[Bredin]

Okey, what do one need to get the best sound out of linux?

Tickless kernel?
Jack Audio?
Audio-drivers compiled into the kernel instead of being modules?
Lightweight UI?

 

[vhaarr]

To get playback you don't need any of the above.

Those things are mostly for music authoring, where low latency is a must. For playback quality it makes no difference if the audio arrives after 2.0ms or 300ms after you press "Play" in your music player.

I use a standard setup of
Quod Libet (player) > gstreamer > pulseaudio > USB out > External DAC+Amp > Headset.

But anything is fine.