> That said, I've had daily issues with it, from it slowing video playback (weirdly, by about 10 seconds over 20 minutes or so, only noticable when watching something synchronized with someone else), over crackling noises with speakers when no audio is playing, to straight up lags and skips every few seconds with certain devices.
How is that "better than pulse ever did"? The only issue I had with PulseAudio on several machines in last decade or so was Bluetooth A2DP connection being very capricious.
I have recently switched to PipeWire and it actually improved Bluetooth, but I had to disable Wireplumber's libcamera backend because it made it regularly eat 100% of RAM. No complaints after doing that. Crackling noises or desynchronized video playback would instantly take it into "unacceptable" territory.
Sounds like you have severe issues with both PA and PW. Maybe your hardware is the problem?
How is that "better than pulse ever did"? The only issue I had with PulseAudio on several machines in last decade or so was Bluetooth A2DP connection being very capricious.
I have recently switched to PipeWire and it actually improved Bluetooth, but I had to disable Wireplumber's libcamera backend because it made it regularly eat 100% of RAM. No complaints after doing that. Crackling noises or desynchronized video playback would instantly take it into "unacceptable" territory.
Sounds like you have severe issues with both PA and PW. Maybe your hardware is the problem?