Pulse-Jack Sink Always in Headphones [Solved]

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mikey187210
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Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:37 am

Pulse-Jack Sink Always in Headphones [Solved]

Post by mikey187210 »

Hey all,

I'm stumped using jack with pulseaudio. I'm able to use "pactl load-module module-jack-sink" and source, to give applications the ability to play directly through pulseaudio to jack. So far so good. I get the sound directly into my DAW.

However, I can't for the life of me ... figure out how to mute them from the interface/headphones, without muting them in my daw! It almost seems like each jack sink goes both to jack/daw and also directly to the audio interface.

I've tried muting the app sending to the sink (in this example, VLC), but it always mutes audio coming into the DAW as well
- pulseaudio volume control app, mute playback device (VLC) --> sound dies in the daw
- pulseaudio volume control app, mute output device (jack sink) --> sound dies in the daw

As an experiment, I disconnected ALL connections in the QJackCtl patchbay, restarted everything, and STILL hear audio playing directly from VLC through the sink, into my headphones.

I suspect jack is at fault but I can't be sure. I'm so very confused.

All I'd like to do is be able to play an application into jack, so I can get the sound into my DAW, without a direct monitor happening. I want to be able to control the signal flow inside the DAW before the sound gets to my headphones.

Please help. Blargh.
Last edited by mikey187210 on Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mikey187210
Established Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:37 am

Re: Pulse-Jack Sink Always in Headphones

Post by mikey187210 »

Solved. The problem was QJackCtl does not show all connections for some reason! Once I tried Claudia, I suddenly saw the suspected connections going directly from the sinks to the main stereo outs, and was able to disconnect them.

Eventually I also realized the problem was also that "module-jack-sink" and source, default to a parameter "connect=true", which automatically makes these connections for me. Once I changed all my sink/source lines to:

Code: Select all

pactl load-module module-jack-sink channels=2 connect=false;
pactl load-module module-jack-sink channels=2 connect=false;
pactl load-module module-jack-source channels=2 connect=false;
... the problem went away.
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