You are not logged in.
I only get Dell laptops for work and the onboard soundcards are bloody awful. If I scroll down a web page a high-pitched screeching/whistling noise occurs, akin to that of a transformer or lights dimmer - very unpleasant. Since I like listening to music while I work I'm looking for something such as an external sound card to alleviate this issue - or hints on what else could be done. I've got a music collection mostly consisting of FLAC and MP3 files which I play in MPD, the alsaequal plugin to get an equalizer (system-wide, I believe) and finally a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro head phones with 3,5 and 6,3 mm plugs.
Would a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB do the trick? I recall that manufacturer got a lot of flak previously due to incompatibility with Linux... I can't pry apart the machine, obviously, so it's got to be something that would work on a majority of low-end bulk-ordered laptops without voiding any warranties or the like.
Edit: Marking as solved, using an external soundcard works.
Last edited by totte (2016-02-29 19:33:07)
Offline
I've never been able to notice the sound quality difference perceived by audiophiles between good but affordable hardware and the ridiculously priced stuff on the market - so I go with cheap quality.
I have a usb external 7.1 soundcard that works wonderfully (good sound quality and works OOB with alsa) for $20. I think Vantec was the brand.
But more to the point: The alsa wiki has a list of cards and reports of their support on linux.
Edit: to add link.
Last edited by Trilby (2012-12-29 14:24:02)
"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" - Richard Stallman
Online
If I scroll down a web page a high-pitched screeching/whistling noise occurs
Probably interference from the CPU's power-saving. Try e.g.:
processor.max_cstate=2
In grub's boot commandline (as shown by: cat /proc/cmdline)
Offline
Like Trilby I have a 7.1 USB sound card
C-media chipset, works fine with Arch
Offline
Thanks for the replies, I'll see what USB-connected card I can get ahold of.
totte wrote:If I scroll down a web page a high-pitched screeching/whistling noise occurs
Probably interference from the CPU's power-saving. Try e.g.:
processor.max_cstate=2
In grub's boot commandline (as shown by: cat /proc/cmdline)
Interesting! I tried both
root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet init=/bin/systemd processor.max_cstate=1 initrd=../initramfs-linux.img BOOT_IMAGE=../vmlinuz-linux
and
root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet init=/bin/systemd processor.max_cstate=2 initrd=../initramfs-linux.img BOOT_IMAGE=../vmlinuz-linux
but it had no effect from what I can tell. Are there any other such settings I could try? I found this page on a search but I'm no wiser from it.
Offline