Some of my programs simlpy > use pulseaudio sink and I have no option to say "use this special mpd > player". > > Not sure to fully understand your set up, but what about playing with ports? Say user1 ===> mpd conf1 on port 6600 user2 ===> mpd conf2 port 6601 etc Then, in ~/ncmpcpp , play with this line mpd_port = "6600"