diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cdf24a8..38355ee 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,27 +1,28 @@
+
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.21)
 project(metabolus LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 
-find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets Multimedia)
+find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets)
+find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
+pkg_check_modules(RTAUDIO REQUIRED rtaudio)
 
 qt_standard_project_setup()
 
-qt_add_executable(metabolus
+add_executable(metabolus
     src/main.cpp
     src/MainWindow.cpp
     src/MainWindow.h
     src/MainWindow.ui
-    src/synth/AudioStream.cpp
-    src/synth/AudioStream.h
+    src/synth/AudioEngine.cpp
+    src/synth/AudioEngine.h
     src/synth/Synth.cpp
     src/synth/Synth.h
     resources/resources.qrc
 )
 
-target_link_libraries(metabolus
-    PRIVATE 
-        Qt6::Widgets
-        Qt6::Multimedia
-)
\ No newline at end of file
+target_include_directories(metabolus PRIVATE ${RTAUDIO_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+target_link_libraries(metabolus PRIVATE Qt6::Widgets ${RTAUDIO_LIBRARIES})
+target_compile_options(metabolus PRIVATE ${RTAUDIO_CFLAGS_OTHER})
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.cpp b/src/MainWindow.cpp
index 4e5fdeb..2639a5c 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -21,11 +21,8 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) : QMainWindow(parent), ui(new Ui::MainWi
     connect(ui->inputValue, &QLineEdit::editingFinished, this, &MainWindow::onValueChanged);
 
     // synth business
-    synth_ = new Synth(this);
-    audioStream_ = new AudioStream(synth_, this);
-
-    audioStream_->start();
-    synth_->audioSink()->start(audioStream_); 
+    audio_ = new AudioEngine();
+    audio_->start();
 
 }
 
@@ -52,7 +49,7 @@ void MainWindow::onSliderValueChanged(int value) {
     QSignalBlocker blocker(ui->inputValue);
     ui->inputValue->setText(QString::number(value));
 
-    synth_->setFrequency(static_cast<float>(value));
+    audio_->setFrequency(static_cast<float>(value));
 }
 
 // allows only values within the min, max to be set by the text field
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.h b/src/MainWindow.h
index 7534a14..dae69c1 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.h
+++ b/src/MainWindow.h
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 
 #include <QMainWindow>
 
-#include "synth/Synth.h"
-#include "synth/AudioStream.h"
+#include "synth/AudioEngine.h"
 
 QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 namespace Ui {
@@ -42,7 +41,6 @@ private:
     void applySliderStep();
     void syncValueToUi(int value);
 
-    Synth *synth_ = nullptr;
-    AudioStream *audioStream_ = nullptr;
+    AudioEngine* audio_ = nullptr;
 
 };
diff --git a/src/synth/AudioStream.cpp b/src/synth/AudioStream.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index e8dd5da..0000000
--- a/src/synth/AudioStream.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-
-#include "AudioStream.h"
-
-#include <iostream>
-
-AudioStream::AudioStream(Synth *synth, QObject *parent) : QIODevice(parent), synth_(synth) {
-
-}
-
-void AudioStream::start() {
-
-    // std::cout << "AudioStream::start()" << std::endl;
-    open(QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-}
-
-void AudioStream::stop() {
-
-    close();
-}
-
-qint64 AudioStream::readData(char *data, qint64 maxlen) {
-
-    // std::cout << "sample out " << std::endl;
-    QByteArray samples = synth_->generateSamples(maxlen);
-    memcpy(data, samples.constData(), samples.size());
-    return samples.size();
-}
diff --git a/src/synth/AudioStream.h b/src/synth/AudioStream.h
deleted file mode 100644
index ffd4242..0000000
--- a/src/synth/AudioStream.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-
-#pragma once
-
-#include <QIODevice>
-#include "Synth.h"
-
-class AudioStream : public QIODevice
-{
-    Q_OBJECT
-
-public:
-    explicit AudioStream(Synth *synth, QObject *parent = nullptr);
-
-    void start();
-    void stop();
-
-protected:
-    qint64 readData(char *data, qint64 maxlen) override;
-    qint64 writeData(const char *, qint64) override { return 0; }
-
-private:
-    Synth *synth_;
-};
diff --git a/src/synth/Synth.cpp b/src/synth/Synth.cpp
index e6f865d..b946eac 100644
--- a/src/synth/Synth.cpp
+++ b/src/synth/Synth.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 
+/*
+
 #include "Synth.h"
 
 #include <QMediaDevices>
@@ -28,13 +30,12 @@ Synth::~Synth() {
 
 void Synth::start() {
 
-    /*
     // std::cout << "Synth::start()" << std::endl;
-    if (audioSink_->state() == QAudio::ActiveState)
-        return;
+    // if (audioSink_->state() == QAudio::ActiveState)
+    //     return;
 
-    audioDevice_ = audioSink_->start();
-    */
+    // audioDevice_ = audioSink_->start();
+    
 }
 
 void Synth::stop() {
@@ -109,4 +110,6 @@ void Synth::applyConfig(const AudioConfig& config) {
     audioSink_ = new QAudioSink(device, format_, this);
 
     audioSink_->setBufferSize(config.bufferSize);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+*/
diff --git a/src/synth/Synth.h b/src/synth/Synth.h
index 1440bae..c8b742e 100644
--- a/src/synth/Synth.h
+++ b/src/synth/Synth.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+/*
+
 #include <QObject>
 #include <QAudioFormat>
 #include <QAudioSink>
@@ -45,4 +47,6 @@ private:
     float phase_ = 0.0f;
 
     float freq = 400.0f;
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+};
+
+*/