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drseergio
Apprentice
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 236
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 Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:09 am Post subject: About volume levels and distortion on ALSA [solved] |
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I own a laptop with a built-in Intel hda sound card and I am using ALSA for sound support in Linux. My question is - is it alright that when I set volume in Kmix to 100 (in both, PCM and Main) the sound gets really distorted? Should the PCM be on level 70-80? When I set maximal volume in Vista I don't get such distortions. Is it because ALSA allows much higher values than Windows drivers or is it because I have something misconfigured? Here is my asound.conf:
| Code: |
#
# SOUND CARD SETTINGS
#
pcm.card0 {
type hw
card 0
device 0
}
# Allow mixing of multiple output streams to this device
pcm.output {
type dmix
ipc_key 1025
slave.pcm "card0"
slave {
period_time 0
period_size 2048
buffer_size 32768
}
bindings {
0 0
1 1
}
}
# Allow capturing from the default capturing device
pcm.input {
type dsnoop
ipc_key 2048
ipc_key_add_uid yes
slave.pcm "card0"
## Possible artsd full duplex fix:
slave {
period_time 0
period_size 2048
buffer_size 32768
rate 44100
}
bindings {
0 0
1 1
}
}
# Duplex device with read/write capabilities
pcm.duplex {
type asym
playback.pcm "dmix"
capture.pcm "input"
}
# Set default default pcm to be able to change rate on the fly
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "duplex"
}
#
# AOSS
#
pcm.dsp0 {
type plug
slave.pcm "output"
}
ctl.dsp0 {
type plug
slave.pcm "card0"
}
ctl.mixer0 {
type plug
slave.pcm "card0"
}
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Last edited by drseergio on Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:54 am; edited 1 time in total |
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drseergio
Apprentice
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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I have not figured the problem with the mixer levels being distorted but I've just cut my config for test purposes to:
| Code: |
pcm.hda-intel {
type hw
card 0
}
ctl.hda-intel {
type hw
card 0
}
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It does not need dmix? It has hardware mixing? Am I blind or something? I replaced my old complicated config with a FAR snaller one and it works EVEN BETTER!!! Mixing works, aoss works, skype works... That's cool! |
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Dirk.R.Gently
Guru
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Posts: 546
Location: Titan
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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Could you describe the sound. Is it in both channels? Are you using the kernel or the driver?
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drseergio
Apprentice
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:46 am Post subject: |
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| The sound is distorted especially when you listen bass-rich output - it sounds like cheap speakers that are being overloaded. Apparently the solution is to use PCM level <= 80 as described in many relevant topics across different forums... |
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micmac
l33t
Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Posts: 996
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:23 am Post subject: |
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Hi there,
the ALSA devs put the dB gain levels into alsamixer some time ago. If you see them 0.00 dB gain is prolly what you're looking for. The box at my parents house has an onboard sound device and there the sliders go above 0.00 dB gain. OTOH my ice1712 device that I have here has 0.00 dB gain as the maximum level. Anyway, at 0.00 everything is crystal as far as I can tell.
Regards
mic |
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drseergio
Apprentice
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Hi there,
the ALSA devs put the dB gain levels into alsamixer some time ago. If you see them 0.00 dB gain is prolly what you're looking for. The box at my parents house has an onboard sound device and there the sliders go above 0.00 dB gain. OTOH my ice1712 device that I have here has 0.00 dB gain as the maximum level. Anyway, at 0.00 everything is crystal as far as I can tell.
Regards
mic
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So basically, what are you saying is that volume levels should be kept at values that correspond to dB gain 0 to get the maximum clear volume? I guess this is important info that should be placed on some wiki or docs as I was not really paying attention to these values. Especially in GUI mode because kmix (don't know about others) does not display dB gain. |
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Zepp
Veteran
Joined: 15 Mar 2004
Posts: 1246
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Hmm ya, I usually just keep mine at <=74, even in windows I keep the card turned down. |
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Forezt
n00b
Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:14 am Post subject: Solution |
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If it's a problem to adjust your PCM settings after every reboot, you can use this command to make your present settings the default:
I had to become root before I could run it. |
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cca
n00b
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 38
Location: Greece
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:10 am Post subject: |
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The correct command in a properly configured Gentoo Linux PC is
| Code: | | /etc/init.d/alsasound save |
Should be run with root priviledges, either by su or sudo. |
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bhaythorn1
n00b
Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject: high volume distorts, kills sound |
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| I have a via 8237 ac97 audio chip which peters out whenever the volume is set too high. First there is cracking like a bad connection or the speakers are shoddy and then the sound cuts out completely, only to come back with reducing the volume and then a restart of alsasound. The volume 'limit' seems to be applied across all programs, including Amarok, Volume Control, and alsamixer. Ultimately, it is the sum of all mixer settings which determines whether the 'limit' has been reached. |
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