Want to learn the nuts-and-bolts of Audio in Linux..., before I pull the rest of my hair out.

I'm hugely fed-up with audio playback in Linux, but I realize that the only way to improve it is to learn enough to do it all.

Alsa, pulseaudio, equalizers, adding presets,...all this stuff right now just confuses me.

I can read and understand the details of the tech stuff, but I don't really get it - when I search for sites to learn more, I get overwhelmed, (so what else is new?) and am having trouble pulling it together.

Can anybody out there recommend a nice clear path to learning how to get decent music?