[alsa]how to get surround 5.1 on every apps? how to tweak asound.conf?

Gillian00 · 2012-01-08 17:16:37

Hello,

I have a laptop dell studio xps 1647 with IDT 92HD73C1X5 chipset. I have Alsa only (no pulseaudio with which I had problem running Spotify and Kde)

I spent time reading and searching information but I do not understand everything about the way alsa and up/down mixing is running.
I have some questions:

1. On my laptop, I have 2 front and one subwoofer. So it means that I have 2.1 soundsystem right? But on Windows (and Linux), I have the greatest sound quality putting 5.1 sound with IDT software. Why ? How does it work ? Why don't I have better sound putting 2.1 option ??

2. When I was running with Pulseaudio, I was stuck to 4.0 sound according with this issue: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=111727 and no way to put 5.1 sound on smplayer (for example). Now that I removed pulseaudio, I can run 5.1 sound on smplayer and enjoy pretty good quality sound with movies. BUT this is apparently the only apps with which I can do this. Amarok doesn't seem to use 5.1, neither do Audacious or kde notifications or whatever apps I use. How can I change it ?? Because There is a real quality difference between sound on smplayer and on other apps.

3. I tried to change my asound.conf with this one: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18371907/asoundrc but of course it is made for a specific laptop. So it does'nt work at all (no sound). I do not really understand how it works. Is there some wiki about tweaking asound.conf with all these options ??

4. When I run

speaker-test -c 6 -D surround51 -t wav

I have every sound but LFE.

What is exactly LFE ? How can I enable it ??

5. Pulseaudio or not Pulseaudio ?? If I do not wanna use network possibilities of pulseaudio, there is no other interest in it right ? there is no better quality sound with it ??

6. what is exactly S/PDIF ?? and how do I know if I have analog or digital system ??? what does it change ?

thanks A LOT to pay attention to my questions :-)

And sorry for my bad English and my noob questions ^^

some information:

$ cat /etc/asound.conf
defaults.pcm.rate_converter "samplerate_medium"

pcm.!surround51 {
type vdownmix
slave.pcm "default"
}
pcm.!surround40 {
type vdownmix
slave.pcm "default"
}

references from alsa:

STAC92HD73*
===========
ref Reference board
no-jd BIOS setup but without jack-detection
intel Intel DG45* mobos
dell-m6-amic Dell desktops/laptops with analog mics
dell-m6-dmic Dell desktops/laptops with digital mics
dell-m6 Dell desktops/laptops with both type of mics
dell-eq Dell desktops/laptops
alienware Alienware M17x
auto BIOS setup (default)

$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
options snd-pcsp index=-2
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel model=dell-m6
options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1

$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound_persistent.conf
options snd slots=snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_intel

$ aplay -l
**** Liste des Périphériques Matériels PLAYBACK ****
carte 0: Intel [HDA Intel], périphérique 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
Sous-périphériques: 1/1
Sous-périphérique #0: subdevice #0
carte 1: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], périphérique 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Sous-périphériques: 1/1
Sous-périphérique #0: subdevice #0

$ aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=Intel
HDA Intel, STAC92xx Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, STAC92xx Analog
Front speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, STAC92xx Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, STAC92xx Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, STAC92xx Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=0
HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 0
HDMI Audio Output

Last edited by Gillian00 (2012-01-08 17:40:39)

brebs · 2012-01-08 20:59:34

I have the greatest sound quality putting 5.1 sound with IDT software. Why ? How does it work ? Why don't I have better sound putting 2.1 option ??

Is it "quality", or just loudness?

You want to get the "LFE" (subwoofer) working - try this:

options snd-hda-intel model=dell-m6-dmic

Gillian00 · 2012-01-08 21:51:39

Yes indeed. It is maybe loudness. :-)

Nothing changes with "dmic" or not. It is an option for digital mic or analog mic.

thanks for your help !

Arch Linux

#1 2012-01-08 17:16:37

[alsa]how to get surround 5.1 on every apps? how to tweak asound.conf?

#2 2012-01-08 20:59:34

Re: [alsa]how to get surround 5.1 on every apps? how to tweak asound.conf?

#3 2012-01-08 21:51:39

Re: [alsa]how to get surround 5.1 on every apps? how to tweak asound.conf?

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