, among others).
And precisely, for these last cases, that is, those in which it is still used, for example, ALSA or PulseAudio, alone or in combination with PipeWire, and you need to fine tune or troubleshoot sound issues more efficiently or at a low level, there are often CLI (terminal) tools. Some of which we have already discussed before, such as Alsamixer for ALSA, and Pulsemixer for PulseAudio, which we will address in this publication.
How to fix sound problems in Linux Mint with Alsamixer?
But, before starting this new quick guide on this useful CLI tool called «Pulsemixer» To efficiently manage volume (sound) on various audio devices with Linux and PulseAudio, we recommend exploring a previous content related to its counterpart for ALSA called Alsamixer, at the end of reading it:
Troubleshooting Pulsemixer: Volume control for PulseAudio from Terminal
About Pulsemixer
While it is true that, currently, Ubuntu uses Pipeware This does not prevent you from using PulseAudio in combination or alone, as we discussed on a previous occasion. In which, by the way, we explained how set up PulseAudio with Pavucontrol. Also, the most important Ubuntu-derived distro, i.e. Linux Mint, still uses PulseAudio, by default.
Reason why, Applications like Pulsemixer can be helpful in resolving some audio/sound/volume issues in their respective Distros based on Ubuntu/Debian, or other different ones, and computers in general. For example, and in my very particular case, via advice from a third party (work colleague), Pulsemixer has been useful to me on Linux Mint to solve an audio problem on an EXO AIO computer. In which, the Alsamixer tool allowed me to activate the sound of the computer's sound card, but it did not allow me to save the configuration. Therefore, when restarting the computer, the implemented adjustment was lost.
While, with Pulsemixer does retain system changes after restart, which is logical, since Linux Mint, as we have already expressed above, uses PulseAudio instead of ALSA.
So, if you want to learn more, try and use this small software utility for terminals aimed at the field of audio devices on computers managed with PulseAudio, we invite you to visit its official website on GitHub and Snap Store on Ubuntu.
Screenshots of Pulsemixer and its volume management with PulseAudio
Download tar.gz source, unzip and run
Main view / Function 1 – Managing audio outputs
Function 2 – Managing audio inputs
Function 3 – Managing Detected Sound Cards
Help / Using the keyboard
PulseAudio is a sound server system for POSIX operating systems, which means it is a proxy for various sound applications. Besides, andIt is an integral part of all relevant modern Linux distributions and is used on various mobile devices from multiple vendors. It is capable of rperform advanced operations on sound data as it passes between your application and your hardware. Things like transferring audio to a different machine, changing the sample format or number of channels, or mixing multiple sounds into one input/output are all easily accomplished using PulseAudio.. See more
Summary
In short, we hope that this new and small Quick guide to the “Pulsemixer” software tool to manage the volume via terminal and solve audio problems (sound) on Distro with PulseAudio, it is very effective. Especially, in those occasions in which they have not been able to solve them, but in a graphical or visual way. And since there are always various apps for the same activity or problem, we invite you to tell us your possible similar software tools to achieve this same goal. In order to continue promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of our beloved GNU/Linux Distros.
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