JACK Audio Connection Kit

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JACK Audio Connection Kit

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Basic data

developer Paul Davis , Stéphane Letz
Current  version 1.9.12
(December 13, 2017)
operating system Linux , Unix , Windows , macOS , iOS
programming language C ++ , C
category Sound server
License LGPL (library only) and GPL-2
German speaking No
jackaudio.org
Screenshot of the control program qjackctl for managing the audio routes

JACK Audio Connection Kit or JACK is a daemon or software interface for audio computer programs under Unix-like systems . The name is a recursive acronym .

Task and functionality

The JACK daemon manages the inputs and outputs of audio programs (e.g. sequencer , software synthesizer ) and audio hardware (e.g. microphone input, audio output to loudspeaker ) and routes the audio signals between them. In this way, the individual elements of the computer-aided recording studio can be intuitively connected to one another like in a conventional studio.

The JACK server synchronizes the clients by calling callback functions at fixed times that read or write a block of audio data.

With programs that are not specially programmed for use with JACK, it is also possible to use software for ALSA or OSS under Jack using virtual adapters . Incompatible or old programs can be used with JACK.

A special feature of JACK is its low latency . A modern computer and possibly a modified Linux kernel that has Ingo Molnár's and Thomas Gleixner's real-time patch is required to fully utilize this .

With Qjackctl and Patchage there are user-friendly Qt / GTK -based interfaces for setting up and handling JACK. The program also manages the MIDI routing under ALSA.

JACK works with ALSA , PortAudio , FFADO / FreeBob and OSS as a backend and is available for all POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as GNU / Linux , macOS and * BSD . The Jack Library is freely available under the LGPL , the rest is under the GPL .

In addition to the classic Jack1, the Jack2 / jackdmp variant has been gaining ground since 2010. Jack2 also supports every program built for Jack1 at runtime, but is especially optimized for modern multiprocessor computers.

JACK compatible programs

  • qjackctl, a Qt -based control program for JACK
  • Ardor , a digital audio workstation
  • SuperCollider , a real-time programming language
  • XMMS , a media player, with xmms-jack plug-in for JACK
  • Rosegarden , a sequencer
  • Hydrogen , a drum pattern sequencer
  • Aeolus , a pipe organ synthesizer
  • ZynAddSubFX , a virtual additive / subtractive synthesizer
  • Yoshimi, a variant of the ZynAddSubFX synthesizer with improved JACK support
  • Specimen, a simple sampler software.
  • CALF-Jackhost, a software with which some software synthesizers and effects in LV2 format can be operated with JACK.
  • JACK Rack, a virtual effects rack
  • JAMin, a tool for mastering audio recordings
  • Non, a digital audio workstation
  • Pure Data , a graphical data stream-oriented programming language
  • energyXT2 , a commercial sequencer and modular studio
  • Renoise , a raster sequencer ( tracker )

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jack2 releases (English)
  2. ↑ a b Qjackctl
  3. ↑ Patchage
  4. ↑ xmms-jack plug-in for JACK
  5. ↑ JACK rack
  6. ↑ JAMin
  7. ↑ Non
  8. ↑ energyXT2