Mcaster1AudioPipe Development Roadmap

Virtual Audio Routing Application & Driver — Enterprise Broadcast-Grade Audio Piping

Overall Progress

6 Complete

0 In Progress

0 Planned

6 / 6 phases complete — v1.0.0

Mcaster1 Broadcast Ecosystem

Mcaster1AMP (Media Player) | Selects AudioPipe device as output | Sends track metadata via IPC v Mcaster1AudioPipe (This Project) | Zero-latency ring buffer routing | Named pipes with visual patch bay | Combined/aggregate capture devices v Mcaster1DSPEncoder (Broadcast Encoder) | Captures audio from pipe input device | Receives metadata for ICY stream info | Encodes MP3/AAC/Opus v Mcaster1DNAS / Icecast2 / RTMP | Streaming server distribution v Listeners & Viewers

AP1

Qt6 Application + Device Enumeration v0.1.0 Complete

Qt6 app launches with enterprise styling, discovers system audio devices, displays pipe list view.

Checklist

✓ CMake build system with Qt6 Widgets, SVG, Core modules
✓ MainWindow with menu bar, toolbar, and status bar
✓ Enterprise color palette (nickel, chrome, light blue, tan)
✓ Custom Qt stylesheet (QSS) for professional appearance
✓ PipeListWidget — scrollable list of named pipes (mock data initially)
✓ Create Pipe dialog (name, sample rate, channels)
✓ CoreAudio device enumeration (macOS) — list all input/output devices
✓ Device list display with capabilities (sample rates, channels)
✓ Hot-plug detection — USB device connect/disconnect updates list
✓ Configuration file (JSON) — save/load pipe definitions
✓ Application icon and window title
✓ System tray integration (macOS menu bar)

Key Files

CMakeLists.txt
src/app/main.cpp
src/app/MainWindow.cpp
src/app/MainWindow.h
src/app/PipeListWidget.cpp
src/app/PipeListWidget.h
src/app/StyleManager.cpp
src/app/StyleManager.h
src/audio/DeviceEnumerator.cpp
src/audio/DeviceEnumerator.h
src/app/resources/style.qss

Verification

App launches → shows enterprise-styled window → lists system audio devices → create/delete pipes in list → config persists across restart

Effort

3–4 sessions

AP2

HAL Driver Rework + IPC v0.2.0 Complete

Reworked CoreAudio HAL driver with dynamic named pipes controlled via IPC from the Qt6 GUI.

Checklist

✓ Refactor HAL plugin for dynamic device creation/destruction
✓ Multiple named pipe devices (up to 16)
✓ Per-pipe custom device name and UID
✓ Per-pipe sample rate configuration (44.1k, 48k, 96k)
✓ Per-pipe channel count (mono, stereo)
✓ IPC layer — CFMessagePort for GUI ↔ driver communication
✓ CreatePipe IPC command (name, sample rate, channels) → device appears
✓ DestroyPipe IPC command → device removed
✓ GetStatus / ListPipes / SetVolume / SetMute IPC commands
✓ SIP-aware install script (copy + no reboot required, no launchctl kickstart)
✓ Per-pipe volume and mute controls (output and input)
✓ GUI integration — create pipe in list → IPC → device appears in system
✓ Clean uninstall script (no reboot required)

Key Files

src/driver/macos/Mcaster1AudioPipe.c
src/driver/macos/pipe_device.h
src/driver/macos/pipe_device.c
src/driver/macos/pipe_ipc_server.h
src/driver/macos/pipe_ipc_server.c
src/driver/macos/ring_buffer.h
src/driver/macos/Info.plist
src/ipc/PipeIPC.h
src/ipc/PipeController.cpp
src/ipc/PipeController.h
scripts/install.sh
scripts/uninstall.sh

Verification

Install driver → no reboot required → create pipe from GUI → device appears in Audio MIDI Setup → delete pipe → device removed → Mcaster1AMP can select pipe as output

Effort

3–5 sessions

AP3

Audio Engine + Zero-Latency Routing v0.3.0 Complete

Audio flows through pipes with zero-latency ring buffers. Metering, metadata pass-through, monitor output, driver management GUI.

Checklist

✓ Lock-free SPSC ring buffer — cache-line aligned for ARM64
✓ Cache-line aligned buffer (128B for Apple Silicon false-sharing prevention)
✓ Optimized memcpy-based ring buffer read/write (contiguous chunks)
✓ Channel mapping (mono ↔ stereo) via pipe_rb_write_convert / pipe_rb_read_convert
✓ Per-pipe volume/gain control (output + input, applied in IO path)
✓ Per-pipe mute control (output + input)
✓ Metadata IPC channel — SET_META / GET_META for title/artist/album
✓ Real-time signal level metering (peak + RMS with exponential decay)
✓ Buffer underrun/overrun detection via atomic counters
✓ GUI LevelMeterWidget — inline peak+RMS bars per pipe
✓ 100ms status polling timer for real-time meter updates
✓ Monitor output toggle — optional pipe audio to real device
✓ Live sample rate switching via IPC (SET_RATE)
✓ Audio Driver Management panel — install/uninstall from GUI
✓ HAL plugin directory listing with bundle ID + version
✓ System audio services display (coreaudiod, kexts, launchd)
✓ Restart CoreAudio button with admin privileges

Key Files

src/driver/macos/ring_buffer.h
src/driver/macos/pipe_device.h
src/driver/macos/pipe_device.c
src/driver/macos/pipe_ipc_server.c
src/driver/macos/Mcaster1AudioPipe.c
src/ipc/PipeIPC.h
src/ipc/PipeController.cpp
src/ipc/PipeController.h
src/app/LevelMeterWidget.cpp
src/app/LevelMeterWidget.h
src/app/AudioDriverManager.cpp
src/app/AudioDriverManager.h
src/app/MainWindow.cpp

Verification

Play audio in AMP → select pipe output → DSP Encoder captures from pipe → audio is clean, zero glitches → metadata appears in encoder → latency < 1ms at 48kHz

Effort

4–6 sessions

AP4

Patch Bay — Interactive Visual Routing v0.4.0 Complete

3D-styled interactive patch bay where users drag virtual audio cables between devices to create routing configurations.

Checklist

✓ PatchBayWidget — QGraphicsView-based interactive canvas
✓ DeviceNode — 3D-styled device panels with metallic/brushed gradient finish
✓ Input/output port indicators with glow effects when active
✓ CableItem — draggable virtual cables with Bézier curves
✓ Cable physics — natural droop/sag (configurable kSagFactor)
✓ Drag-and-drop: click output port → drag cable → drop on input port
✓ Cable snap-to-port with visual highlight feedback
✓ Right-click cable to disconnect (context menu)
✓ Real-time signal flow animation along cables (moving dots at 30 FPS)
✓ Auto-layout algorithm (3-column: inputs | pipes | outputs)
✓ Zoom (scroll wheel with clamping 0.15x-5x)
✓ Pan (middle-click or Alt+click drag)
✓ Fit All button — zooms to show all nodes
✓ Color-coded cables (8-color rotating palette)
✓ Tab integration with main window (toolbar shortcut)
✓ Node movable with cursor feedback (open/closed hand)
✓ Drop shadow on device nodes
✓ Cable shadow + sheen highlight for 3D appearance
✓ System devices auto-populated from DeviceEnumerator
✓ Pipe devices populated from driver IPC

Key Files

src/app/PatchBayWidget.cpp
src/app/PatchBayWidget.h
src/app/DeviceNode.cpp
src/app/DeviceNode.h
src/app/CableItem.cpp
src/app/CableItem.h
src/app/PortItem.cpp
src/app/PortItem.h

Verification

Open patch bay → see all devices as 3D nodes → drag cable from AMP output to pipe input → cable snaps → audio flows → disconnect cable → routing stops → combine 2 sources into 1 pipe

Effort

5–7 sessions

AP5

Enterprise Polish + SVG Assets v0.5.0 Complete

SVG icons, preferences, shortcuts, security hardening, driver management tabs, service context menus, patch bay auto-rebuild.

Checklist

✓ Complete SVG icon set (40+ icons) — devices, controls, status
✓ High-DPI / Retina support for all icons and graphics
✓ Real-time peak + RMS level meters in pipe list
✓ Animated signal flow in patch bay cables
✓ Clipping indicators with visual warning
✓ Refined enterprise theme — final color calibration
✓ Keyboard shortcuts for all common operations
✓ Accessibility: screen reader labels, keyboard navigation
✓ About dialog with version, license, credits
✓ Preferences dialog (buffer size, launch at login, theme)
✓ Device connect/disconnect notifications
✓ Error handling — graceful recovery from device failures
✓ Performance profiling and optimization pass
✓ Security hardening (SAST audit, IPC validation, atomic types, compiler flags)
✓ Driver management tabbed UI (Installed Drivers + Audio Services tabs)
✓ Right-click context menus on audio services (Stop/Start/Restart)
✓ Patch bay auto-rebuild after driver install/uninstall
✓ 26/26 offline driver unit tests

Key Files

src/app/resources/icons/*.svg
src/app/resources/style.qss
src/app/LevelMeter.cpp
src/app/LevelMeter.h
src/app/PreferencesDialog.cpp
src/app/AboutDialog.cpp

Verification

All icons render crisp at 2x → meters animate smoothly → cables glow with signal → theme looks professional on 4K display → keyboard-only navigation works

Effort

3–5 sessions

AP6

Packaging & Distribution v1.0.0 Complete

Universal binary build, DMG packaging, code signing, GitHub Actions CI, and Windows/Linux platform stubs.

Checklist

✓ macOS .dmg distribution image via CPack DragNDrop
✓ macdeployqt — self-contained app bundle, no Homebrew dependency at runtime
✓ Ad-hoc and Developer ID code signing (deep sign app + driver)
✓ Universal binary build (arm64 + x86_64) — one driver for Apple Silicon and Intel
✓ Architecture detection in CMake — native host arch for dev, MACOS_UNIVERSAL=ON for release
✓ Architecture validation in install.sh — lipo -archs check before install, clear error on mismatch
✓ GitHub Actions CI — macos-14 (Apple Silicon ARM64) + macos-13 (Intel x86_64)
✓ Branch naming convention: master, macos-dev, windows-dev, linux-dev
✓ GPL-2.0-or-later license, README badges, and project documentation
✓ CPack configured for Windows NSIS and Linux DEB+RPM (driver pending)
✓ Windows IPC stub (PipeController_win.cpp) and device enumeration (DeviceEnumerator_win.cpp)
✓ Notarization instructions documented for App Store-independent distribution

Key Files

CMakeLists.txt (MACOS_UNIVERSAL option)
scripts/install.sh (arch detection)
scripts/uninstall.sh
scripts/package-macos.sh (universal DMG)
.github/workflows/build.yml
src/ipc/PipeController_win.cpp
src/audio/DeviceEnumerator_win.cpp
LICENSE

Verification

cmake -B build -DMACOS_UNIVERSAL=ON → make package → universal DMG produced → lipo -archs shows arm64 x86_64 → install.sh validates arch before install → 26/26 driver tests pass → CI green on ARM64 + Intel runners

Status

Complete — v1.0.0

Mcaster1AMP & DSP Encoder Integration Points

Mcaster1AMP (Media Player) Integration

AMP uses CoreAudio/Qt multimedia for audio output device selection
AudioPipe devices appear in AMP's output device dropdown automatically
AMP publishes track metadata (title, artist, album) via IPC
Multiple AMP instances can output to different pipes simultaneously
AMP detects pipe device availability and shows connection status

Mcaster1DSPEncoder (Broadcast Encoder) Integration

Encoder uses CoreAudio input device selection to capture from pipes
AudioPipe devices appear in Encoder's input source dropdown
Encoder reads metadata from pipe's IPC metadata channel
Metadata used for ICY stream info (Icecast/DNAS/RTMP)
Encoder supports combined/aggregate pipe devices (multiple sources)
Sample rate negotiation between pipe and encoder

Future: Video Capture & Beyond

Virtual Desktop / Monitor Driver

Virtual display output for video capture — combined audio+video pipeline for live streaming to YouTube, Twitch, and RTMP targets.

Windows WDM Virtual Audio Driver

Native Windows virtual audio cable using WDM kernel-mode driver with ASIO compatibility for professional audio interfaces.

Linux PipeWire Native Module

PipeWire virtual device module for seamless Linux audio routing without PulseAudio null-sink workarounds.

Advanced Routing Matrix

Per-channel routing matrix, inline DSP processing (EQ, dynamics), and network audio (AES67/Dante) support.

Multi-Channel (5.1 / 7.1)

Surround sound channel layouts for broadcast and production workflows requiring more than stereo routing.

RTMP / YouTube / Twitch Integration

Direct streaming output with combined audio+video from virtual pipes and virtual display capture.