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#1 2026-03-05 21:25:12

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Duplicated streams

Hello

I'm on Arch with Kde Plasma and every app that plays audio generates two duplicated audio streams, here is the output from Helvum:
k01lGn1.png

I have a spare laptop with the same installation, Arch and KDE Plasma and I don't have either of these problems... Can anybody help please?

Thanks

Last edited by ironhak (2026-03-07 00:55:30)

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#2 2026-03-08 11:29:48

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Re: Duplicated streams

Anyone?

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#3 2026-03-19 22:06:29

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Re: Duplicated streams

Anyone can help? It's really annoying

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#4 2026-03-20 02:50:11

5hridhyan
Member
From: A fake and corrupt democracy
Registered: 2025-12-25
Posts: 966
Website

Re: Duplicated streams

First try clearing it's cache & restart, also ensure the Profile is set to smtg like Analog Stereo Output rather than Pro audio, && if you have leftover configuration from pulseaudio (like combined-sink or module-echo-cancel) in your user config, pipewire might be creating a virtual "echo" of every stream? `pactl list modules`

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#5 2026-03-20 08:23:39

seth
Member
From: Won't reply 2 private help req
Registered: 2012-09-03
Posts: 77,008

Re: Duplicated streams

Don#t bump-
Random screenshot fragments tell little about what's going on - this could even be a bug in the GUI thing you're looking at and you're also hiding the destination.

Compare 

wpctl status

between the systems.

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#6 2026-07-06 09:08:39

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Re: Duplicated streams

Hello, sorry for late.

MAIN MACHINE (where the duplicates happens)

PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.6.7, host@host, cookie:1508440335]
 └─ Clients:
        32. kwin_wayland                        [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1334]
        33. WirePlumber                         [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1424]
        42. WirePlumber [export]                [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1424]
        68. pipewire                            [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1659]
        69. libcanberra                         [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1511]
        70.                                     [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1511]
        71. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1804]
        72. KDE Connect Daemon                  [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1789]
        73. plasmashell                         [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1522]
        74. libcanberra                         [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1522]
        75. plasmashell                         [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1522]
        76.                                     [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1522]
        77.                                     [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1522]
        79. Chromium                            [1.6.7, host@host, pid:74398]
        81.                                     [1.6.7, host@host, pid:1567]
        85. Quod Libet                          [1.6.7, host@host, pid:33018]
        88. wpctl                               [1.6.7, host@host, pid:74502]
        90. Firefox                             [1.6.7, host@host, pid:2772]
       102. Chromium input                      [1.6.7, host@host, pid:74398]
       113. Chromium                            [1.6.7, host@host, pid:74398]
       131. HdxRtcEngine                        [1.6.7, host@host, pid:65994]
       132. VDCAM Aud Util                      [1.6.7, host@host, pid:65157]
       134. WEBRTC VoiceEngine                  [1.6.7, host@host, pid:65994]

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │      43. Navi 31 HDMI/DP Audio               [alsa]
 │      44. Radeon High Definition Audio Controller [alsa]
 │      45. USB Microphone                      [alsa]
 │      46. Ryzen HD Audio Controller           [alsa]
 │
 ├─ Sinks:
 │      53. Navi 31 HDMI/DP Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI) [vol: 0.65]
 │  *   55. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Analog Stereo [vol: 0.75]
 │
 ├─ Sources:
 │  *   54. USB Microphone Mono                 [vol: 1.00]
 │      56. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Analog Stereo [vol: 1.00]
 │
 ├─ Filters:
 │
 └─ Streams:
        78. HdxRtcEngine
             93. output_FR       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FR    [active]
            125. output_FL       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FL    [active]
        80. Chromium input
             83. input_MONO      < USB Microphone:capture_MONO  [active]
            115. monitor_MONO
        91. Quod Libet
             94. output_FR       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FR    [paused]
            103. output_FL       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FL    [paused]
       101. Chromium
            110. output_FR       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FR    [paused]
            111. output_FL       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FL    [paused]
       107. HdxRtcEngine
             96. output_FL       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FL    [active]
             98. output_FR       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FR    [active]
       118. Firefox
            105. output_FR       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FR    [paused]
            135. output_FL       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FL    [paused]
       124. Chromium
            104. output_FL       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FL    [active]
            109. output_FR       > ALC897 Analog:playback_FR    [active]

Video
 ├─ Devices:
 │
 ├─ Sinks:
 │
 ├─ Sources:
 │
 ├─ Filters:
 │
 └─ Streams:

Settings
 └─ Default Configured Devices:
         0. Audio/Sink    bluez_output.28:11:A5:71:FB:8E
         1. Audio/Source  alsa_input.usb-MUSIC-BOOST_USB_Microphone_MB-306-00.mono-fallback

as you see I have Firefox, QuodLibet, Vesktop (Chromium), and Citrix. For Vesktop and Citrix the audio is duplicated as you see.
Here is on my other machine (where there is no duplicates):

PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, cookie:4127992810]
 └─ Clients:
        32. kwin_wayland                        [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1335]
        33. WirePlumber                         [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1392]
        42. WirePlumber [export]                [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1392]
        66. pipewire                            [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1529]
        67. libcanberra                         [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1482]
        68.                                     [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1482]
        73. Chromium input                      [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:2270]
        74. Quod Libet                          [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:5526]
        77. VDCAM Aud Util                      [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:4378]
        79. libcanberra                         [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1494]
        80. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1777]
        81. plasmashell                         [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1494]
        82. plasmashell                         [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1494]
        83.                                     [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1494]
        84. KDE Connect Daemon                  [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:1757]
        86. Firefox                             [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:2368]
        99. Chromium                            [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:2270]
       105. WEBRTC VoiceEngine                  [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:4833]
       106. ZOOM VoiceEngine                    [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:5227]
       108. ZOOM VoiceEngine                    [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:5141]
       116. ZOOM VoiceEngine                    [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:5227]
       128. wpctl                               [1.6.7, host@ThinkPad-T14, pid:6664]

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │      43. Radeon High Definition Audio Controller [alsa]
 │      44. Ryzen HD Audio Controller           [alsa]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  *   51. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Speaker   [vol: 0.90]
 │  
 ├─ Sources:
 │      52. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Stereo Microphone [vol: 1.00 MUTED]
 │  *   53. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Digital Microphone [vol: 1.00 MUTED]
 │  
 ├─ Filters:
 │  
 └─ Streams:
        85.                                                             
            110. monitor_FR     
            117. monitor_FL     
            121. input_FL        < Firefox:output_FL	[init]
            125. input_FR        < Firefox:output_FR	[init]
        87. Firefox                                                     
             89. output_FL       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FL	[paused]
             91. output_FR       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FR	[paused]
        92. Chromium input                                              
             94. monitor_FL     
             95. input_FR        < Digital Microphone:capture_FR	[active]
             96. input_FL        < Digital Microphone:capture_FL	[active]
             98. monitor_FR     
       100. Chromium                                                    
            101. output_FL       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FL	[active]
            102. output_FR       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FR	[active]
       114. VDCAM Aud Util                                              
            111. output_FL       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FL	[active]
            118. output_FR       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FR	[active]
       127. Quod Libet                                                  
            109. output_FL       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FL	[paused]
            120. output_FR       > ALC257 Analog:playback_FR	[paused]

Video
 ├─ Devices:
 │      54. Integrated Camera                   [v4l2]
 │      55. Integrated Camera                   [v4l2]
 │      56. Integrated Camera                   [v4l2]
 │      57. Integrated Camera                   [v4l2]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  
 ├─ Sources:
 │  *   69. Integrated Camera (V4L2)           
 │      71. Integrated Camera (V4L2)           
 │  
 ├─ Filters:
 │  
 └─ Streams:

Settings
 └─ Default Configured Devices:
         0. Audio/Sink    alsa_output.pci-0000_c4_00.6.HiFi__Headphones__sink
         1. Audio/Source  alsa_input.pci-0000_c4_00.6.HiFi__Mic2__source

As you see on main machine Vesktop creates 3 channels: 2 outputs and one input while on the other machine it creates 2 (one output and one input, correct).
Do you guys have any clue?
Thanks

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#7 2026-07-06 09:55:10

Lone_Wolf
Administrator
From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 15,248

Re: Duplicated streams

main machine

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │      43. Navi 31 HDMI/DP Audio               [alsa]
 │      44. Radeon High Definition Audio Controller [alsa]
 │      45. USB Microphone                      [alsa]
 │      46. Ryzen HD Audio Controller           [alsa]
 ├─ Sinks:
 │      53. Navi 31 HDMI/DP Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI) [vol: 0.65]
 │  *   55. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Analog Stereo [vol: 0.75]

other machine

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │      43. Radeon High Definition Audio Controller [alsa]
 │      44. Ryzen HD Audio Controller           [alsa]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  *   51. Ryzen HD Audio Controller Speaker   [vol: 0.90]

It looks like the main machine has a dedicated videocard and somehow that screws up things.

Please post the output of aplay --list-devices  --list-pcms for both machines .

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#8 2026-07-06 12:22:55

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Re: Duplicated streams

Yes, the main machine is running AMD cpu and dedicated Radeon GPU.
Main machine:

null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PipeWire Media Server)
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=0
    HDA ATI HDMI, LG ULTRAGEAR
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=1
    HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=2
    HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=3
    HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=HDMI
    HDA ATI HDMI
    USB Stream Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=1
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=2
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC897 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
usbstream:CARD=Microphone
    USB Microphone
    USB Stream Output
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [LG ULTRAGEAR]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC897 Analog [ALC897 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 1: ALC897 Digital [ALC897 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

other machine:

null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=1
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=2
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=3
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
default:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC257 Analog [ALC257 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

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#9 2026-07-06 12:27:55

cryptearth
Member
Registered: 2024-02-03
Posts: 2,272

Re: Duplicated streams

you have pulse, pipe and jack installed all at once? that doesn't sound right

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#10 2026-07-06 12:35:27

seth
Member
From: Won't reply 2 private help req
Registered: 2012-09-03
Posts: 77,008

Re: Duplicated streams

pipewire-pulse would provide pulsenoaudio… 

pacman -Qs 'wire|pulse'

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#11 2026-07-06 12:54:31

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Re: Duplicated streams

Here is the output... maybe i have some extra packages installed?

local/kpipewire 6.7.2-1 (plasma)
    Components relating to pipewire use in Plasma
local/lib32-libpipewire 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - 32-bit - client library
local/lib32-libpulse 17.0+r98+gb096704c0-1
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server (32-bit client libraries)
local/lib32-pipewire 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - 32-bit
local/libcanberra 1:0.30+r2+gc0620e4-6
    A small and lightweight implementation of the XDG Sound Theme Specification
local/libpipewire 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - client library
local/libpulse 17.0+r98+gb096704c0-1
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server (client library)
local/libraw1394 2.1.2-4
    Provides an API to the Linux IEEE1394 (FireWire) driver
local/libwireplumber 0.5.15-1
    Session / policy manager implementation for PipeWire - client library
local/linux 7.1.2.arch3-1
    The Linux kernel and modules
local/pipewire 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor
local/pipewire-alsa 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - ALSA configuration
local/pipewire-audio 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - Audio support
local/pipewire-pulse 1:1.6.7-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - PulseAudio replacement
local/plasma-pa 6.7.2-1 (plasma)
    Plasma applet for audio volume management using PulseAudio
local/pulseaudio-qt 1.8.1-1
    Qt bindings for libpulse
local/wireplumber 0.5.15-1
    Session / policy manager implementation for PipeWire
local/wpa_supplicant 2:2.11-5
    A utility providing key negotiation for WPA wireless networks

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#12 2026-07-06 13:34:22

seth
Member
From: Won't reply 2 private help req
Registered: 2012-09-03
Posts: 77,008

Re: Duplicated streams

local/pipewire-pulse 1:1.6.7-1

But apparently not https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 … wire-jack/ ? Make sure you don't have jack2 (forgot to include into the search)

As for the duplication, there're two chromium and HdxRtcEngine streams but HdxRtcEngine doesn't exist on the other system and there's only one firefox, chromium input and quodlibet one.
Also nb. both HdxRtcEngine but only one Chromium stream is active (the other chromium stream is paused what would be in line w/ the inactive tab behavior)
There's also no MTGA.exe - might just be different processes (notably for chromium where every tab will create its own process)

=> what are the actual symptoms (some GUI audio stream overview aside)?

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#13 2026-07-06 14:26:21

ironhak
Member
Registered: 2025-08-10
Posts: 88

Re: Duplicated streams

There are no other syntoms, other than it becomes really annoying when i have many apps open and i want to tweak the volume of one of them...

$ pacman -Qs 'jack2'
local/jack2 1.9.22-2
    The JACK low-latency audio server
local/lib32-jack2 1.9.22-2
    The JACK low-latency audio server (32 bit)

seems i have jack2... what should I do then? Uninstall it?

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#14 2026-07-06 19:01:44

seth
Member
From: Won't reply 2 private help req
Registered: 2012-09-03
Posts: 77,008

Re: Duplicated streams

Replace it w/ pipewire-jack

From what I can tell there's actually nothing "duplicated" - does changing the volume of one impact the supposed duplicate?

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