Static + Crackling sounds. ALSA. emu10k1

bn_me · n00b Joined: 12 May 2002 Posts: 5

Well, here we go:

I have a SBLive! It works great in Mandrake, RH, Windows, etc. Now here's the problem. I followed the docs to install ALSA, and everything seems to work.

When I play a song in XMMS, or heck, any song on any program for that matter, there's this horrible staticy and crackling noise, at certain notes and at times when there's lot of bass.

So what settings do I need to change? Or is it something more?

thadk · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 123

Same issue here with a nforce 1 mobo/sound. Scratching, and crackling sometimes. I don't remember it from my previous gentoo install...maybe it's an issue with the current version.

timmfin · Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2003 4:36 pm Post subject:

When you run alsamixer, how high is PCM set? I don't have the same sound card but if I set the PCM setting above 75, the sound becomes worse and worse.

bn_me · n00b Joined: 12 May 2002 Posts: 5

thadk · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 123

hum, I have my PCM at 50% so I don't think that's the issue on mine

puddpunk · l33t Joined: 20 Jul 2002 Posts: 681 Location: New Zealand

I have friends which experiance the same crackly pop sounds from their soundcards (same as yours) even when using windows. Try shifting the sound card away from the CPU, network cards and/or hard disks as much as possible.

Try using OSS emulation, as I don't think XMMS has quite got a handle on the 0.9 ALSA libs yet (i could be wrong...).

Hope I could help,
Chris.

timmfin · Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2003 3:45 pm Post subject:

bn_me: By default the volume control in xmms is directly linked to the PCM channel. By chaning the xmms volume you actually are changing the PCM volume. The good thing is that you can change this.

Right click on xmms -> options -> preferences

Click the Audio I/O Plugings tab, make sure ALSA is the selected output plugin (if its not there emerge alsa-xmms). Press configure. Type Master in the mixer device, instead of PCM.

Now chaning the Xmms volume changes the master volume, feel free to set it to 100, it shouldn't cause any sound problems.

eNTi · Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2003 4:47 pm Post subject:

the terrible sound usually comes from the VERY bad software mixer. you may want to set the follwing in alsamixer:
tone: mute

this will switch off the software treble/bass amplifier. you can even try some settings with bass/treble but bass over 50% will give you a REALLY terrible sound (at least it does to me). i'm fine without tone.
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thadk · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 123

and where might that be? I tried the mans for alsamixer and don't see anything...there's no tone, treble or bass portion on alsamixer that I can see :\.

eNTi · Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2003 6:50 am Post subject:

what alsa-packages do you have emerged? try to emerge the emu10k1-package as well (if you haven't already). the "treble" switch should come after the "bass" which actually comes after "tone". have you tried to scroll to the right with the cursor keys?
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thadk · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 123

Do I need a SB soundcard...just using the nForce board's inbuilt chip...

jay · l33t Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 980

thadk What type of nforce mobo and alsa driver are you using?
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xonit · n00b Joined: 28 Dec 2002 Posts: 71

if u are using a VIA chipset its also depending on your HD Transfer (high transfer = crack) if it will crack or not. buggy hardware *gg*
bye
xonit
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xonit · n00b Joined: 28 Dec 2002 Posts: 71

if u are using a VIA chipset its also depending on your HD Transfer (high transfer = crack) if it will crack or not. buggy hardware *gg*
bye
xonit
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thadk · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 123

MSI's 420D one KF420 I think. like I said, I don't remember it being like this last time in gentoo 1.3 when someone advised to use alsa originally with the nforces. OSS emulation seems to be identical. And I know it's not interference because it only does it when there's a lot of bass and it is fine on windows.

jay · l33t Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 980

I use a MSI 415D with built-in chip. I use the alsa snd-intel8x0 driver without problems now. It used to freeze my box due to IRQ conflicts with my TV card. Still the sound quality is far from it's windows counterparts. Just stereo although it is capable of 5.1 dolby sound.
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Goalie_Ca · Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2003 8:24 pm Post subject:

I'm having the same problem. It's really pissing me off. I was using alsa in redhat and no matter what volume it was always clear. Windows only gets static when turned up really loud.

I'm kinda desperate for a soultion now. Do the OSS drivers crack too?
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chr1z · Apprentice Joined: 17 Jul 2002 Posts: 207

set the
Master volume to 100%
and the
PCM volume to 70%
that should give you good sound (at least on my machine)

Goalie_Ca · Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 6:07 pm Post subject:

my static is gone now, but i set PCM to 0, Master to 100, and my speakers can still become too loud quite easily.

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jay · l33t Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 980

You can test the OSS drivers befor buying them. The download comes with a three hour limited evaluation license. In general it is said that the OSS drivers are less buggy, have better sound quality and often support functions that the open source driver can't due to non-disclosure-agreements.
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thadk · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 123

Glad I didn't drop 45 bucks for those OSS drivers, the issue seems to be repaired with the new alsa 9rc7

cult hero · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2003 8:10 am Post subject:

Just as a side note I did some playing with the ALSA mixer because the playback on my mp3s was terrible and, as was mentioned here, got really bad during heavy bass sections.

The PCM really isn't the issue as I now run it at 100 without a problem. The issue is the default bass and treble setting settings in ALSA. I knocked both of those down under 40 (the green color if you're using alsamixer from the console) and life's been really good ever since.

mvr_rennes · Apprentice Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Posts: 155

Try this: fire up alsamixer, go to the 2nd rightmost control (SBLive) and mute it.
It worked for me...
Cheers!
M