[SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

grouse · 2016-04-01 19:57:56

I'm on a ~fresh install of Arch (installed couple of weeks ago, but haven't had time to properly configure/test everything until now) and I'm getting a fair amount of static hissing coming through my headphones, muting the sound in alsamixer stops the hissing, simply reducing the volume to the lowest alsamixer allows does not. I'm using the on-board sound card on the Asus X99-A motherboard, Haswell-E. Testing on my Windows dual boot does not cause the same static.

Not sure if this is related or a quirk of alsa(mixer), as I don't have much experience with setting up sounds in Linux, as on previous systems everythings just worked, but in order for audio to work both Master, Front, Surround, Center and LFE channels need to be unmuted, although changing the volumes of these channels (except master and front) does not change the output volume.

Any help to debug and fix this problem would be much appreciated.

Solution
Credit to onslow77 for the solution that fixed this problem, much appreciated.

My problem was fixed by adding the following line into a file in /etc/modprobe.d/:

# /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf
options snd-hda-intel model=generic

Last edited by grouse (2016-04-02 14:48:26)

onslow77 · 2016-04-01 22:48:07

Hello!

I suggest you do the following:
1. Read and follow the Alsa troubleshoot guide
2. Do a search on Arch forum and with Google to see if any of the previous threads and information you find will help you solve your problem
3. Post back here if you still need help after doing number 1 and 2.

Also this:
I myself use a "Asus Rampage V Extreme X99" board and had similar problems. See if the section about wrong model type in the "Alsa Troubleshoot Guide" help you solve it. It did for me!

Regards
Martin

Last edited by onslow77 (2016-04-01 22:54:38)

grouse · 2016-04-02 00:10:10

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. Audio is working, there's just a lot of background static noise that is driving me nuts, and I've done as much googling and searching through the arch wiki as I can manage.

Explicitly setting model doesn't solve anything, for reference the sound card is an ALC1150. I've also tried to plug my headphones into the headphone jack on my USB Yeti Microphone with the same results, although I think that just redirects to the onboard soundcard.

rfreidel · 2016-04-02 06:44:14

I didn't experience static just really bad sound quality across the board. Do you use pulseaudio? I use the gnome de with pulseaudio on top of alsa. Thats the way gnome is installed. If you are using straight alsa configuration then seek the wiki.

I have an older mainboard (z97pro) but with the same ALC1150 audio chip. To hear listenable (is that a word?) music through my ath m50x I change a few settings in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf. Not sure if it will help you but...

resample-method = src-sinc-best-quality
default-sample-format = float32ne
alternate-sample-rate = 96000

That gives me audio I am very happy with, its the best I have ever heard though an onboard sound chip. That includes comparing to the windows10 I initially tested this system with, that driver/software made music sound like transistors.

Those few lines and installing xnoise makes my flacs and my ears very happy.

onslow77 · 2016-04-02 07:28:04

grouse wrote:

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. Audio is working, there's just a lot of background static noise that is driving me nuts, and I've done as much googling and searching through the arch wiki as I can manage.
Explicitly setting model doesn't solve anything, for reference the sound card is an ALC1150. I've also tried to plug my headphones into the headphone jack on my USB Yeti Microphone with the same results, although I think that just redirects to the onboard soundcard.

Hello!

grouse - The "Alsa troubleshoot Guide" that I refered to does not just have solutions for when the sound is not working at all.

Your problem is not unique. Therefore I have three questions for you:
- Did you tried any of the suggested solutions from the "Alsa Troubleshoot Guide"?
- You are saying that you have search for a solution with Google and on the Arch community. What suggested solutions have you tried so far?
- How did you sat the model, and what options did you tried?

Regards
Martin

Last edited by onslow77 (2016-04-02 07:29:40)

grouse · 2016-04-02 09:33:21

@rfreidel thanks for your suggestion. I'm using pulseaudio on top of alsa, with gnome however that may be relevant. Also interestingly using ath m50x headphones Sadly, I've set my daemon.conf to include those lines and no such luck.

@onslow77 well aware that the alsa troubleshooting page contains more than just no-sound problems, your reply just made me think you thought I had no sound at all and realised I hadn't been crystal clear on that point. Nothing on the alsa troubleshooting wiki page fits my symtpons, and anything related to crackling or sound quality I've already tried.

Searching for my problem mostly brings up problems where my only problem is just a symptom for not having sound working at all, like audio devices being muted or sound card not being properly detected. The only ones I've found with my problem at the core either have had no responses or with the conclusion "it's the onboard sound card, get a dedicated one". The latter one I realise is true to an extent, but seeing as I'm not seeing this level of background hissing in Windows it leads me to believe that either something is wrong/improperly configured or, worst case, it's a problem in the sound card drivers.

I've searched the alsa-project.org site with ALC1150 and most of what I can find is from ~2014 when the sound chip was new and it had as such not been properly implemented yet, all the patches and fixes mentioned for that were applied right around kernel 3.16.

I'd be happy to provide a bunch of output but I'm unsure which commands might provide relevant output to help me fix this problem.

I also had another look at alsamixer and noted a few things. Muting the "Line" channel resolves some, maybe even most, of the hissing, and does not affect the played audio. The background hissing is definitely still there though it seems more static than hissing, unmuting Line results in noise akin to coil whine. Furthermore, muting "Front" channel mutes all static, but also mutes my sound (my headphones are plugged into the rear, so I found this a bit weird, but could just be a alsa channel naming quirk and unrelated?).

What I've tried

# /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
resample-method = src-sinc-best-quality
default-sample-format = float32ne
alternate-sample-rate = 96000

# ~/.asoundrc
defaults.pcm.rate_converter "speexrate_medium"

# /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf
options snd-hda-intel model=ALC1150 snoop=0

onslow77 · 2016-04-02 11:56:12

grouse wrote:

# /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf
options snd-hda-intel model=ALC1150 snoop=0

Try this:

# /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf
options snd-hda-intel model=generic

Reboot after setting the above and see if that solves the problem.

Regards
Martin

Last edited by onslow77 (2016-04-02 11:56:45)

grouse · 2016-04-02 14:45:22

@onslow77 thanks a lot, that seems to have fixed it! Much appreciated, updating main post to reflect for any future bypassers

Arch Linux

#1 2016-04-01 19:57:56

[SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#2 2016-04-01 22:48:07

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#3 2016-04-02 00:10:10

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#4 2016-04-02 06:44:14

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#5 2016-04-02 07:28:04

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#6 2016-04-02 09:33:21

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#7 2016-04-02 11:56:12

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

#8 2016-04-02 14:45:22

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA/Pulse static hissing problem (ALC1150, X99)

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