Arch Linux

beanaroo

Member

Registered: 2013-03-05

Posts: 39

Is there a Pulseaudio volume limit?

I have recently made the switch to i3wm and I've been setting up my function/media hotkeys.

I accidentally noticed I can increase my output volume WAY over 150%... Is this normal? Should I be imposing a limit in some config file?

bean@bean-laptop  ~ 
 ❯ ponymix                                                                
sink 0: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo
  Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
  Avg. Volume: 677%
source 1: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo
  Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
  Avg. Volume: 100% [Muted]

I'm scared to see how high it can go for fear of causing laptop hardware damage. (Neurotic, maybe?) Is this dangerous or is it just a number?

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,601

Re: Is there a Pulseaudio volume limit?

You won't damage the hardware.  I believe that the levels are a scalar that are applied to the master volume level.  Maybe you set your youtube levels at 100% of the master volume, Skype at 125%, and system notifications at 50%.  They all scale with the master volume.  But, when you run the master volume up, there is a point where things clip.

In general, it is hard to break the hardware with software(*).  Hardware engineers know that software engineers are hacks and we have to defend our designs from their steaming extrusions

(*) Not saying it is not possible -- look into https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=193048

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