Re: buster: low audio level

[Andrei POPESCU]

On Mi, 12 feb 20, 10:34:27, D. R. Evans wrote:
> I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level is very
> low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume control on the
> speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it is unpleasantly quiet,
> certainly nothing one would want to listen to.
> 
> Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about investigating
> it sensibly, would be gratefully received.

Could it be the source (application, whatever) also has volume controls? 

You could try running 'speaker-test' (package alsa-utils) to rule out a 
problem with the audio source.

Kind regards,
Andrei
-- 
http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser


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Re: buster: low audio level

[Andrei POPESCU]

On Mi, 12 feb 20, 19:15:57, Doug McGarrett wrote:
> 
> What on earth is bikeshedding? That's a new one on me!

http://bikeshed.org/

Kind regards,
Andrei
-- 
http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser


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Re: buster: low audio level

[Curt]

On 2020-02-13, D. R. Evans  wrote:
>
> Yes. That was in one of my e-mails somewhere in the thread.

Yeah, sorry, I found it. My only other idea was the pulseaudio equalizer
app ('qpaeq') and playing with those sliders.


-- 
"J'ai pour me guérir du jugement des autres toute la distance qui me sépare de
moi." Antonin Artaud

Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

Curt wrote on 2/13/20 9:31 AM:
> On 2020-02-13, D. R. Evans  wrote:
>>
>> I'm wondering if there's a problem with the sound driver that the system =
>> is
>> using, and therefore:
>>   1. How to determine which driver I'm using?
>>   2. How to switch to a different driver, if one is available?
> 
> (And you've tried adjusting, to no avail, the underlying ALSA-level volume 
> controls
> with alsamixer?)
> 

Yes. That was in one of my e-mails somewhere in the thread.

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Curt]

On 2020-02-13, D. R. Evans  wrote:
>
> I'm wondering if there's a problem with the sound driver that the system =
> is
> using, and therefore:
>   1. How to determine which driver I'm using?
>   2. How to switch to a different driver, if one is available?

(And you've tried adjusting, to no avail, the underlying ALSA-level volume 
controls
with alsamixer?)

 lsmod | grep snd



-- 
"J'ai pour me guérir du jugement des autres toute la distance qui me sépare de
moi." Antonin Artaud

Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-13 17:15:47)
> D. R. Evans wrote on 2/12/20 4:58 PM:
> 
> > For what it's worth, "aplay -l" says, for the port I'm using:
> > 
> > card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC888-VD Analog [ALC888-VD Analog]
> >   Subdevices: 0/1
> >   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> > 
> 
> I'm wondering if there's a problem with the sound driver that the system is
> using, and therefore:
>   1. How to determine which driver I'm using?
>   2. How to switch to a different driver, if one is available?

Try look here: https://wiki.debian.org/ALSA

...and here: https://alsa.opensrc.org/Sound_Cards:_Introduction

...and lastly here: https://www.alsa-project.org/wiki/Main_Page


Enjoy!

 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

D. R. Evans wrote on 2/12/20 4:58 PM:

> For what it's worth, "aplay -l" says, for the port I'm using:
> 
> card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC888-VD Analog [ALC888-VD Analog]
>   Subdevices: 0/1
>   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> 

I'm wondering if there's a problem with the sound driver that the system is
using, and therefore:
  1. How to determine which driver I'm using?
  2. How to switch to a different driver, if one is available?

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Curt]

On 2020-02-12, D. R. Evans  wrote:
>
> card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC888-VD Analog [ALC888-VD Analog
> ]
>   Subdevices: 0/1
>   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
>

You might try

 alsamixer -c0

and turn up some of those volumes sliders, if you haven't already, and
they're not already maxed out.

Some people have had luck raising the volume level with
pulseaudio-equalizer ('qpaeq' at the command line).

-- 
"J'ai pour me guérir du jugement des autres toute la distance qui me sépare de
moi." Antonin Artaud

Re: buster: low audio level

[Brad Rogers]

On Wed, 12 Feb 2020 15:54:16 -0700
"D. R. Evans"  wrote:

Hello D.,

>All the outputs are set to 100.

Don't ignore inputs.  They can have volume settings, too.

-- 
 Regards  _
 / )   "The blindingly obvious is
/ _)radnever immediately apparent"
I ain't got no time for intellectual music, e.g. Hergest Ridge
Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie - Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias


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Re: buster: low audio level

[Ben Caradoc-Davies]

On 13/02/2020 13:48, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:

Quoting Doug McGarrett (2020-02-13 01:15:57)

What on earth is bikeshedding? That's a new one on me!

That's when you ask something in a large community that is easy to have
an opinion on and with many possible opinions - e.g. asking "which color
should we paint our bikeshed?" or "what disk format is best" or "which
computer should I buy?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality


The choice of easy problems with many possible solutions is the observed 
behaviour, but the outcome is that "members of an organization give 
disproportionate weight to trivial issues".


Kind regards,

--
Ben Caradoc-Davies 
Director
Transient Software Limited 
New Zealand

Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting Doug McGarrett (2020-02-13 01:15:57)
> 
> 
> On 2/12/20 6:39 PM, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:
> > Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 23:54:16)
> >> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 3:19 PM:
> >>
> /snip/
> 
> > is more resource heave in my experience.  An area righ in bikeshedding.
> > 
> What on earth is bikeshedding? That's a new one on me!

That's when you ask something in a large community that is easy to have 
an opinion on and with many possible opinions - e.g. asking "which color 
should we paint our bikeshed?" or "what disk format is best" or "which 
computer should I buy?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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Re: buster: low audio level

[Doug McGarrett]

On 2/12/20 6:39 PM, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 23:54:16)

Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 3:19 PM:


/snip/


is more resource heave in my experience.  An area righ in bikeshedding.


What on earth is bikeshedding? That's a new one on me!

/snip/


Good luck,

  - Jonas

Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

D. R. Evans wrote on 2/12/20 12:28 PM:
> Doug McGarrett wrote on 2/12/20 12:19 PM:
>>
>>
>> On 2/12/20 1:05 PM, D. R. Evans wrote:
>>> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:
 Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
> I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level
> is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume
> control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it
> is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would want to listen to.
>
> Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about
> investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.

> 
>>>
>> You say this is a new machine, so it surely came with Windows. If you 
> 
> No, I said it was new to me. It worked fine under Windows -- basically a
> gaming machine -- but now it has brand new disks with a clean install of 
> buster.

i have been corrected by the person from whom I bought it: it was previsouly
used as a server, not a gaming machine, and hence the sound was never used.

For what it's worth, "aplay -l" says, for the port I'm using:

card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC888-VD Analog [ALC888-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 23:54:16)
> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 3:19 PM:
> 
> > Another thing you might try is go "below" Pulseaudio and mess 
> > directly with ALSA settings:
> > 
> > Install the package alsa-utils and run (in a terminal) the tool 
> > alsamixer
> > 
> > By default it will probably show a single volume control for a 
> > virtual audio card called Pulseaudio - switch to your real 
> > underlying audio card by hitting F6 and select it.  Try play around 
> > with that...
> 
> All the outputs are set to 100. Lowering them does make things (even) 
> quieter; but that's not very helpful, of course.

I recommend to play with other tunables than the volume controls alone - 
but if your audio card is simple then possibly there are none.

I also suggest that you try test audio levels of other programs than the 
ones you normally use - to rule out eventual presets in those 
applications.  My favorite general audio/video player is mpv.  Others 
swear to mplayer (which predates mpv) or VLC (which each too much 
resources in my experience) or various GStreamer based tools which again 
is more resource heave in my experience.  An area righ in bikeshedding.

Next layer is the system configuration of ALSA.  Look at /etc/alsa/* and 
/usr/share/alsa/* and read the documentation and engage in chat forums.

Next layer after that is the kernel modules. Look at /etc/modprobe.d/* 
and /etc/modules-load.d/* and /etc/modules and 
/etc/initramfs-tools/modules and read various documentation etc.

Or buy an audio card.  Which one to pick depends on several factors, and 
has plenty of room for bikeshedding.  Personally I would buy either a 
dirt cheap no-name USB card or one specific one which is not really 
cheap nor very featureful except one feature that I have looked high and 
low for: a single minijack plug (not two separate ones) for both audio 
in and out following the CTIA wiring standard same as non-chinese-market 
smartphones (so that I can easily use it for video conferencing): 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#TRRS_standards - 
the only audio card I have found supporting that standard is the "Sound 
BlasterX G1" from Creative.

My help stops here...

Good luck,

 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 3:21 PM:

> I would recommend to first try locate possible places where volume is 
> turned down, and only as a last option (for this setup, before giving up 
> and buying another card) artificially amplify the weak audio - because 
> that will undoubtedly lead to bad audio quality, and has the risk of 
> playing too loud if at some point the dampening place decides to no 
> longer dampen.
> 
> 

My thoughts exactly. There is obviously something somewhere set incorrectly,
and the proper fix is to find it and change the setting.

All the simple user-based stuff seems to be too late in the chain: the volume
is already too low by the time any of the normal user programs that have been
suggested come into play.

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 3:19 PM:

> Another thing you might try is go "below" Pulseaudio and mess directly 
> with ALSA settings:
> 
> Install the package alsa-utils and run (in a terminal) the tool 
> alsamixer
> 
> By default it will probably show a single volume control for a virtual 
> audio card called Pulseaudio - switch to your real underlying audio card 
> by hitting F6 and select it.  Try play around with that...

All the outputs are set to 100. Lowering them does make things (even) quieter;
but that's not very helpful, of course.

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting elvis (2020-02-12 22:53:36)
> 
> On 13/2/20 3:34 am, D. R. Evans wrote:
> > I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level is 
> > very
> > low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume control on the
> > speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it is unpleasantly 
> > quiet,
> > certainly nothing one would want to listen to.
> >
> > Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about investigating
> > it sensibly, would be gratefully received.
> >
> >Doc
> 
> I'm not sure if this may help. In my KDE system settings, multimedia, I 
> can turn the master volume up past 100%. It makes my laptop usable, 
> other it would be too quiet as well.

I would recommend to first try locate possible places where volume is 
turned down, and only as a last option (for this setup, before giving up 
and buying another card) artificially amplify the weak audio - because 
that will undoubtedly lead to bad audio quality, and has the risk of 
playing too loud if at some point the dampening place decides to no 
longer dampen.


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

 [x] quote me freely  [ ] ask before reusing  [ ] keep private


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Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 22:50:28)
> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 1:26 PM:
> > Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 19:05:40)
> >> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:
> >>> Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
>  I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio 
>  level is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical 
>  volume control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but 
>  even then it is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would 
>  want to listen to.
> 
>  Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about 
>  investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.
> >>>
> >>> Maybe you missed some mixer controls?  Desktop environments 
> >>> nowadays commonly use (not only ALSA but also) Pulseaudio, and a 
> >>> common mistake is to only play with the knobs tied to ALSA.
> >>>
> >>> One relatively userfriendly interface to Pulseaudio that I know of 
> >>> is pavucontrol, available in the Debian package of the same name.  
> >>> You can run it as a self-contained graphical tool, or if you want 
> >>> it handy accesible then additionally install pasystray.
> >>>
> >>
> >> OK; I installed that, but it doesn't seem to do anything more than 
> >> the desktop mixer program.
> >>
> >> It says that Analog Stereo Output is 100%, as does the mixer 
> >> program. Moving that slider does make the volume even lower, so it 
> >> is having an effect, but only to make the audio even harder to 
> >> hear.
> > 
> > That sounds like you have looked at _one_ of the volume controls. 
> > When I open pavucontrol (on my Debian unstable system, but should be 
> > similar e.g. on Debian buster), there are 5 tabs:
> > 
> >  * Playback
> >+ one control per source (e.g. "System sounds", mpv, and 
> >  microphone)
> 
> "System Sounds" is the only one. It's at 100%
> 
> >  * Recording
> >+ one control per recorder (irrelevant for _playing_ audio)
> >  * Output Devices
> >+ one control per audio device (incl. virtual ones if enabled)
> 
> One slider, at 100%.
> 
> >  * Input Devices
> >+ one control per audio device (irrelevant for _playing_ audio)
> >  * Configuration
> >+ switch to select routing mode (e.g. use HDMI instead of analog)
> 
> It's set to "Analog Stereo Output"; since my speakers are plugged into 
> the green jack at the back, it seems like that should be the correct 
> selection.
> 
> > 
> > Make sure that you check both application level volume (for the 
> > application you want to test - while it is running) and output 
> > device volume.
> 
> At this point I've tried with several programs that I've used (on 
> other systems) for a long time. On all of them, even with the volume 
> set to 100%, the sound is audible but too quiet.
> 
> The same applications playing the same files on my debian 9 system 
> produces output that is too loud for comfort.

Good.  Now it is clear to me that you've tried all (directly) options 
available in that Pulseaudio.  That was not clear to me previously.


> > Also, try available routing modes - they depend on your audio 
> > device(s) so I cannot tell what is correct or optimal on your 
> > system.
> 
> I don't know what "routing modes" means, nor where to control them.

Don't worry, that probably just means your audo card is simple with only 
a single routing mode (and also, "routing mode" is not a technical term, 
just my sloppy description of it).


Another thing you might try is go "below" Pulseaudio and mess directly 
with ALSA settings:

Install the package alsa-utils and run (in a terminal) the tool 
alsamixer

By default it will probably show a single volume control for a virtual 
audio card called Pulseaudio - switch to your real underlying audio card 
by hitting F6 and select it.  Try play around with that...


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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Re: buster: low audio level

[elvis]

On 13/2/20 3:34 am, D. R. Evans wrote:

I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level is very
low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume control on the
speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it is unpleasantly quiet,
certainly nothing one would want to listen to.

Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about investigating
it sensibly, would be gratefully received.

   Doc


I'm not sure if this may help. In my KDE system settings, multimedia, I 
can turn the master volume up past 100%. It makes my laptop usable, 
other it would be too quiet as well.







--
In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.

Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 1:26 PM:
> Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 19:05:40)
>> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:
>>> Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
 I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio 
 level is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical 
 volume control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but 
 even then it is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would 
 want to listen to.

 Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about 
 investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.
>>>
>>> Maybe you missed some mixer controls?  Desktop environments nowadays 
>>> commonly use (not only ALSA but also) Pulseaudio, and a common 
>>> mistake is to only play with the knobs tied to ALSA.
>>>
>>> One relatively userfriendly interface to Pulseaudio that I know of 
>>> is pavucontrol, available in the Debian package of the same name.  
>>> You can run it as a self-contained graphical tool, or if you want it 
>>> handy accesible then additionally install pasystray.
>>>
>>
>> OK; I installed that, but it doesn't seem to do anything more than the 
>> desktop mixer program.
>>
>> It says that Analog Stereo Output is 100%, as does the mixer program. 
>> Moving that slider does make the volume even lower, so it is having an 
>> effect, but only to make the audio even harder to hear.
> 
> That sounds like you have looked at _one_ of the volume controls.
>> When I open pavucontrol (on my Debian unstable system, but should be
> similar e.g. on Debian buster), there are 5 tabs:
> 
>  * Playback
>+ one control per source (e.g. "System sounds", mpv, and microphone)

"System Sounds" is the only one. It's at 100%

>  * Recording
>+ one control per recorder (irrelevant for _playing_ audio)
>  * Output Devices
>+ one control per audio device (incl. virtual ones if enabled)

One slider, at 100%.

>  * Input Devices
>+ one control per audio device (irrelevant for _playing_ audio)
>  * Configuration
>+ switch to select routing mode (e.g. use HDMI instead of analog)

It's set to "Analog Stereo Output"; since my speakers are plugged into the
green jack at the back, it seems like that should be the correct selection.

> 
> Make sure that you check both application level volume (for the 
> application you want to test - while it is running) and output device 
> volume.  

At this point I've tried with several programs that I've used (on other
systems) for a long time. On all of them, even with the volume set to 100%,
the sound is audible but too quiet.

The same applications playing the same files on my debian 9 system produces
output that is too loud for comfort.

> Also, try available routing modes - they depend on your audio 
> device(s) so I cannot tell what is correct or optimal on your system.

I don't know what "routing modes" means, nor where to control them.

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Russell L. Harris]

On Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 12:28:17PM -0700, D. R. Evans wrote:

No, I said it was new to me. It worked fine under Windows --
basically a gaming machine -- but now it has brand new disks with a
clean install of buster.


I suggest you purchase a USB audio interface (look for one of the
"plug-and-play" variety, so that drivers are not an issue):

= They are inexpensive ($50 to $150).

= They "just work".

= Most provide studio-grade (balanced, XLR or 1/4"TRS, hum-free)
outputs, as well as consumer-grade (unbalanced 3.5 mm + RCA) outputs.

= Some provide a studio-grade balanced microphone preamplifier, which
is useful for podcasting and video conferencing.

= You avoid frustration and loss of time fooling around with whatever
arcane internal sound scheme is built into the motherboard.

= When the computer goes belly-up, plug the same USB interface into
the machine which replaces it.

= With balanced outputs, you can run any reasonable length of cable
(on the order of a thousand feet) to route sound to a mixer or powered
speakers (with balanced inputs).

P.S.  The little Lexicon ALPHA, which is powered from the USB line, is
excellent.

RLH

Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 19:05:40)
> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:
> > Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
> >> I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio 
> >> level is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical 
> >> volume control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but 
> >> even then it is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would 
> >> want to listen to.
> >>
> >> Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about 
> >> investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.
> > 
> > Maybe you missed some mixer controls?  Desktop environments nowadays 
> > commonly use (not only ALSA but also) Pulseaudio, and a common 
> > mistake is to only play with the knobs tied to ALSA.
> > 
> > One relatively userfriendly interface to Pulseaudio that I know of 
> > is pavucontrol, available in the Debian package of the same name.  
> > You can run it as a self-contained graphical tool, or if you want it 
> > handy accesible then additionally install pasystray.
> > 
> 
> OK; I installed that, but it doesn't seem to do anything more than the 
> desktop mixer program.
> 
> It says that Analog Stereo Output is 100%, as does the mixer program. 
> Moving that slider does make the volume even lower, so it is having an 
> effect, but only to make the audio even harder to hear.

That sounds like you have looked at _one_ of the volume controls.

When I open pavucontrol (on my Debian unstable system, but should be 
similar e.g. on Debian buster), there are 5 tabs:

 * Playback
   + one control per source (e.g. "System sounds", mpv, and microphone)
 * Recording
   + one control per recorder (irrelevant for _playing_ audio)
 * Output Devices
   + one control per audio device (incl. virtual ones if enabled)
 * Input Devices
   + one control per audio device (irrelevant for _playing_ audio)
 * Configuration
   + switch to select routing mode (e.g. use HDMI instead of analog)

Make sure that you check both application level volume (for the 
application you want to test - while it is running) and output device 
volume.  Also, try available routing modes - they depend on your audio 
device(s) so I cannot tell what is correct or optimal on your system.


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

 [x] quote me freely  [ ] ask before reusing  [ ] keep private


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Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

Doug McGarrett wrote on 2/12/20 12:19 PM:
> 
> 
> On 2/12/20 1:05 PM, D. R. Evans wrote:
>> Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:
>>> Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
 I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level
 is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume
 control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it
 is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would want to listen to.

 Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about
 investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.
>>>

>>
> You say this is a new machine, so it surely came with Windows. If you 

No, I said it was new to me. It worked fine under Windows -- basically a
gaming machine -- but now it has brand new disks with a clean install of buster.

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Doug McGarrett]

On 2/12/20 1:05 PM, D. R. Evans wrote:

Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)

I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level
is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume
control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it
is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would want to listen to.

Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about
investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.


Maybe you missed some mixer controls?  Desktop environments nowadays
commonly use (not only ALSA but also) Pulseaudio, and a common mistake
is to only play with the knobs tied to ALSA.

One relatively userfriendly interface to Pulseaudio that I know of is
pavucontrol, available in the Debian package of the same name.  You can
run it as a self-contained graphical tool, or if you want it handy
accesible then additionally install pasystray.



OK; I installed that, but it doesn't seem to do anything more than the desktop
mixer program.

It says that Analog Stereo Output is 100%, as does the mixer program. Moving
that slider does make the volume even lower, so it is having an effect, but
only to make the audio even harder to hear.

  Doc

You say this is a new machine, so it surely came with Windows. If you 
still have Windows, try whatever program Windows has for audio and see 
if it works right. Maybe the machine is defective.

--doug

Re: buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

Jonas Smedegaard wrote on 2/12/20 10:43 AM:
> Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
>> I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level 
>> is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume 
>> control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it 
>> is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would want to listen to.
>>
>> Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about 
>> investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.
> 
> Maybe you missed some mixer controls?  Desktop environments nowadays 
> commonly use (not only ALSA but also) Pulseaudio, and a common mistake 
> is to only play with the knobs tied to ALSA.
> 
> One relatively userfriendly interface to Pulseaudio that I know of is 
> pavucontrol, available in the Debian package of the same name.  You can 
> run it as a self-contained graphical tool, or if you want it handy 
> accesible then additionally install pasystray.
> 

OK; I installed that, but it doesn't seem to do anything more than the desktop
mixer program.

It says that Analog Stereo Output is 100%, as does the mixer program. Moving
that slider does make the volume even lower, so it is having an effect, but
only to make the audio even harder to hear.

 Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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Re: buster: low audio level

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting D. R. Evans (2020-02-12 18:34:27)
> I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level 
> is very low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume 
> control on the speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it 
> is unpleasantly quiet, certainly nothing one would want to listen to.
> 
> Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about 
> investigating it sensibly, would be gratefully received.

Maybe you missed some mixer controls?  Desktop environments nowadays 
commonly use (not only ALSA but also) Pulseaudio, and a common mistake 
is to only play with the knobs tied to ALSA.

One relatively userfriendly interface to Pulseaudio that I know of is 
pavucontrol, available in the Debian package of the same name.  You can 
run it as a self-contained graphical tool, or if you want it handy 
accesible then additionally install pasystray.


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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buster: low audio level

[D. R. Evans]

I just installed buster on a new (to me) machine, and the audio level is very
low. With all the mixer controls and the physical volume control on the
speakers turned up, I can hear audio, but even then it is unpleasantly quiet,
certainly nothing one would want to listen to.

Any suggestions as to how to fix this, or even how to go about investigating
it sensibly, would be gratefully received.

  Doc

-- 
Web:  http://enginehousebooks.com/drevans



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