Arch Linux

kingslayer

Member

Registered: 2025-01-31

Posts: 3

Audio Quality and Volume Issues on Arch Linux with PipeWire

Hi everyone,

I'm new to Arch Linux, and I've been having some issues with my audio quality and volume compared to what I experienced on Windows. I'm currently using PipeWire for audio.

Here are the issues I'm facing:

1- The audio quality doesn't seem as good as it was on Windows.
2- At lower volume levels (around 50%), I can barely hear anything.
3- For normal listening, I have to set the volume to around 140%.
4- When I go beyond 170%, the audio starts to distort and break up.

I'm not sure if this is a configuration issue or something else. Could someone help me figure out how to improve the audio quality and adjust the volume settings?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,178

Re: Audio Quality and Volume Issues on Arch Linux with PipeWire

What hardware/laptop model/mainboard whatever? Issues here are very often up to firmware or how vendors expose the devices. What's your output for

aplay -lL
amixer -c0

post that in [code][/code] tags

kingslayer

Member

Registered: 2025-01-31

Posts: 3

Re: Audio Quality and Volume Issues on Arch Linux with PipeWire

 aplay -lL  
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PipeWire Media Server)
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=sofhdadsp
    sof-hda-dsp, 
    Default Audio Device
usbstream:CARD=sofhdadsp
    sof-hda-dsp
    USB Stream Output
**** 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: sofhdadsp [sof-hda-dsp], device 0: HDA Analog (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: sofhdadsp [sof-hda-dsp], device 3: HDMI1 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: sofhdadsp [sof-hda-dsp], device 4: HDMI2 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: sofhdadsp [sof-hda-dsp], device 5: HDMI3 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: sofhdadsp [sof-hda-dsp], device 31: HDA Analog Deep Buffer (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

amixer -c0  
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]