libcubeb is a cross-platform C library for high and low-latency audio input/output. It provides a simple, consistent API for audio playback and recording across multiple platforms and audio backends. It is written in C, C++ and Rust, with a C ABI and Rust bindings. While originally written for use in the Firefox Web browser, a number of other software projects have adopted it.
- Cross-platform support: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and other platforms
- Versatile: Optimized for low-latency real-time audio applications, or power efficient higher latency playback
- A/V sync: Latency compensated audio clock reporting for easy audio/video synchronization
- Full-duplex support: Simultaneous audio input and output, reclocked
- Device enumeration: Query available audio devices
- Audio processing for speech: Can use VoiceProcessing IO on recent macOS
| Backend | Support Level | Platform version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PulseAudio (Rust) | Tier-1 | Main Linux desktop backend | |
| AudioUnit (Rust) | Tier-1 | Main macOS backend | |
| WASAPI | Tier-1 | Windows >= 7 | Main Windows backend |
| AAudio | Tier-1 | Android >= 8 | Main Android backend for most devices |
| OpenSL | Tier-1 | Android >= 2.3 | Android backend for older devices |
| OSS | Tier-2 | ||
| sndio | Tier-2 | ||
| Sun | Tier-2 | ||
| WinMM | Tier-3 | Windows XP | Was Tier-1, Firefox minimum Windows version 7. |
| AudioTrack | Tier-3 | Android < 2.3 | Was Tier-1, Firefox minimum Android version 4.1. |
| ALSA | Tier-3 | ||
| JACK | Tier-3 | ||
| KAI | Tier-3 | ||
| PulseAudio (C) | Tier-4 | Was Tier-1, superseded by Rust | |
| AudioUnit (C++) | Tier-4 | Was Tier-1, superseded by Rust |
Tier-1: Actively maintained. Should have CI coverage. Critical for Firefox.
Tier-2: Actively maintained by contributors. CI coverage appreciated.
Tier-3: Maintainers/patches accepted. Status unclear.
Tier-4: Deprecated, obsolete. Scheduled to be removed.
Note that the support level is not a judgement of the relative merits of a backend, only the current state of support, which is informed by Firefox's needs, the responsiveness of a backend's maintainer, and the level of contributions to that backend.
- CMake 3.15 or later
- Non-ancient MSVC, clang or gcc, for compiling both C and C++
- Platform-specific audio libraries (automatically detected)
- Optional but recommended: Rust compiler to compile and link more recent backends for macOS and PulseAudio
git clone https://github.com/mozilla/cubeb.git
cd cubeb
cmake -B build
cmake --build buildgit clone --recursive https://github.com/mozilla/cubeb.git
cd cubeb
cmake -B build -DBUILD_RUST_LIBS=ON
cmake --build buildWindows: Supports Visual Studio 2015+ and MinGW-w64. Use -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" or -G "MinGW Makefiles".
macOS: Requires Xcode command line tools. Audio frameworks are automatically linked.
Linux: Development packages for desired backends:
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install libpulse-dev libasound2-dev libjack-dev
# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install pulseaudio-libs-devel alsa-lib-devel jack-audio-connection-kit-develAndroid: Use with Android NDK. AAudio requires API level 26+.
Run the test suite:
cd build
ctestUse the interactive test tool:
./cubeb-testLicensed under an ISC-style license. See LICENSE for details.
Contributions are welcome! Please see the contribution guidelines and check the issue tracker.