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PCM Transport is a Linux desktop player for local audio files, built around ALSA output and a visible playback path rather than music-library management. It can play FLAC natively, use local FFmpeg libraries for many other formats, and handle CUE sheets, playlists and compatible-track gapless playback. Its direct ALSA capability does not guarantee bit-perfect output on every system, and DSF/DFF files are converted to PCM rather than sent as native DSD.
What PCM Transport is—and what it is not
PCM Transport is an independently maintained Linux desktop audio player by Andrey Berestov, with Aleksandr Vysotskiy listed as a contributor. The project describes itself as “Not a music library manager, just honest playback with a visible signal path.” It is aimed at opening and playing local audio, with controls and diagnostics for the playback path, rather than cataloguing a large collection.
The interface uses GTK 3 and supports X11 and Wayland through GTK. The project lists Arch, Debian, Ubuntu, ALT Linux and similar distributions. Its website frames one of its distinguishing choices as “Direct ALSA playback — no PulseAudio or PipeWire required.” That is an output option, not a claim that those audio servers cannot be present on a system.
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Native and primary inputs
FLAC uses the native libFLAC decoder. The primary input types listed by the project are FLAC, WAV, CUE and local M3U/M3U8 playlists. CUE support includes continuous playback of a CUE image, useful when a disc is represented by one audio file with track positions in a separate sheet.
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Additional formats through FFmpeg libraries
PCM Transport uses FFmpeg shared libraries for additional formats. Examples include AIFF, APE, WavPack, W64, BWF, AU, CAF, TAK, TTA, DSF and DFF, as well as MP3, MP2, M4A, AAC, AC3, DTS, Ogg, Opus and WMA. Availability for less common codecs depends on the FFmpeg libraries installed on the system; the ffmpeg and ffprobe command-line programs are not required.
DSF and DFF support means the files can be decoded for playback, not that the player outputs native DSD: PCM Transport converts DSD audio to PCM, and the project says native DSD output is unavailable.
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How audio output and processing work
ALSA routing
The project uses ALSA for output. For a direct hardware path, its README recommends selecting an ALSA device in hw:X,Y form and avoiding forced conversion rules. The actual route and any conversions still depend on the selected device and the system’s ALSA configuration, so “direct ALSA” should not be read as a universal guarantee of end-to-end bit-perfect playback.
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Optional DSP and clipping indication
Playback options include bass and treble controls, along with other processing settings. The documented bypass conditions are neutral tone controls, Pre-EQ headroom at 0 dB and soft volume at 100%. The CLIP indicator reports clipping in the DSP path only; it does not detect clipping at every stage from file decoding through hardware output.
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Sample-rate conversion and precision
The project lists SoXR sample-rate conversion with FFmpeg SWR as a fallback, and configurable output precision. The v0.9.117 release notes describe deterministic final 16-bit rounding options, optional high-pass TPDF dither (off by default and used only when final S16 quantization is required), and strict explicit 24-bit ALSA container selections. These are release-note details, not proof that a particular system’s full output chain preserves any given source format unchanged.
Playback features beyond opening a file
- Gapless playback between compatible tracks.
- Local M3U and M3U8 playlist import.
- Metadata normalization for UTF-8 and Windows-1251 text.
- MPRIS integration for desktop media controls, multimedia keys and cover-art metadata.
Together, these features suit a playback-focused workflow with folders, playlists or CUE-based albums; they do not turn the application into a music library manager.
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Requirements and installation options
Runtime compatibility
The documented runtime requirements include GTK 3.16 or later, GLib/GIO 2.52 or later, libFLAC 1.3.3 or later, ALSA, and FFmpeg 4.4 or later shared libraries for libavformat, libavcodec, libavutil and libswresample. Build against the FFmpeg libraries supplied by the target distribution; the project does not claim compatibility across major FFmpeg ABI versions. RTKit or direct CAP_SYS_NICE handling is optional.
Try the AppImage
The easiest documented trial route is the x86_64 AppImage linked from GitHub Releases. The project website gives these standard commands to make it executable and launch it:
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chmod +x PCM-Transport-*.AppImage
./PCM-Transport-*.AppImageUse the actual downloaded filename if it differs from the pattern shown.
Build from source
The project documents a CMake-based source build and distribution-specific dependency packages for Arch, Debian/Ubuntu and ALT Linux. Its repository README includes the package and build instructions. Installation can add a binary, desktop entry and icons; running from the build directory does not require that optional integration step. The project is released under GNU GPL v3.0 only.
Which version should you download?
The repository README displays v0.9.120, while the Releases page opened for this article lists v0.9.117, dated August 31, as its latest displayed release. Since those official pages disagree, do not assume the README header identifies the current downloadable build. Check the Releases page and its available assets when downloading.
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- Consider it if you use Linux, play local files, want CUE or playlist support, and value ALSA output controls and visible playback diagnostics.
- Check your setup first if you rely on a rare codec, need a particular FFmpeg build, or expect a specific hardware route. Codec coverage depends on installed FFmpeg libraries, and ALSA device configuration affects output.
- Look elsewhere if your main need is a full music-library manager or native DSD output; those are not capabilities the project claims.
The official project pages document features and setup but do not provide an independent comparative listening test. The best way to judge whether its interface and output configuration suit your system is to try the release available for your distribution and verify the selected ALSA device and processing settings.
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