Audio quality on Linux

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Dylan_G

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Well, I've been using Linux for a few months now and I love it. I absolutely hate when I have to boot up into Windows :p The only difference that irks me is that the sound quality through Windows sounds well... better. I'm not much of an audiophile, but this is easily noticeable. The bass just sounds so much deeper and the overall clarity just improves.

Now, I'm not running a top of the range sound setup, but the problem is, its the same setup for both Windows and Linux. What can I do to improve the sound on Linux ? I'm running Linux Mint 11 and my primary audio player is Rhythm box(which I'm completely happy with) and Microsoft-wise its Windows 7 and Windows Media Player 12.
 
copacetic

copacetic

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I presume this is a driver issue and/or you have EQ/other settings in Media Player you've come to prefer...

For frequency related issues, you can obviously use an EQ. For 'sounds better'... well, that's going to be difficult to pin down. :p
 
d0b33

d0b33

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Did you have SRS WOW enabled with WMP? if so then you'll be dissapointed yes. Since I have a Dolby digital reciever and speakers this is not issue for me though.
 
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Dylan_G

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copacetic said:
I presume this is a driver issue and/or you have EQ/other settings in Media Player you've come to prefer...

For frequency related issues, you can obviously use an EQ. For 'sounds better'... well, that's going to be difficult to pin down. :p
Click to expand...

I had a equalizer set up with WMP... but I've got the EQ customized in Linux too ! :confused: The driver issues are a new option though... Might have to start looking into that.

Aqua_lung said:
Did you have SRS WOW enabled with WMP? if so then you'll be dissapointed yes. Since I have a Dolby digital reciever and speakers this is not issue for me though.
Click to expand...

SRS is disabled in WMP. Just checked now. :(
 
copacetic

copacetic

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If you are able to, it would be interesting to hear samples of audio, from each OS. :D
 
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Dylan_G

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But that would mean booting into Windows again. :crying: And I don't really have the proper equipment to take a good recording. :? And I'm lazy. :D
 
Ockie

Ockie

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I listen to my music via VLC...its EQ kicks ass! Problem is that every time you start it up you have to redo the the settings because it does not get saved. Not sure why they have never fixed this.
 
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Dylan_G

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ocleroux said:
I listen to my music via VLC...its EQ kicks ass! Problem is that every time you start it up you have to redo the the settings because it does not get saved. Not sure why they have never fixed this.
Click to expand...

VLC is a powerful app. I have it installed but hardly use it... does it have a media library feature ? Thats the biggest concern of mine.
 
ponder

ponder

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ocleroux said:
I listen to my music via VLC...its EQ kicks ass! Problem is that every time you start it up you have to redo the the settings because it does not get saved. Not sure why they have never fixed this.
Click to expand...

You nooblet! :p :D http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-save-audio-and-equalizer-settings-in-vlc-player/

That's more of a workaround though but it works, use it in linux ;) It's actually something they never got round to implementing so it's not a bug but more of a feature request.

Post a screenshot of you EQ settings here as I wanna try your settings unless you use one of the presets
 
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Elimentals

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You might wanna go edit your
/etc/pulse/daemon.conf

And change the following to get better sound: Note that they use default setting so might take a performance hit if you have a slow PC, and always make a backup

Change
resample-method = speex-float-1 To resample-method = src-sinc-best-quality
default-fragment-size-msec = 10 to default-fragment-size-msec = 5

Add the following line
default-sample-rate = 48000
And also
default-sample-format = float32le
might help

Lastly you can try and change sound processing priority to High.
high-priority = yes

Save and then restart or change the runlevel.

Lay man version:

Code: 
[B]Add:[/B]
high-priority = yes
default-sample-format = float32le
default-sample-rate = 48000

[B]Change:[/B]
default-fragment-size-msec = 5
resample-method = src-sinc-best-quality
 
ponder

ponder

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Dylan_G said:
VLC is a powerful app. I have it installed but hardly use it... does it have a media library feature ? Thats the biggest concern of mine.
Click to expand...

CTRL-L or View->Playlist->Media Library
 
Ockie

Ockie

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ponder said:
You nooblet! :p :D http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-save-audio-and-equalizer-settings-in-vlc-player/

That's more of a workaround though but it works, use it in linux ;) It's actually something they never got round to implementing so it's not a bug but more of a feature request.

Post a screenshot of you EQ settings here as I wanna try your settings unless you use one of the presets
Click to expand...

attachment.php



Here you go meneer. This is normally how I set it. I like deep base and crisp sounds. If a particular song has extreme base...then I will turn it down a little..but this is seldom required as VLC EQ dont sommer distort with high base.
 
F

froot

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I've used the majority of audio/video players in Linux and never had a "bad sound experience" problem either. Me thinks it's driver related, or simply a sound setup issue caused by a pebcak.
 
Ockie

Ockie

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ponder said:
You nooblet! :p :D http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-save-audio-and-equalizer-settings-in-vlc-player/

That's more of a workaround though but it works, use it in linux ;) It's actually something they never got round to implementing so it's not a bug but more of a feature request.

Post a screenshot of you EQ settings here as I wanna try your settings unless you use one of the presets
Click to expand...

Yay...I just did this...and it works. Ag thank you so much Ponder Wonder. mwha mwha...hugz and kisses.
 
ponder

ponder

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ocleroux said:
Yay...I just did this...and it works. Ag thank you so much Ponder Wonder. mwha mwha...hugz and kisses.
Click to expand...

My ext4 /root partition decided to bork itself after i posted that. Iḿ fscking livid right now. Beginning to think I need a new distro, aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ockie

Ockie

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ponder said:
My ext4 /root partition decided to bork itself after i posted that. Iḿ fscking livid right now. Beginning to think I need a new distro, aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Shame man. Saw your thread...but when it comes to bootloaders and grub etc..I have no clue. What distro you on? Ubuntu?
 
W

wezhira

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audio quality in linux has always been a big issue for me cause of many sleepless nights and headaches , windows does sound a lot better , not limited to vlc but cause of drivers configuration its all alot easier in windows and with right card it sounds amazing.Personally i hate pulse audio first thing i do is remove it The solution for me has been to use spdif out and send the processing to my amp , i have tried all sorts of sound cards sometimes alsa is a bitch the drivers not compatible with the card
 
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