Echo during Google Talk call

gammel.holte · 2011-09-17 18:16:19

Hi all,

I've recently started using Arch as my only OS. Everything is working fine except for Google Talk calls.

Whenever I start a voice chat with somebody, the person I talk to complains about echo. They hear themselves when they talk. I've tested that and it's true. I suppose I need an echo cancellation filter on my side. However, I haven't found how to set up that in the wiki or BBS.

I don't know whether switching to PulseAudio from ALSA would help. Maybe it's an application-level issue. So far, I've tested both Pidgin and Empathy. Both produce the same horrible echo. Perhaps the Google Talk browser plugin would work better, but I'd prefer not to use it as it's proprietary.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

ngoonee · 2011-09-19 03:32:00

Simplistic non-techy solution - use headphones rather than a speaker?

If you want a software solution, google for linux echo cancellation. I'm always on headphones, so I have no idea what's currently available. Skype does it in-app, I believe (but that's proprietary too)

R00KIE · 2011-09-19 10:33:38

ngoonee wrote:

Simplistic non-techy solution - use headphones rather than a speaker?
If you want a software solution, google for linux echo cancellation. I'm always on headphones, so I have no idea what's currently available. Skype does it in-app, I believe (but that's proprietary too)

+1 on headphone use, or better yet, use an headset, there will be no echo/feedback and there will be less noise mixed with your voice, the person on the other side will hear you better and the whole thing will be better for the ears of the person on the other side.

ngoonee · 2011-09-20 04:05:21

Just realized on the pulseaudio ML that pulse has an echo-cancellation module, you may want to check that out. I always use headphones anyway, so I have not played with it before.

gammel.holte · 2011-09-26 10:30:59

Thanks for all the suggestions and sorry for the late reply.

Unfortunately headphones are not an acceptable solution in my case. I intend to use Google Talk to replace Skype at work for voice calls. Sometimes there are a few people talking at once from my computer.

ngoonee wrote:

Just realized on the pulseaudio ML that pulse has an echo-cancellation module, you may want to check that out. I always use headphones anyway, so I have not played with it before.

That's right. In fact I tried this before posting, but I wasn't successful. Apparently there's a PulseAudio virtual device that filters echo. It's simply loaded by doing:

pactl load-module module-echo-cancel

I'll try again and post my findings.

scan2006 · 2011-09-26 11:49:01

Have you tried using alsamixer? I find that I have to turn off the mic all the way down on the Playback (F3) then on the Capture (F4) I have to turn the mic up on that page.

ngoonee · 2011-09-27 01:43:53

scan2006 wrote:

Have you tried using alsamixer? I find that I have to turn off the mic all the way down on the Playback (F3) then on the Capture (F4) I have to turn the mic up on that page.

That's nothing to do with echo of the sort OP is talking about, when 'mic' is up on playback your speakers simply playback what you're speaking (which is quite annoying in normal use cases, but its good to have the option) into the mic.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-09-17 18:16:19

Echo during Google Talk call

#2 2011-09-19 03:32:00

Re: Echo during Google Talk call

#3 2011-09-19 10:33:38

Re: Echo during Google Talk call

#4 2011-09-20 04:05:21

Re: Echo during Google Talk call

#5 2011-09-26 10:30:59

Re: Echo during Google Talk call

#6 2011-09-26 11:49:01

Re: Echo during Google Talk call

#7 2011-09-27 01:43:53

Re: Echo during Google Talk call

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