Improve sound quality

[anyc]

Hi,

i started windows today to check the difference between the soundquality windows<->linux.
Because i use always linux i thought my old speakers were exhausted, but now under
windows the sound was ... great
I think i know the problem under linux:
My alsa sends the whole sound stream to every speaker (/subwoofer), but it would
be better if it is seperated for speaker and subwoofer.

How can i make this?
I heard from a ladspa-plugin for alsa, but i couldn't get it working in my .asoundrc.

Thanks a lot!
Mario

[placeholder]

My sound has always been better in Linux, but that depends on which sound card you use as well. That being said, which sound card do you have?

[tommy_fila]

I have experienced similar problems. Using Windows to listen to music, I get louder music without any quality loss. Using linux I have to turn down the PCM volume in order to get decent quality. I've read many posts about people unmuting their "Tone" setting in alsamixer, but I can't seem to find that setting. I've also tried to play around with some other settings, but linux doesn't come close to Windows. Also, I have a hard time finding any decent documentation on alsamixer. For example, what does the "3D Control - Switch" do? If I turn it on, the sound gets louder, but with quality loss.

I have a Creative Lab Sound Blaster Live! Card.

I would greatly appreciate anyone giving me hints on how I can improve my sound quality!
_________________
"What goes on in life, that goes for eternity."

[placeholder]

I also have a SoundBlaster Live!, although it is in my server. Tone is right next to Bass and Treble for me, or the fourth option over, in alsamixer. Cheers.

[anyc]

I have a VIA onboard chipset (8137 or something like this).
But -how i said already- i think the problem is, that the sound channels are not seperated.
Speakers and subwoofer get the same signals and that is not good because i have a
5.1 speaker system where every speaker and the subwoofer have their own cable/channel
and a normal speaker is not designed to play back low tones.

The subwoofer should only get the low frequencies while the normal speakers get
the middle and high frequencies.
I've seen a tutorial at alsa-project.org with the ladspa plugin that seperates different
frequencies, but it didn't work for me.
My idea is that a incoming stream will be splitted by the ladspa filter and then send to
the respective channel.

Somebody here who has experiences with the ladspa plugin for alsa?

Thanks a lot!
Mario

[tommy_fila]

pwnz3r,

Mine are not there. Could it be because I have the Dell OEM version of the Sound Blaster Live! ? Everyone else seems to have the tone setting, but I don't.
_________________
"What goes on in life, that goes for eternity."

[tommy_fila]

On a little unrelated note, what exactly is hardware mixing?
_________________
"What goes on in life, that goes for eternity."

[Vann]

Most modern sound cards have the ability to take multiple input streams and combine them so they play simultaneously. It is exactly the same functionality as ESD or Arts, only in hardware. ALSA supports this in many cards, though I've only ever used it with my SB Live! that I've had for 2+ years now.

[tommy_fila]

Do you know anything about why I don't have the "Tone" setting? I really think it has something to do with my soundcard being associated with DELL. I don't use the standard driver, I use the DELL one (the one with the X at the end).
_________________
"What goes on in life, that goes for eternity."

[tommy_fila]

Anyone?

Someone must have a DELL soudcard with the same problem.
_________________
"What goes on in life, that goes for eternity."