Enhance Your Audio Streaming Experience with Shairport Sync
Experience seamless audio streaming with Shairport Sync, an AirPlay audio player renowned for its ability to stream audio flawlessly from iTunes, iOS gadgets, and other AirPlay-compatible sources like ForkedDaapd. Designed to keep audio perfectly synchronized with its source and similar devices, Shairport Sync allows you to enjoy multi-room audio without the typical complications.
It’s important to note that Shairport Sync focuses exclusively on audio, not supporting AirPlay video or photo streaming. Although it was originally developed from the reverse-engineering of Apple’s AirPort Express audio functionality, users should be aware that this feature depends on Apple and may change in the future at their discretion.
Shairport Sync is particularly effective when used with PulseAudio. Despite PulseAudio’s timing precision not matching that of Alsa or sndio, its frequent necessity means that Shairport Sync provides a practical solution when removing or disabling PulseAudio is not feasible. In such scenarios, leveraging the PulseAudio (pa) backend is recommended for optimal results.
Changing the Backend
If you’re considering altering the backend, start by reviewing the available output devices. Tools included in alsa-utils can assist in this process, helping you identify the raw audio device best suited for your configuration.
Running Shairport Sync as a Daemon
To enhance user experience, Shairport Sync can be executed as a daemon. In Arch Linux, for example, creating a dedicated folder in a tempfs is necessary. This folder can be conveniently auto-generated at boot by configuring a tempfiles configuration file.
Operating Shairport Sync as a daemon is straightforward. Simply execute the following command:
shairport-sync -dTo terminate the daemon service, use the command:
shairport-sync -kSystem Configuration
While previously, the PulseAudio backend required use as a user service with the default configuration, recent updates as of early 2022 suggest that it now functions efficiently as a system service with pulseaudio (pipewire-pulse) without necessitating any additional modifications. This improvement streamlines the process, ensuring a smoother integration and operation.
Shairport Sync revolutionizes your audio setup by maintaining synchronization across multiple devices, aligned with its source. Embrace a new level of convenience and sophistication in your audio experiences with Shairport Sync.
