I have not required a audio server in years, and i have not adopted PA. What i did was enable dmix, that comes with Alsa.
A behavior that is even default Alsa these days if it detect that you use sound hardware without mixing.
The one "issue" that PA "fixed" was that of temporary audio devices (bluetooth, USB). But then i find the whole notion of USB headphones (a pair of headphones soldered to a minimal USB sound card) a massive abomination. and i fail to see why paired Bluetooth audio devices are exposed directly into the /dev tree rather than behind the Bluetooth dongle device.
A behavior that is even default Alsa these days if it detect that you use sound hardware without mixing.
The one "issue" that PA "fixed" was that of temporary audio devices (bluetooth, USB). But then i find the whole notion of USB headphones (a pair of headphones soldered to a minimal USB sound card) a massive abomination. and i fail to see why paired Bluetooth audio devices are exposed directly into the /dev tree rather than behind the Bluetooth dongle device.