[alsa-devel] Sample format changes by plugin while playing

[Robert Tiemann]

On 04/19/2018 05:57 PM, Clemens Ladisch wrote:
> Robert Tiemann wrote:
>> I guess "in theory" means that you don't know about any plugin of such
>> kind I could take a look at, right?
> 
> No; most plugins force the configuration of the slave to be similar, and
> to be done at the same time as their own.

So a plugin can configure its slave the way it likes? Would it be
possible to change the slave configuration multiple times during
playback (close/open slave would be OK for me)?

> PulseAudio does something similar to this, but it's much more complex
> than just an ALSA plugin.

I'd like to avoid PulseAudio for my case. Basically, I have the choice
between writing an ALSA plugin for a generic and transparent solution,
or implementing the functionality in the playback software.

The latter solution would be rather messy, I suspect, and be
restricted to individual players (currently, I need to support two
different players, both doing their things in very different ways).
Anyway, taking a look a PulseAudio won't hurt if it cannot be done as
ALSA plugin.