Hi!

Recently I had to change the motherboard, and now I have the P4i65G by
ASRock. The south bridge is the famous ICH5, which, amoing other things,
incorporates a sound card. "lspci -v" gives the following line about it:

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER
(ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)

The problem is this: I can play normally anything perfectly fine (at
least, the sound seems good), but if try to record something from
Line-in, when I play it back the sound is ugly. It resembles the tipical
robot-like speaking, and it's very loud too.

I try to lower and even to mute every input control with gnome-mixer,
but the results are the same.

Alsa seems correctly configured (at least, sudo alsaconf gives no error).

What could be the cause of this strange behaviour?

Best regards.

--
Andrea


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On Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 22:51:30 +0200, Andrea Giuliano wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Recently I had to change the motherboard, and now I have the P4i65G by
> ASRock. The south bridge is the famous ICH5, which, amoing other things,
> incorporates a sound card. "lspci -v" gives the following line about it:
>
> 00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER
> (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
>
> The problem is this: I can play normally anything perfectly fine (at
> least, the sound seems good), but if try to record something from
> Line-in, when I play it back the sound is ugly. It resembles the tipical
> robot-like speaking, and it's very loud too.
>
> I try to lower and even to mute every input control with gnome-mixer,
> but the results are the same.

Maybe gnome-mixer does not give you access to the relevant capture
controls.

> Alsa seems correctly configured (at least, sudo alsaconf gives no error).

Please post the output of:

lsmod | egrep 'snd|intel8x0'

amixer | egrep -i '^( .*capture|[^ ])'

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Florian |


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On Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 11:59:04 +0200, Andrea Giuliano wrote:
> Florian Kulzer wrote:
>> On Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 22:51:30 +0200, Andrea Giuliano wrote:
>> Maybe gnome-mixer does not give you access to the relevant capture
>> controls.
>
> I guess I tried every single control, they're even too many, but this
> could a possibility: a control that doesn't affect playback during
> recording, but affects the volume of the recording itself. But which?
>>> Alsa seems correctly configured (at least, sudo alsaconf gives no error).
>> Please post the output of:
>> lsmod | egrep 'snd|intel8x0'
>> amixer | egrep -i '^( .*capture|[^ ])'
>
> Here they are. Please note that I have both cards installed, but I put on
> the Ensoniq after I got the audio problem, so I'm almost sure the Ensoniq
> has no relevance, at present.

I agree, let's ignore the presence of the Ensoniq card for now.

[ snip: list of loaded snd-modules looks OK to me ]

> Simple mixer control 'Master',0
> Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
> Simple mixer control 'Surround',0
> Simple mixer control 'Surround Jack Mode',0
> Simple mixer control 'Center',0
> Simple mixer control 'LFE',0
> Simple mixer control 'Line',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Playback 25 [81%] [on] Capture [off]
> Front Right: Playback 25 [81%] [on] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'CD',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
> Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Playback 25 [81%] [off] Capture [on]
> Front Right: Playback 25 [81%] [off] Capture [on]

You probably already tried to reduce the Playback level for the mic (to
make sure it is not some weird feedback effect).

> Simple mixer control 'Mic Boost (+20dB)',0

Check the full output of amixer for the Mic Boost settings. I would put
it at 1.00 dB or even 0.00 dB for a start.

> Simple mixer control 'Mic Select',0
> Simple mixer control 'Video',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Capture [off]
> Front Right: Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Phone',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Capture [off]
> Front Right: Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
> Capture channels: Mono
> Mono: Playback [off] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Capture Monitor',0
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Capture Valid',0
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Playback AC97-SPSA',0
> Capture channels: Mono
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Playback Source',0
> Simple mixer control 'PC Speaker',0
> Simple mixer control 'Aux',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Playback 7 [23%] [on] Capture [off]
> Front Right: Playback 7 [23%] [on] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Mono Output Select',0
> Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Limits: Capture 0 - 15
> Front Left: Capture 15 [100%] [on]
> Front Right: Capture 15 [100%] [on]
> Simple mixer control 'Mix',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Capture [off]
> Front Right: Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Mix Mono',0
> Capture exclusive group: 0
> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
> Front Left: Capture [off]
> Front Right: Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Channel Mode',0
> Simple mixer control 'DAC Clock Source',0
> Simple mixer control 'External Amplifier',0

If you cannot improve the recording quality by reducing the Mic Boost
then you could try to successively turn all capture controls to zero
until you find the one that causes the distorting amplification. I
recommend using "alsamixer" for this; it has a curses-based interface
which gives you a good overview of the playback and capture controls.
You can switch between the two groups of controls by pressing the TAB
key; use CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT to select a control, CURSOR UP/DOWN to change
volume/amplification, and SPACE to toggle capture.

The names and the interaction of the capture channels are not the same
for all cards, unfortunately. Therefore you are left with trial and
error, but I am pretty sure that one of them will allow you reduce the
amplification to a reasonable value. The names of the controls are
sometimes confusing or at least not really ful; for example, my
Intel ICH8 card has a control called "Digital" which determines the
amplification of the recordings. If I set it to its maximum value of 30
dB then I get the same kind of problems that you described in your
earlier mail.

--
Regards, | http://users.icfo.es/Florian.Kulzer
Florian |


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Many thanks, I'll give it a try and let you know if things get better.

Best regards.


Florian Kulzer wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 11:59:04 +0200, Andrea Giuliano wrote:
>> Florian Kulzer wrote:
>>> On Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 22:51:30 +0200, Andrea Giuliano wrote:
>>> Maybe gnome-mixer does not give you access to the relevant capture
>>> controls.
>> I guess I tried every single control, they're even too many, but this
>> could a possibility: a control that doesn't affect playback during
>> recording, but affects the volume of the recording itself. But which?
>>>> Alsa seems correctly configured (at least, sudo alsaconf gives no error).
>>> Please post the output of:
>>> lsmod | egrep 'snd|intel8x0'
>>> amixer | egrep -i '^( .*capture|[^ ])'
>> Here they are. Please note that I have both cards installed, but I put on
>> the Ensoniq after I got the audio problem, so I'm almost sure the Ensoniq
>> has no relevance, at present.
>
> I agree, let's ignore the presence of the Ensoniq card for now.
>
> [ snip: list of loaded snd-modules looks OK to me ]
>
>> Simple mixer control 'Master',0
>> Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Surround',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Surround Jack Mode',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Center',0
>> Simple mixer control 'LFE',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Line',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Playback 25 [81%] [on] Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Playback 25 [81%] [on] Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'CD',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Playback 25 [81%] [off] Capture [on]
>> Front Right: Playback 25 [81%] [off] Capture [on]
>
> You probably already tried to reduce the Playback level for the mic (to
> make sure it is not some weird feedback effect).
>
>> Simple mixer control 'Mic Boost (+20dB)',0
>
> Check the full output of amixer for the Mic Boost settings. I would put
> it at 1.00 dB or even 0.00 dB for a start.
>
>> Simple mixer control 'Mic Select',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Video',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'Phone',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
>> Capture channels: Mono
>> Mono: Playback [off] Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Capture Monitor',0
>> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Capture Valid',0
>> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Playback AC97-SPSA',0
>> Capture channels: Mono
>> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Playback Source',0
>> Simple mixer control 'PC Speaker',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Aux',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Playback 7 [23%] [on] Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Playback 7 [23%] [on] Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'Mono Output Select',0
>> Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Limits: Capture 0 - 15
>> Front Left: Capture 15 [100%] [on]
>> Front Right: Capture 15 [100%] [on]
>> Simple mixer control 'Mix',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'Mix Mono',0
>> Capture exclusive group: 0
>> Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>> Front Left: Capture [off]
>> Front Right: Capture [off]
>> Simple mixer control 'Channel Mode',0
>> Simple mixer control 'DAC Clock Source',0
>> Simple mixer control 'External Amplifier',0
>
> If you cannot improve the recording quality by reducing the Mic Boost
> then you could try to successively turn all capture controls to zero
> until you find the one that causes the distorting amplification. I
> recommend using "alsamixer" for this; it has a curses-based interface
> which gives you a good overview of the playback and capture controls.
> You can switch between the two groups of controls by pressing the TAB
> key; use CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT to select a control, CURSOR UP/DOWN to change
> volume/amplification, and SPACE to toggle capture.
>
> The names and the interaction of the capture channels are not the same
> for all cards, unfortunately. Therefore you are left with trial and
> error, but I am pretty sure that one of them will allow you reduce the
> amplification to a reasonable value. The names of the controls are
> sometimes confusing or at least not really ful; for example, my
> Intel ICH8 card has a control called "Digital" which determines the
> amplification of the recordings. If I set it to its maximum value of 30
> dB then I get the same kind of problems that you described in your
> earlier mail.
>


--
Andrea


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