Awful sound quality

Achno · 2024-01-03 18:51:21

1) My sound sounds extremely muffled and the sound quality is like i'm listening from a speaker in the 2000’s unlike in windows which sounds perfectly good.

Hardware : Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH05H and the full hardware can be viewed here : https://0x0.st/H6q2.txt

here is the output of : pactl info

```
Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 1691
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: achno
Host Name: lenovoLegion
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 1.0.0)
Server Version: 15.0.0
Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo.8
Default Source: alsa_output.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo.8.monitor
Cookie: 6cea:a055
```
So from what i understand im using pipewire

output of aplay -l

```
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC257 Analog [ALC257 Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
```

Output of pactl list cards : https://pastebin.com/W9VxSY3T

Output of pactl list sources : https://pastebin.com/2tsZRgaV

- I have searched all over forum posts and the only band-aid solution is using an equalizer like jamesDSP for linux but even though that fixes it a bit , the sound doesnt come close to the windows one.

Can anyone help me with this issue? im ready to provide any further info you require, thank you again for reading this

jonno2002 · 2024-01-03 20:45:12

Achno wrote:

My sound sounds extremely muffled and the sound quality is like i'm listening from a speaker in the 2000’s unlike in windows which sounds perfectly good.

a speakers quality has nothing to do with when it was made, the fact that a massive amount of DSP/EQ is needed tells you that they are just plain terrible speakers.

Achno wrote:

- I have searched all over forum posts and the only band-aid solution is using an equalizer like jamesDSP for linux but even though that fixes it a bit , the sound doesnt come close to the windows one.

its not a band-aid solution, its THE SOLUTION, thats all windows is doing, it just does it without asking in true windows fashion.

basically just keep playing around with the dsp/eq settings till your happy enough with the sound, or use external speaker(s) or headphones

Achno · 2024-01-03 21:06:39

Fine if i need to mess more with EQ settings i will , i already thought of trying to emitate windows audio settings but i cant find them nor can i find any useful guide or article about it, if you know anything about that please forward me to a useful resource. Now a question, do only arch based distros not manipulate the audio to sound better like windows does ? Ive gone through so many forums and posts with people with Lenovo legions my exact model or lenovo laptops in general not complaining about sound at all. Did they have other distros like fedora which automatically does stuff like that so they never noticed?

seth · 2024-01-03 21:59:00

"sound" "quality is like i'm listening from a speaker in the 2000’s" isn't a very good description, what sound, produced how - and what did speakers in the 2000's sound like (in your imagination, I suspect you were not alive at the time?)

1. To get a baseline quality, sidestep pipewire and try

mpv -ao alsa -vo null 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM' # needs yt-dlp

2. Is the headphone sound ok?
3. What's the output of

amixer -Dhw:0

4. and

lspci -nnk

5. Sanity check: "pacman -Qs 'pipe|pulse'"

Achno · 2024-01-03 22:53:35

1. when sidesteping pipewire with mpv as you said the quality is amazing if not exactly the same as windows , this is exactly what im looking for!!!

2. i tried my earbuds they sound terrible if i dont use the equalizer , exactly like the unfiltered sound

3. Output of amixer -Dhw:0

```
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',3
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
```

4. Output of lspci -nnk : https://pastebin.com/ayqZStFi

5. did you mean this command?: pacman -Qs pipe\|pulse

if so the Output is this: https://pastebin.com/96LDaRtV

seth · 2024-01-03 23:07:39

Of course it is amazing, quite likely the best song… oh, you're talking about the sound quality.
I see

As a cross check to make sure it's not the source (I know what kind of music millenials [edit: ok, maybe it's more a zoomer problem] hear, it's muffled and makes me wanna commit suicide)

mpv -vo null 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM'

still sounds amazing, but is muffled?
Any difference between

mpv -ao pulse -vo null 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM'

and

mpv -ao pipewire -vo null 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM'

?

I meant the command I wrote (you don't have to escape with single-quotes) but the result is equal - and unsuspicious.

"-Dhw:0" was the wrong card, sorry

amixer -Dhw:1

but that won't matter if the problem is indeed pipewire or pipewire-pulse.

Last edited by seth (2024-01-03 23:09:14)

V1del · 2024-01-03 23:10:37

Given the aplay output above

amixer -Dhw:1

is probably more interesting assuming you're playing out of your speakers and not out of your monitor.

That said during "sounds amazing like I'm looking for" and during "sounds bad" respectively, what do you get from

cat /proc/asound/card1/sub0/hw_params

and while we are at it during playback via pipewire

pactl list sinks
pactl list sink-inputs

Also please post outputs you want to add directly to the post in [ code ] [ /code ] tags, omitting the spaces.

Achno · 2024-01-03 23:14:38

It might be a placebo effect but the first is a tiny bit muffled i think? But both are pretty good sounding

Output of amixer -Dhw:1

```
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Limits: Playback 0 - 87
Mono: Playback 70 [80%] [-12.75dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 87
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-65.25dB] [off]
Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-65.25dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Speaker',0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 87
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
Capabilities: pvolume
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 255
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 253 [99%] [-0.40dB]
Front Right: Playback 253 [99%] [-0.40dB]
Simple mixer control 'Mic Boost',0
Capabilities: volume
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: 0 - 3
Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 63
Front Left: Capture 63 [100%] [30.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 63 [100%] [30.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Internal Mic Boost',0
Capabilities: volume
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: 0 - 3
Front Left: 3 [100%] [30.00dB]
Front Right: 3 [100%] [30.00dB]
```

seth · 2024-01-03 23:18:26

How exactly do you produce the "awful sound quality"?
What do you play and how?

Achno · 2024-01-03 23:21:02

Output of cat /proc/asound/card1/sub0/hw_params is :

cat: /proc/asound/card1/sub0/hw_params: No such file or directory

Output of pactl list sinks

Sink #55
	State: RUNNING
	Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo
	Description: Family 17h/19h HD Audio Controller Analog Stereo
	Driver: PipeWire
	Sample Specification: s32le 2ch 48000Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Owner Module: 4294967295
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 39322 /  60% / -13,31 dB,   front-right: 39322 /  60% / -13,31 dB
	        balance 0,00
	Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0,00 dB
	Monitor Source: alsa_output.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo.monitor
	Latency: 0 usec, configured 0 usec
	Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
	Properties:
		alsa.card = "1"
		alsa.card_name = "HD-Audio Generic"
		alsa.class = "generic"
		alsa.device = "0"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		alsa.id = "ALC257 Analog"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HD-Audio Generic at 0xd1540000 irq 121"
		alsa.name = "ALC257 Analog"
		alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
		alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
		alsa.subdevice = "0"
		alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
		api.alsa.card.longname = "HD-Audio Generic at 0xd1540000 irq 121"
		api.alsa.card.name = "HD-Audio Generic"
		api.alsa.path = "front:1"
		api.alsa.pcm.card = "1"
		api.alsa.pcm.stream = "playback"
		audio.channels = "2"
		audio.position = "FL,FR"
		card.profile.device = "3"
		device.api = "alsa"
		device.class = "sound"
		device.id = "46"
		device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
		device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
		device.routes = "2"
		factory.name = "api.alsa.pcm.sink"
		media.class = "Audio/Sink"
		device.description = "Family 17h/19h HD Audio Controller"
		node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo"
		node.nick = "ALC257 Analog"
		node.pause-on-idle = "false"
		object.path = "alsa:pcm:1:front:1:playback"
		priority.driver = "1009"
		priority.session = "1009"
		factory.id = "18"
		clock.quantum-limit = "8192"
		client.id = "35"
		node.driver = "true"
		factory.mode = "merge"
		audio.adapt.follower = ""
		library.name = "audioconvert/libspa-audioconvert"
		object.id = "55"
		object.serial = "55"
		node.max-latency = "16384/48000"
		api.alsa.period-size = "1024"
		api.alsa.period-num = "32"
		api.alsa.headroom = "0"
		api.acp.auto-port = "false"
		api.acp.auto-profile = "false"
		api.alsa.card = "1"
		api.alsa.use-acp = "true"
		api.dbus.ReserveDevice1 = "Audio1"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:06:00.6"
		device.enum.api = "udev"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-analog-pci"
		device.name = "alsa_card.pci-0000_06_00.6"
		device.nick = "HD-Audio Generic"
		device.plugged.usec = "5192392"
		device.product.id = "0x15e3"
		device.product.name = "Family 17h/19h HD Audio Controller"
		device.subsystem = "sound"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:06:00.6/sound/card1"
		device.vendor.id = "0x1022"
		device.vendor.name = "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]"
		device.string = "1"
	Ports:
		analog-output-speaker: Speakers (type: Speaker, priority: 10000, availability group: Legacy 3, availability unknown)
		analog-output-headphones: Headphones (type: Headphones, priority: 9900, availability group: Legacy 4, not available)
	Active Port: analog-output-speaker
	Formats:
		pcm

Output of pactl list sink-inputs:

Sink Input #1167
	Driver: PipeWire
	Owner Module: n/a
	Client: 96
	Sink: 55
	Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Format: pcm, format.sample_format = "\"float32le\""  format.rate = "48000"  format.channels = "2"  format.channel_map = "\"front-left,front-right\""
	Corked: yes
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 56182 /  86% / -4,01 dB,   front-right: 56182 /  86% / -4,01 dB
	        balance 0,00
	Buffer Latency: 0 usec
	Sink Latency: 0 usec
	Resample method: PipeWire
	Properties:
		client.api = "pipewire-pulse"
		pulse.server.type = "unix"
		application.name = "Firefox"
		application.process.id = "8325"
		application.process.user = "achno"
		application.process.host = "lenovoLegion"
		application.process.binary = "firefox"
		application.language = "en_US.UTF-8"
		window.x11.display = ":0"
		application.process.machine_id = "d1e7fdc0ff6042f58a689b9ff5d24a77"
		application.process.session_id = "1"
		media.name = "I Murdered A Customer & Now Have To Hide Her Body While Doing My Job - Beary the Hatchet ALL ENDINGS - YouTube"
		node.rate = "1/48000"
		node.latency = "3600/48000"
		stream.is-live = "true"
		node.name = "Firefox"
		node.want-driver = "true"
		node.autoconnect = "true"
		media.class = "Stream/Output/Audio"
		adapt.follower.spa-node = ""
		object.register = "false"
		factory.id = "6"
		clock.quantum-limit = "8192"
		factory.mode = "split"
		audio.adapt.follower = ""
		library.name = "audioconvert/libspa-audioconvert"
		client.id = "62"
		object.id = "124"
		object.serial = "1167"
		pulse.attr.maxlength = "4194304"
		pulse.attr.tlength = "48000"
		pulse.attr.prebuf = "38408"
		pulse.attr.minreq = "9600"
		module-stream-restore.id = "sink-input-by-application-name:Firefox"

Sink Input #1331
	Driver: PipeWire
	Owner Module: n/a
	Client: 96
	Sink: 55
	Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Format: pcm, format.sample_format = "\"float32le\""  format.rate = "48000"  format.channels = "2"  format.channel_map = "\"front-left,front-right\""
	Corked: yes
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 44354 /  68% / -10,17 dB,   front-right: 44354 /  68% / -10,17 dB
	        balance 0,00
	Buffer Latency: 0 usec
	Sink Latency: 0 usec
	Resample method: PipeWire
	Properties:
		client.api = "pipewire-pulse"
		pulse.server.type = "unix"
		application.name = "Firefox"
		application.process.id = "8325"
		application.process.user = "achno"
		application.process.host = "lenovoLegion"
		application.process.binary = "firefox"
		application.language = "en_US.UTF-8"
		window.x11.display = ":0"
		application.process.machine_id = "d1e7fdc0ff6042f58a689b9ff5d24a77"
		application.process.session_id = "1"
		media.name = "I Murdered A Customer & Now Have To Hide Her Body While Doing My Job - Beary the Hatchet ALL ENDINGS - YouTube"
		node.rate = "1/48000"
		node.latency = "3600/48000"
		stream.is-live = "true"
		node.name = "Firefox"
		node.want-driver = "true"
		node.autoconnect = "true"
		media.class = "Stream/Output/Audio"
		adapt.follower.spa-node = ""
		object.register = "false"
		factory.id = "6"
		clock.quantum-limit = "8192"
		factory.mode = "split"
		audio.adapt.follower = ""
		library.name = "audioconvert/libspa-audioconvert"
		client.id = "62"
		object.id = "100"
		object.serial = "1331"
		pulse.attr.maxlength = "4194304"
		pulse.attr.tlength = "48000"
		pulse.attr.prebuf = "38408"
		pulse.attr.minreq = "9600"
		module-stream-restore.id = "sink-input-by-application-name:Firefox"

Sink Input #1376
	Driver: PipeWire
	Owner Module: n/a
	Client: 96
	Sink: 55
	Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Format: pcm, format.sample_format = "\"float32le\""  format.rate = "48000"  format.channels = "2"  format.channel_map = "\"front-left,front-right\""
	Corked: yes
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 39793 /  61% / -13,00 dB,   front-right: 39793 /  61% / -13,00 dB
	        balance 0,00
	Buffer Latency: 0 usec
	Sink Latency: 0 usec
	Resample method: PipeWire
	Properties:
		client.api = "pipewire-pulse"
		pulse.server.type = "unix"
		application.name = "Firefox"
		application.process.id = "8325"
		application.process.user = "achno"
		application.process.host = "lenovoLegion"
		application.process.binary = "firefox"
		application.language = "en_US.UTF-8"
		window.x11.display = ":0"
		application.process.machine_id = "d1e7fdc0ff6042f58a689b9ff5d24a77"
		application.process.session_id = "1"
		media.name = "AC/DC - Thunderstruck (Official Video) - YouTube"
		node.rate = "1/48000"
		node.latency = "3600/48000"
		stream.is-live = "true"
		node.name = "Firefox"
		node.want-driver = "true"
		node.autoconnect = "true"
		media.class = "Stream/Output/Audio"
		adapt.follower.spa-node = ""
		object.register = "false"
		factory.id = "6"
		clock.quantum-limit = "8192"
		factory.mode = "split"
		audio.adapt.follower = ""
		library.name = "audioconvert/libspa-audioconvert"
		client.id = "62"
		object.id = "87"
		object.serial = "1376"
		pulse.attr.maxlength = "4194304"
		pulse.attr.tlength = "48000"
		pulse.attr.prebuf = "38408"
		pulse.attr.minreq = "9600"
		module-stream-restore.id = "sink-input-by-application-name:Firefox"

Sink Input #1460
	Driver: PipeWire
	Owner Module: n/a
	Client: 96
	Sink: 55
	Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Format: pcm, format.sample_format = "\"float32le\""  format.rate = "48000"  format.channels = "2"  format.channel_map = "\"front-left,front-right\""
	Corked: yes
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 52741 /  80% / -5,66 dB,   front-right: 52741 /  80% / -5,66 dB
	        balance 0,00
	Buffer Latency: 0 usec
	Sink Latency: 0 usec
	Resample method: PipeWire
	Properties:
		client.api = "pipewire-pulse"
		pulse.server.type = "unix"
		application.name = "Firefox"
		application.process.id = "8325"
		application.process.user = "achno"
		application.process.host = "lenovoLegion"
		application.process.binary = "firefox"
		application.language = "en_US.UTF-8"
		window.x11.display = ":0"
		application.process.machine_id = "d1e7fdc0ff6042f58a689b9ff5d24a77"
		application.process.session_id = "1"
		media.name = "Nine Lashes - Break The World - YouTube"
		node.rate = "1/48000"
		node.latency = "3600/48000"
		stream.is-live = "true"
		node.name = "Firefox"
		node.want-driver = "true"
		node.autoconnect = "true"
		media.class = "Stream/Output/Audio"
		adapt.follower.spa-node = ""
		object.register = "false"
		factory.id = "6"
		clock.quantum-limit = "8192"
		factory.mode = "split"
		audio.adapt.follower = ""
		library.name = "audioconvert/libspa-audioconvert"
		client.id = "62"
		object.id = "57"
		object.serial = "1460"
		pulse.attr.maxlength = "4194304"
		pulse.attr.tlength = "48000"
		pulse.attr.prebuf = "38408"
		pulse.attr.minreq = "9600"
		module-stream-restore.id = "sink-input-by-application-name:Firefox"

Sink Input #1522
	Driver: PipeWire
	Owner Module: n/a
	Client: 96
	Sink: 55
	Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Format: pcm, format.sample_format = "\"float32le\""  format.rate = "48000"  format.channels = "2"  format.channel_map = "\"front-left,front-right\""
	Corked: no
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 44302 /  68% / -10,20 dB,   front-right: 44302 /  68% / -10,20 dB
	        balance 0,00
	Buffer Latency: 0 usec
	Sink Latency: 0 usec
	Resample method: PipeWire
	Properties:
		client.api = "pipewire-pulse"
		pulse.server.type = "unix"
		application.name = "Firefox"
		application.process.id = "8325"
		application.process.user = "achno"
		application.process.host = "lenovoLegion"
		application.process.binary = "firefox"
		application.language = "en_US.UTF-8"
		window.x11.display = ":0"
		application.process.machine_id = "d1e7fdc0ff6042f58a689b9ff5d24a77"
		application.process.session_id = "1"
		media.name = "Never Back Down - YouTube"
		node.rate = "1/48000"
		node.latency = "3600/48000"
		stream.is-live = "true"
		node.name = "Firefox"
		node.want-driver = "true"
		node.autoconnect = "true"
		media.class = "Stream/Output/Audio"
		adapt.follower.spa-node = ""
		object.register = "false"
		factory.id = "6"
		clock.quantum-limit = "8192"
		factory.mode = "split"
		audio.adapt.follower = ""
		library.name = "audioconvert/libspa-audioconvert"
		client.id = "62"
		object.id = "123"
		object.serial = "1522"
		pulse.attr.maxlength = "4194304"
		pulse.attr.tlength = "48000"
		pulse.attr.prebuf = "38408"
		pulse.attr.minreq = "9600"
		module-stream-restore.id = "sink-input-by-application-name:Firefox"

Last edited by Achno (2024-01-03 23:25:09)

Achno · 2024-01-03 23:23:01

seth wrote:

How exactly do you produce the "awful sound quality"?
What do you play and how?

i just open firefox and play a song from youtube and they all sound muffled

V1del · 2024-01-03 23:24:45

You're volume is reduced across the board here, you're probably not cranking it enough in general. Put the firefox and your card volume to 100% with your favorite pulse mixer (note the dumb specialty of firefox that will override your volume choice with the actual player volume, so you'll want to crank the youtube volume slider explicitly as well)

I knew I forgot a path component

cat /proc/asound/card1/pcm0p/sub0/hw_params

but seeing this twice for the "good" and "not good" conditions would be good.

Last edited by V1del (2024-01-03 23:26:00)

Achno · 2024-01-03 23:26:40

the output of

cat /proc/asound/card1/pcm0p/sub0/hw_params

is

closed

Achno · 2024-01-03 23:31:14

V1del wrote:

You're volume is reduced across the board here, you're probably not cranking it enough in general. Put the firefox and your card volume to 100% with your favorite pulse mixer (note the dumb specialty of firefox that will override your volume choice with the actual player volume, so you'll want to crank the youtube volume slider explicitly as well)

I put it 100% and maxed the bar in firefox, it actually doesnt sound that bad or im going insane . Im used at putting at low 40's in windows and put the slider in the middle and when trying to replicate that here , maybe thats why it sounded so bad
Maybe with a few tweaks here and there with the equalizer i can fix it

Achno · 2024-01-04 19:46:03

UPDATE: i did some digging and the lenovo Product Specifications Reference which you can read here

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/Legion/Lenovo_Legion_5_15ARH05H/Lenovo_Legion_5_15ARH05H_Spec.PDF

says to use the

High Definition (HD) Audio, Realtek® ALC3287 codec

With a quick aplay -l i can see that it has the ALC257 codec

card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC257 Analog [ALC257 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Could this be the problem for the sound?

seth · 2024-01-04 21:37:15

If that was a relevant (non cosmetic) factor, this

the quality is amazing if not exactly the same as windows , this is exactly what im looking for!!!

would not be the case.

I thought the problem was related to FF?
How's the sound w/ eg. chromium?

Achno · 2024-01-04 22:53:43

seth wrote:

I thought the problem was related to FF?
How's the sound w/ eg. chromium?

Meh, I also tried chromium ,its the same thing.

There is one thing i noticed in firefox , if i max the volume slider in youtube and then head over to the pulse volume control gui i can see that that the firefox tab that has the youtube video is only at 75-85% i can increase it to 100% in there and get more volume.This is the reason i believe listening from mpv was better because it did not have that 15-25% nerf that firefox had.

At this point ive put so many hours and nothing worked so i just a grabbed an incredible equalizer preset and added the autogain, bass enhancer , deeser and most importantly the exciter plugins in

easyeffects

and got it in a pretty decent state im happy about.

Currently im solving 2 issues:
1) some small hissing sounds after a video begins and a new one starts playing ( probably because of my easyeffect configs)

2) An insanely annoying popping / bump sound that i hear sometimes when a new video starts playing. ( just leaving this here for anyone curious or had a similar problem)

From what i gathered its an audio power saving thing and after following the below steps it fixes it sometimes but i still hear those pop sounds a lot but not to the degree i heard them before.

1. Change the value from 10 → 0

sudo nano /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save

2.Change Y → N

sudo nano /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save_controller

3.Make these changes persistent on reboot, add

options snd-hda-intel power_save=0 power_save_controller=N

inside this

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

Lastly i appreciate both you seth and V1del for trying to help me

seth · 2024-01-04 23:01:48

Have you tried to download the video w/ yt-dlp and playing the local video file in FF/chromium (just open the file URI), w/o youtube?

Edit:

yt-dlp -f140 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM'

will get you the m4a

Last edited by seth (2024-01-04 23:05:11)

Achno · 2024-01-04 23:08:09

seth wrote:

Have you tried to download the video w/ yt-dlp and playing the local video file in FF/chromium (just open the file URI), w/o youtube?

Just did , sounds the same as the youtube one

c00ter · 2024-01-05 01:11:21

I have a decent 9th Gen Intel/Intel desktop rig with a decent but inexpensive LogiZ407 external sound system, but since it's also my small living room's entertainment device, it needs an adjunct EQ to refine audio output. In Windows I use FXSound (free). In Arch I use JamesDSP (AUR). Both are easily user-configurable and neither requires a post-grad degree in audio engineering to do so.

Last edited by c00ter (2024-01-05 01:11:58)

seth · 2024-01-05 08:15:01

The OPs problem seems to be the sound quality in browsers™ (and possibly other clients) while mpv sounds ok (certainly on alsa, possibly "even" on pipewire/pulse)

gst-play-1.0 /path/to/thunderstruck.mp3

c00ter · 2024-01-06 01:50:03

seth wrote:

The OPs problem seems to be the sound quality in browsers™ (and possibly other clients) while mpv sounds ok (certainly on alsa, possibly "even" on pipewire/pulse)

I apologize. I should have more closely qualified my statement, since streaming movies, etc. from Netflix, Prime & Max in Chromium/Chrome are where a simple EQ is what I need and JamesDSP is what fills that simple need. "Even" on pipewire/pulse, LOLOLOL. (There is also a PulseAudio version in the AUR for those so inclined.)

You crack me up.

Aqualung · 2025-09-16 00:14:16

Not really happy with the sound quality myself, but I guess I will open up another ticket.

Arch Linux

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Awful sound quality

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