Workflow — Audio Production
What: Route, process, and finish audio end-to-end across every OS and every control surface.
Skills used
audio-routing-docs, audio-pipewire, audio-jack, audio-coreaudio, audio-wasapi, media-midi, media-osc, media-sox, ffmpeg-audio-filter, ffmpeg-audio-fx, ffmpeg-audio-spatial, media-denoise-ai, media-demucs, media-musicgen, media-tts-ai, media-whisper, media-ffmpeg-normalize, ffmpeg-captions, ffmpeg-subtitles.
Pipeline
Step 1 — Platform audio routing
| OS |
Skill |
What to do |
| Linux |
audio-pipewire |
pw-cli list, create virtual sink, pw-link source → target |
| macOS |
audio-coreaudio |
aggregate devices (multi-mic sum), BlackHole / Loopback virtual cables |
| Windows |
audio-wasapi |
VB-Cable / VoiceMeeter virtual routing |
| Cross-platform |
audio-jack |
jackd start, jack_lsp list-ports, jack_connect DAW → destination |
Step 2 — Control surfaces
- MIDI —
media-midi: list-ports, monitor JSON, send-note, map to OBS/OSC/anything.
- OSC —
media-osc: send/listen.
Step 3 — DSP chain
- SoX / FFmpeg filters —
highpass=f=80, equalizer=f=3000:t=q:w=1:g=3, acompressor, alimiter, loudnorm.
- LADSPA / LV2 plugins — via ffmpeg's
ladspa / lv2 filters.
Step 4 — Spatial audio
ffmpeg-audio-spatial:
- Binaural HRTF —
sofalizer with a SOFA file, per-track azimuth / elevation.
- Surround 5.1 upmix / downmix —
pan filter with channel matrix.
Step 5 — AI processing
media-denoise-ai (DeepFilterNet / RNNoise / Resemble Enhance), media-demucs (stem separation), media-tts-ai (Kokoro / OpenVoice / Piper), media-musicgen (Riffusion / YuE), media-whisper (transcription).
Step 6 — Loudness certification
media-ffmpeg-normalize two-pass EBU R128:
| Target |
Integrated |
True peak |
| Spotify Master |
−14 LUFS |
−2 dBTP |
| Apple Podcasts |
−16 LUFS |
−1 dBTP |
| ATSC A/85 |
−24 LUFS |
varies |
| EBU R128 broadcast |
−23 LUFS |
−1 dBTP |
| ACX audiobooks |
−19 LUFS |
−3 dBTP |
Variants
- Live DAW recording — start JACK, connect DAW I/O, MIDI controller, OSC tablet.
- Podcast cleanup — see
workflow-podcast-pipeline.
- Binaural audiodrama — split stereo, per-track HRTF positioning, sum.
- DAW → OBS system-audio routing — aggregate device, DAW out → BlackHole, OBS source → aggregate.
- Control-surface-driven automation — Stream Deck MIDI → OBS scene + DMX cue + OSC transport in parallel.
Gotchas
- BlackHole / Loopback appear as BOTH input AND output on macOS. Route the app to OUTPUT; pick input in DAW/OBS.
- PipeWire aliases
default to the current Pulse sink. Script with the real sink name from pw-cli ls Node.
- JACK buffer = latency frames ÷ sample rate (128 @ 48 kHz = 2.67 ms). Too low = xruns; too high = sluggish.
- WASAPI loopback captures the render endpoint, not the source app. Use a virtual cable for per-app capture.
- macOS aggregate devices clock to the FIRST device in the list. Others drift. Pick the clock master first.
- Windows MME is legacy shared; WASAPI is exclusive/professional. For low latency, use WASAPI.
- MIDI 1.0 = 3 bytes; MIDI 2.0 UMP = 4–16 bytes. Wrong protocol = silent ignore.
- MIDI channels: 0–15 on the wire, 1–16 in UI. Off-by-one is the #1 bug.
- MIDI running status compresses repeated types — old hardware uses it; modern mostly doesn't.
- OSC bundles contain timed sub-messages. Parse
type:bundle → .elements branch.
- OSC address patterns support wildcards (
/track/*/volume). Server-side wildcards fire multiple handlers.
- OSC TCP 1.1 vs UDP 1.0. Pick one per endpoint; they're not interchangeable.
loudnorm is NOT a limiter. It normalizes. If peaks exceed target, it applies downward gain, not transient shaving. Add explicit alimiter.aresample filter_size trades quality for speed. 512 = audiophile, 128 = streaming.atempo range is 0.5–2.0 per instance. Chain for extremes.asetrate changes pitch AND tempo together. Combine with atempo for pitch-preserving speed.sidechaincompress — key input FIRST, signal SECOND. Wrong order = wrong ducking.- DeepFilterNet: 48 kHz MONO or 16 kHz MONO. Resample before.
- RNNoise: 48 kHz mono 16-bit, hardcoded. Anything else fails silently.
- Demucs: 44.1 / 48 kHz STEREO. Mono → degraded stems.
- Whisper: 16 kHz mono best. Resamples internally; explicit is cleaner.
- Voice cloning needs a CLEAN reference. DeepFilterNet the reference sample first.
- Kokoro TTS outputs 24 kHz. Resample to 48 kHz before mixing.
- Single-pass
loudnorm uses guardrails (±1 LUFS). Two-pass measures then applies exactly. Use media-ffmpeg-normalize for certification.
- True peak measures inter-sample peaks, 4× oversampled. Standard sample peak misses these.
- LUFS = LKFS = same thing (different standards' names for integrated loudness).
Example — Podcast-style live monitor with MIDI transport
jackd start → connect DAW ↔ system audio → media-midi monitor Stream Deck → MIDI CC maps to DAW transport (play/stop/record) AND to OBS scene switch in parallel.
Related
workflow-podcast-pipeline — applied podcast recipe using this stack.workflow-live-production — MIDI/OSC surfaces driving OBS + DMX + PTZ.workflow-analysis-quality — loudness compliance verification.
1---2name: workflow-audio-production3description: Full-stack audio routing across macOS / Linux / Windows, MIDI + OSC control surfaces, DAW integration over JACK, DSP (EQ / compression / loudness / spatial / binaural HRTF), AI denoise (DeepFilterNet / RNNoise / Resemble Enhance), stem separation (Demucs), TTS, Whisper transcription, and EBU R128 / Spotify / Apple / ATSC loudness certification. Use when the user says "set up DAW", "route audio through OBS", "MIDI control surface", "binaural ASMR", "stem separation", "loudness to −16 LUFS", "JACK transport", or anything audio-stack-related.4---56# Workflow — Audio Production78**What:** Route, process, and finish audio end-to-end across every OS and every control surface.910## Skills used1112`audio-routing-docs`, `audio-pipewire`, `audio-jack`, `audio-coreaudio`, `audio-wasapi`, `media-midi`, `media-osc`, `media-sox`, `ffmpeg-audio-filter`, `ffmpeg-audio-fx`, `ffmpeg-audio-spatial`, `media-denoise-ai`, `media-demucs`, `media-musicgen`, `media-tts-ai`, `media-whisper`, `media-ffmpeg-normalize`, `ffmpeg-captions`, `ffmpeg-subtitles`.1314## Pipeline1516### Step 1 — Platform audio routing1718| OS | Skill | What to do |19|---|---|---|20| Linux | `audio-pipewire` | `pw-cli list`, create virtual sink, `pw-link` source → target |21| macOS | `audio-coreaudio` | aggregate devices (multi-mic sum), BlackHole / Loopback virtual cables |22| Windows | `audio-wasapi` | VB-Cable / VoiceMeeter virtual routing |23| Cross-platform | `audio-jack` | `jackd` start, `jack_lsp` list-ports, `jack_connect` DAW → destination |2425### Step 2 — Control surfaces2627- **MIDI** — `media-midi`: list-ports, monitor JSON, send-note, map to OBS/OSC/anything.28- **OSC** — `media-osc`: send/listen.2930### Step 3 — DSP chain3132- **SoX / FFmpeg filters** — `highpass=f=80`, `equalizer=f=3000:t=q:w=1:g=3`, `acompressor`, `alimiter`, `loudnorm`.33- **LADSPA / LV2 plugins** — via ffmpeg's `ladspa` / `lv2` filters.3435### Step 4 — Spatial audio3637`ffmpeg-audio-spatial`:38- **Binaural HRTF** — `sofalizer` with a SOFA file, per-track azimuth / elevation.39- **Surround 5.1 upmix / downmix** — `pan` filter with channel matrix.4041### Step 5 — AI processing4243`media-denoise-ai` (DeepFilterNet / RNNoise / Resemble Enhance), `media-demucs` (stem separation), `media-tts-ai` (Kokoro / OpenVoice / Piper), `media-musicgen` (Riffusion / YuE), `media-whisper` (transcription).4445### Step 6 — Loudness certification4647`media-ffmpeg-normalize` two-pass EBU R128:4849| Target | Integrated | True peak |50|---|---|---|51| Spotify Master | −14 LUFS | −2 dBTP |52| Apple Podcasts | −16 LUFS | −1 dBTP |53| ATSC A/85 | −24 LUFS | varies |54| EBU R128 broadcast | −23 LUFS | −1 dBTP |55| ACX audiobooks | −19 LUFS | −3 dBTP |5657## Variants5859- **Live DAW recording** — start JACK, connect DAW I/O, MIDI controller, OSC tablet.60- **Podcast cleanup** — see `workflow-podcast-pipeline`.61- **Binaural audiodrama** — split stereo, per-track HRTF positioning, sum.62- **DAW → OBS system-audio routing** — aggregate device, DAW out → BlackHole, OBS source → aggregate.63- **Control-surface-driven automation** — Stream Deck MIDI → OBS scene + DMX cue + OSC transport in parallel.6465## Gotchas6667- **BlackHole / Loopback appear as BOTH input AND output on macOS.** Route the app to OUTPUT; pick input in DAW/OBS.68- **PipeWire aliases `default` to the current Pulse sink.** Script with the real sink name from `pw-cli ls Node`.69- **JACK buffer = latency frames ÷ sample rate** (128 @ 48 kHz = 2.67 ms). Too low = xruns; too high = sluggish.70- **WASAPI loopback captures the render endpoint, not the source app.** Use a virtual cable for per-app capture.71- **macOS aggregate devices clock to the FIRST device in the list.** Others drift. Pick the clock master first.72- **Windows MME is legacy shared; WASAPI is exclusive/professional.** For low latency, use WASAPI.73- **MIDI 1.0 = 3 bytes; MIDI 2.0 UMP = 4–16 bytes.** Wrong protocol = silent ignore.74- **MIDI channels: 0–15 on the wire, 1–16 in UI.** Off-by-one is the #1 bug.75- **MIDI running status** compresses repeated types — old hardware uses it; modern mostly doesn't.76- **OSC bundles contain timed sub-messages.** Parse `type:bundle` → `.elements` branch.77- **OSC address patterns support wildcards** (`/track/*/volume`). Server-side wildcards fire multiple handlers.78- **OSC TCP 1.1 vs UDP 1.0.** Pick one per endpoint; they're not interchangeable.79- **`loudnorm` is NOT a limiter.** It normalizes. If peaks exceed target, it applies downward gain, not transient shaving. Add explicit `alimiter`.80- **`aresample filter_size` trades quality for speed.** 512 = audiophile, 128 = streaming.81- **`atempo` range is 0.5–2.0 per instance.** Chain for extremes.82- **`asetrate` changes pitch AND tempo together.** Combine with `atempo` for pitch-preserving speed.83- **`sidechaincompress`** — key input FIRST, signal SECOND. Wrong order = wrong ducking.84- **DeepFilterNet: 48 kHz MONO or 16 kHz MONO.** Resample before.85- **RNNoise: 48 kHz mono 16-bit, hardcoded.** Anything else fails silently.86- **Demucs: 44.1 / 48 kHz STEREO.** Mono → degraded stems.87- **Whisper: 16 kHz mono best.** Resamples internally; explicit is cleaner.88- **Voice cloning needs a CLEAN reference.** DeepFilterNet the reference sample first.89- **Kokoro TTS outputs 24 kHz.** Resample to 48 kHz before mixing.90- **Single-pass `loudnorm` uses guardrails (±1 LUFS).** Two-pass measures then applies exactly. Use `media-ffmpeg-normalize` for certification.91- **True peak measures inter-sample peaks, 4× oversampled.** Standard sample peak misses these.92- **LUFS = LKFS = same thing (different standards' names for integrated loudness).**9394## Example — Podcast-style live monitor with MIDI transport9596`jackd` start → connect DAW ↔ system audio → `media-midi monitor` Stream Deck → MIDI CC maps to DAW transport (play/stop/record) AND to OBS scene switch in parallel.9798## Related99100- `workflow-podcast-pipeline` — applied podcast recipe using this stack.101- `workflow-live-production` — MIDI/OSC surfaces driving OBS + DMX + PTZ.102- `workflow-analysis-quality` — loudness compliance verification.
damionrashford