EasyEffects

2026-09-11 #system #audio #dsp

Global audio DSP for PipeWire — EQ, convolver, limiter. Autostarts with sway.

What it does

Inserts an easyeffects_sink into the PipeWire graph and runs every output stream through the Base preset:

Stage	Setting
equalizer#0	10 bands, input-gain -2 dB, channels linked
convolver#0	kernel `impulse-movie`, input-gain -2 dB, fully wet
limiter#0	Herm Wide, threshold -0.5 dB, lookahead 5 ms

EQ curve (all Bell):

Freq	Gain	Freq	Gain
32	+4	1k	-2
64	+2	2k	+0
125	+1	4k	+2
250	+0	8k	+3
500	-1	16k	+3

Autostart

Started by sway, see .config/sway/config: exec easyeffects --service-mode --hide-window

Both flags are needed:

--hide-window — without it the GUI window maps on login. --service-mode alone does NOT start headless, despite the name.
--service-mode — keeps the DSP running after the GUI window is closed. Without it, closing the window kills the whole chain.

Where the config lives

Tracked in the dotfiles repo, symlinked in by stow:

Impulse responses: ~/.local/share/easyeffects/irs/ → ~/Dotfiles/.local/share/easyeffects/irs/
Presets: ~/.local/share/easyeffects/output/ → ~/Dotfiles/.local/share/easyeffects/output/

Deliberately NOT tracked: ~/.config/easyeffects/db/*rc. The app rewrites those constantly (window geometry, preset-use counters) and they embed this machine’s PCI device names. Base.json already describes the whole chain and is fully portable.

Because output/ is a directory symlink, presets saved from the GUI land straight in the repo — check git status after tuning.

Impulse responses

Five kernels, 1278 frames / 26.6 ms / 48 kHz 16-bit stereo, short tone-shaping filters rather than room reverbs:

impulse-dynamic impulse-game impulse-movie impulse-music impulse-voice

Add a new one — drop the .wav/.irs in, then commit it: cp foo.wav ~/.local/share/easyeffects/irs/foo.irs && cd ~/Dotfiles && git add -A .local/share/easyeffects

Commands

List available presets: easyeffects -p
Show currently loaded input/output presets: easyeffects -s
Load a preset: easyeffects -l Base
Toggle all effects on/off (A/B the sound): easyeffects --bypass-toggle
Query bypass state (1 enabled, 2 disabled): easyeffects -b 3
Open the GUI on the running service: easyeffects
Quit the service entirely: easyeffects -q
Confirm the filter is in the graph: pw-cli ls Node | grep easyeffects

Fresh machine

After the first stow, ~/.config/easyeffects/db/ does not exist, so no preset is applied even though the IRs and presets are present. Run once: easyeffects -l Base

The choice then persists in easyeffectsrc and is restored on every start.

$ benou docs