Ratewise 0.1.4

Ratewise can now set up the LE Audio (LC3) link on Bluetooth devices that support it, on PipeWire 1.6 or newer.

Install

chmod +x Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage

Runs on x86_64 with glibc 2.28 or newer (RHEL 8, Debian 10, Ubuntu 20.04 onward). It doesn't need libfuse2. Check the download against Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage.sha256.

LE Audio

Devices that offer LE Audio (bap-* profiles) get an LE Audio section on the Bluetooth tab. Everything in it is saved: it's written to Ratewise's WirePlumber rules and used the next time the device connects. After saving, restart PipeWire and WirePlumber, then turn the device off and on again.

• Latency: Balanced (PipeWire's default), Low latency (less delay, for games and video) or Reliable (fewer dropouts). Sets bluez5.bap.force-target-latency.
• Preset: any of PipeWire's 32 LC3 presets, such as 48_5_1. They're shown as a grid by sample rate, with low-latency and high-reliability presets side by side. Hover a preset to see its frame length, bitrate, latency and retransmissions. If the device can't use the preset you pick, PipeWire ignores it and chooses one itself, so it's safe to try them.
• Retransmissions, maximum transport latency, presentation delay and framing: set by hand, or left empty for automatic. PipeWire doesn't check these against what the device accepts, so a value the device rejects can stop sound over LE Audio. Set it back to Auto if that happens.

The same settings are available from the command line:

ratewise set le-audio-latency low --device earbuds --save
ratewise set le-audio-preset 48_5_1 --device earbuds --save
ratewise set le-audio-retransmissions 3 --device earbuds --save
ratewise set le-audio-transport-latency 20 --device earbuds --save
ratewise set le-audio-presentation-delay 40 --device earbuds --save
ratewise set le-audio-framing auto --device earbuds --save

PipeWire marks these properties as experimental. They haven't been tested on real LE Audio hardware yet. If you try them, please open an issue saying which preset and settings worked, and attach the output of ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage capture-fixture <some folder> (it removes user names, host names and Bluetooth addresses).

Tested

The window draws and doctor runs on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 and 24.04, Debian 11 and 12, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch Linux (X11), plus Arch on Wayland.

If something goes wrong, ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage doctor reports what it can see. Crash reports go to ~/.local/state/ratewise/.

Ratewise 0.1.3

Ratewise has a redesigned window. Nothing about what it reads or writes has changed.

Install

chmod +x Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage

Runs on x86_64 with glibc 2.28 or newer (RHEL 8, Debian 10, Ubuntu 20.04 onward). It doesn't need libfuse2. Check the download against Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage.sha256.

New look

• Overview: the rate, bit depth and channels a device is running at, in large type, with the period and buffer latency underneath. Supported sample rates are shown as a grid, with the 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz families side by side by multiple, and the rate in use is marked.
• Sidebar: an icon for each kind of device (USB, HDMI, built-in, Bluetooth, microphone), and the running rate in green while something is playing.
• Settings are grouped into sections, and every option that can't be picked still explains why when you hover it.
• Buffer size: a new slider with a stop at each power of two from 32 to 8192 frames. It shows the latency per cycle, and the arrow keys move it.
• Reviewing a change: the plan is laid out step by step, and file changes are coloured line by line.
• Bottom bar: quiet when nothing is pending; shows how many changes are waiting and the Apply buttons when something is.
• Light and dark themes both follow the system, or switch with the button at the bottom of the sidebar.

Bluetooth support from 0.1.2 is still untested on real hardware. If you try it, please say whether it worked in an issue, and attach the output of ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage capture-fixture <some folder> (it removes user names, host names and Bluetooth addresses).

Tested

The window draws and doctor runs on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 and 24.04, Debian 11 and 12, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch Linux (X11), plus Arch on Wayland.

If something goes wrong, ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage doctor reports what it can see. Crash reports go to ~/.local/state/ratewise/.

Ratewise 0.1.2

Ratewise now works with Bluetooth headphones and headsets on PipeWire.

This Bluetooth support hasn't been tested on real hardware yet. If you try it, please say whether it worked in an issue, and attach the output of ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage capture-fixture <some folder> (it removes user names, host names and Bluetooth addresses).

Install

chmod +x Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage

Runs on x86_64 with glibc 2.28 or newer (RHEL 8, Debian 10, Ubuntu 20.04 onward). It doesn't need libfuse2. Check the download against Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage.sha256.

New: Bluetooth

Pick a Bluetooth device in the sidebar and open its Bluetooth tab:

• Mode: high quality for music and video, or headset, which turns the microphone on but drops sound to phone-call quality.
• Codec: LDAC, aptX, AAC, SBC and so on. Only codecs that both the device and your computer support are offered.
• LDAC quality: 990, 660 or 330 kbps, or adaptive. It's only shown for devices that offer LDAC, and applies the next time the device connects.
• Switch headsets for calls: whether WirePlumber switches the headset to headset mode when a program opens its microphone.

Mode and codec changes apply straight away, and WirePlumber remembers them for each device. A device that's switched off is still listed, so you can turn it back on.

The same settings are on the command line:

./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage set profile headset --device headphones
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage set profile ldac --device headphones
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage set headset-autoswitch off --save
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage set ldac-quality hq --device headphones --save

ratewise show <device> lists every profile the device offers. Works with WirePlumber 0.4 and 0.5. On systems running PulseAudio without PipeWire, Bluetooth devices are shown but can't be changed.

Tested

The window draws and doctor runs on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 and 24.04, Debian 11 and 12, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch Linux (X11), plus Arch on Wayland. The Bluetooth code is tested against hand-written PipeWire 1.2 and 0.3 data, but not yet on a real device.

If something goes wrong, ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage doctor reports what it can see. Crash reports go to ~/.local/state/ratewise/.

Ratewise 0.1.1

Ratewise now opens on more Linux systems. 0.1.0 could fail to start on minimal installs, so please use this version instead.

Install

chmod +x Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage

Runs on x86_64 with glibc 2.28 or newer (RHEL 8, Debian 10, Ubuntu 20.04 onward). It doesn't need libfuse2. Check the download against Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage.sha256.

Fixes

• Systems with no fonts: the window used to crash when fontconfig found no fonts, as in minimal containers. It now uses the built-in Inter font.
• Keyboard library crash: on systems that had only one of libxkbcommon and libxkbcommon-x11, mixing the bundled copy with the system's other one crashed the window. The AppImage now bundles both together.
• OpenGL failures: when OpenGL can't start (seen on openSUSE), the window now restarts with the software renderer instead of exiting.

Tested

Every build is now checked automatically: the window draws and doctor runs on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 and 24.04, Debian 11 and 12, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch Linux (X11), plus Arch on Wayland. Each build is also tested with every bundled library swapped in one at a time. 0.1.0 was also checked on CachyOS with real hardware.

If something goes wrong, ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage doctor reports what it can see. Crash reports go to ~/.local/state/ratewise/.

Ratewise 0.1.0

First release of Ratewise: view and set Linux sound-card sample rates, formats and buffer sizes for PipeWire (WirePlumber 0.4 or 0.5), PulseAudio or plain ALSA. It's a window and a command line in one AppImage.

Install

chmod +x Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage
./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage

Runs on x86_64 with glibc 2.28 or newer (RHEL 8, Debian 10, Ubuntu 20.04 onward). It doesn't need libfuse2. Check the download against Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage.sha256.

What's in it

• Window: devices grouped as outputs and inputs, each showing what it's running now, what it's configured to, and which rates and formats it supports. Change rate, format, buffer size (quantum), period size, headroom, idle suspend and resampler quality, per device or globally. Options a device can't take are greyed out and say why.
• Safe changes: everything is shown as a plan with file diffs first, backed up, and undone with "Revert last change". Ratewise only writes your own config files and never needs root.
• Command line: list, show, set, plan, revert, reset, doctor, capture-fixture. --help has the details.
• Light and dark themes, the Inter font built in, and a software-rendering fallback (RATEWISE_RENDERER=software).

Pre-release

Tested so far: WSL Ubuntu 24.04 (X11 and headless Wayland, with host libraries and with every bundled library) and CachyOS on real hardware. The launch matrix across other distros (spec §6.4) hasn't run yet because it needs Docker.

If something goes wrong, ./Ratewise-x86_64.AppImage doctor reports what it can see. Crash reports go to ~/.local/state/ratewise/.