Metallic distorted sound with USB soundcard

[sclarckone]

Hi folks,

I own an ESI U46XL, an USB interface audio. Initially used with ALSA/PulseAudio it was running fine but I read on the Internet that it would sound better with OSS - which is what I care the most about - so I decided to give it a try.

I followed this wiki page (yes, I'm an Arch user) and it seemed to work just fine but I have a trouble with the sound: it is highly distorted and very metallic. I initially thought it could be a sampling rate problem, but when I play a 44.1kHz file, the output set in ossmix is automatically set to 44.1kHz so I don't see anything wrong here. I should also mention that I checked the possibilities listed on the Troubleshooting wiki page.

Here are my hardware and ossmix configuration for my usb audio interface (hope it can help):

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[sclarckone@archLaptop ~]$ ossinfo -a

Audio devices
HD Audio play pcm1                /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0  (device index 0)
HD Audio play pcm2                /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm1  (device index 1)
HD Audio play spdifout            /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/spdout0  (device index 2)
HD Audio rec rec1                 /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin0  (device index 3)
HD Audio rec pcm2                 /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin1  (device index 4)
USB sound device play             /dev/oss/usb0a9200e2-1/pcm0  (device index 5)
USB sound device rec              /dev/oss/usb0a9200e2-2/pcmin0  (device index 6)

Nodes
  /dev/dsp -> /dev/oss/usb0a9200e2-1/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_in -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_out -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_ac3 -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/spdout0
  /dev/dsp_mmap -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_multich -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0


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[sclarckone@archLaptop ~]$ ossmix -d 1
Selected mixer 1/USB sound device
Known controls are:
output.mute1 ON|OFF (currently OFF)
output.mute2 ON|OFF (currently OFF)
output.vol.front [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 147:147)
output.vol.c/l [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 255:255)
rec.src <mic> (currently mic)
rec.mute1 ON|OFF (currently ON)
rec.mute2 ON|OFF (currently ON)
rec.vol.front [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0:0)
rec.vol.c/l [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0:0)
vmix1-enable ON|OFF (currently ON)
vmix1-rate <decimal value> (currently 44100) (Read-only)
vmix1-channels <Stereo|Multich> (currently Stereo)
vmix1-src <Fast|High|OFF> (currently High)
vmix1-outvol <monovol> (currently 12.8 dB)
vmix1-invol <monovol> (currently 0.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm11 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm12 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm13 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm14 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)


This might be a hint as well:

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[sclarckone@archLaptop ~]$ osstest 5
Sound subsystem and version: OSS 4.2 (b 2006/201202031748) (0x00040100)
Platform: Linux/i686 3.3.2-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Apr 14 10:08:43 UTC 2012

*** Scanning sound adapter #-1 ***
/dev/oss/usb0a9200e2-1/pcm0 (audio engine 9): USB sound device play
- Skipping multi channel device

*** All tests completed OK ***


Thanks for your help!

[igorzwx]

Hi folks,
I own an ESI U46XL, an USB interface audio. Initially used with ALSA/PulseAudio it was running fine but I read on the Internet that it would sound better with OSS - which is what I care the most about - so I decided to give it a try...

ALSA/PulseAudio users may not need to care about sound quality, because they are not likely to hear the difference.

I followed this wiki page (yes, I'm an Arch user) and it seemed to work just fine but I have a trouble with the sound...

To avoid troubles, you may try to read that same "wiki page" once more:

ALSA advantages over OSS
Better support for USB audio devices. With OSS output is experimental, input is not implemented.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OS ... s_over_OSS

To fix the problem, you may need to re-write the "experimental driver" (or patch it), for example: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OS ... SB1090_USB

[sclarckone]

To avoid troubles, you may try to read that same "wiki page" once more:

ALSA advantages over OSS
Better support for USB audio devices. With OSS output is experimental, input is not implemented.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OS ... s_over_OSS

To fix the problem, you may need to re-write the "experimental driver" (or patch it), for example: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OS ... SB1090_USB

I read these pages but since I got some output (I don't care about the input for now) I assumed that the driver was working properly...but it seems I was overconfident.

Thanks for you time, I'll try to patch the driver, re-compile it and give a feedback here.

[igorzwx]

I'll try to patch the driver, re-compile it and give a feedback here.

You may ask cesium whether he has the proper patch for your particular USB device.

You may want to read this guide (recompilation of OSS4):
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3543&start=30#p15703
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3543&start=30#p15711