# Install ecasound with Homebrew, apk, apt, Nix, pacman Multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor. Version 2.9.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:ecasound ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install ecasound ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add ecasound ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: ecasound from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install ecasound ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: ecasound from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#ecasound ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ec/ecasound/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S ecasound ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: ecasound from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:ecasound - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.9.3 - **Source summary:** Multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - ecaconvert (cli) - ecafixdc (cli) - ecalength (cli) - ecamonitor (cli) - ecanormalize (cli) - ecaplay (cli) - ecasignalview (cli) - ecasound (cli) - libecasound-config (cli) - libecasoundc-config (cli) - ecaconvert (alias) - ecafixdc (alias) - ecalength (alias) - ecamonitor (alias) - ecanormalize (alias) - ecaplay (alias) - ecasignalview (alias) - ecasound (alias) - libecasound-config (alias) - libecasoundc-config (alias) ## Dependencies - jack - libsamplerate - libsndfile ## Uses from macOS - ncurses ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.9.3 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://nosignal.fi/ecasound/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Ecasound is a long-running command-line audio processing package for playback, recording, format conversion, multitrack effects, mixing, and signal routing. It is one of the older Unix-style audio tools whose appeal comes from scriptability and composable command-line processing rather than a graphical workstation interface. ### Project history The official site states that Ecasound is designed for multitrack audio processing and includes a versatile console-mode user interface. The project page is copyrighted 1999-2020 by Kai Vehmanen, and the news archive marks June 30, 1999 as the date of the first public release, version 1.1.4r1. Across the 2000s and 2010s, release notes show the project accumulating Unix audio integrations and operational polish: JACK-related fixes, LADSPA and LV2 plugin support, FLAC and sndfile work, Open Sound Control support, Python interface changes, and portability fixes for systems such as macOS and Cygwin. The release advertised on the official home page is 2.9.3, released January 11, 2020. The official changelog points readers to release notes, the NEWS file, and the SourceForge gitweb source browser for detailed history. ### Adoption history Ecasound's adoption is rooted in Linux and Unix audio culture. The official site names GNU/Linux as the primary platform and also mentions FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris, and limited Windows support through Cygwin. Package metadata shows it is available across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine, Arch, and Nix, matching its role as a command-line audio utility that is often installed from an operating-system package manager rather than embedded as an application dependency. ### How it is used Ecasound is commonly used as a CLI engine for audio chains: users define inputs, outputs, chain operators, effects, controllers, and routing, then run or script processing from a shell. The documentation page points new users to examples, tutorials, the user guide, man pages, and programmer/API material. The package also exposes helper tools such as ecaconvert, ecaplay, ecanormalize, ecalength, ecamonitor, and ecasignalview, which makes the Homebrew formula feel like a small Unix audio toolbox rather than a single executable. ### Why package nerds care Ecasound matters to package nerds because it preserves an old-school audio-processing model: GPL source releases, man pages, per-user rc files, plugin backends, shell automation, and a suite of small utilities. It is a useful contrast to GUI DAWs and newer plugin-host ecosystems. Its packaging also captures dependency surface that audio users care about: JACK, LADSPA/LV2-era effects, sndfile/FLAC support, scripting interfaces, and cross-Unix build portability. ### Timeline - 1999: First public Ecasound release, 1.1.4r1. - 2007: Ecasound 2.4.6 adds support for a custom configuration resource file. - 2009: Project marks ten years since the first public release. - 2012: Ecasound 2.9.0 released with LV2 support. - 2020: Ecasound 2.9.3 released with Python 3 support and maintenance fixes. ### Related projects - The Ecasound documentation and news archive place it near JACK, ALSA, LADSPA, LV2, libsndfile, FLAC, OSC, and scripting interfaces such as ECI. - The official news archive also mentions related front ends and tools such as TkEca and ecawave in the broader Ecasound ecosystem. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: {prefix}/share/ecasound/ecasoundrc, ~/.ecasound/ecasoundrc ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** ecasound - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - ecasound - 2.9.3-4+b5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ecasound from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - ecasound-doc - 2.9.3-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ecasound-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | documentation files for Ecasound | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - ecasound-el - 2.9.3-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ecasound-el from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (emacs) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - ecatools - 2.9.3-4+b5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ecatools from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (tools) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - libecasoundc-dev - 2.9.3-4+b5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libecasoundc-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (C dev library) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - libecasoundc1v5 - 2.9.3-4+b5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libecasoundc1v5 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (C library) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - python3-ecasound - 2.9.3-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: python3-ecasound from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (Python bindings) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Debian apt - ruby-ecasound - 2.9.3-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ruby-ecasound from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (ruby bindings) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Nix - ecasound: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ec/ecasound/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - ecasound - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: ecasound from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Ubuntu apt - ecasound-doc - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: ecasound-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | documentation files for Ecasound | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Ubuntu apt - ecasound-el - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: ecasound-el from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (emacs) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Ubuntu apt - ecatools - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: ecatools from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (tools) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Ubuntu apt - libecasoundc-dev - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libecasoundc-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (C dev library) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Ubuntu apt - libecasoundc1v5 - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libecasoundc1v5 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (C library) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ - Ubuntu apt - python3-ecasound - 2.9.3-4build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: python3-ecasound from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | multitrack-capable audio recorder and effect processor (Python bindings) | https://www.eca.cx/ecasound/ ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Media and graphics packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/media-graphics-tools/) - Matched media, image, audio, video, or graphics metadata. - [jack](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jack/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libsndfile](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libsndfile/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [carla](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/carla/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, jack, media. - [qjackctl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/qjackctl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, jack, media. - [streamripper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/streamripper/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media, recording. - [abcde](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abcde/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media. - [adplay](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/adplay/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media. - [adplug](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/adplug/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media. - [aften](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aften/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media. - [alsa-lib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/alsa-lib/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media. - [csound](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/csound/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: audio, cli, jack, libsamplerate, libsndfile. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/ecasound.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/ecasound.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph