on 03/09/2007 02:57 AM, Rich E wrote: > Hi all, > > I've been trying to figure out how to get good multichannel sound with a > laptop and hdsp multiface for about a year now. It has been nothing but a > headache, but I feel like I'm slowly coming to terms with the card. > > The main problem is that the ALSA drivers don't like running at 44.1k or > 48k > samplerates ( yet these are the most useful.. go figure). 32k works > most of > the time (but sometimes I have to start the machine, let the firmware load, > then reboot before I can get the crackling to go away), but 44.1 and 48 are > always crackling and xrunning. > > Now here's the wtf, something I didn't try until recently just because I > was > sure it wouldn't work... 88.2k and 96k samplerates sound great! I still > can't get low block blockrates ( 512 is about the smallest I can use ) and > realtime mode does nothing but sputter, but at least I get clean sound. > However, I want all 8 ins and outs and the higher samplerates limit the > channels to 4. > > This works consistently using both pd's alsa support and qjackctl connected > to whatever. > > There has to be some logical explanation for this, anyone know? > > rich > I've been using the hdsp+digiface/multiface for years now without serious problems, mainly at 48k, never at higher rates. Perhaps there are problems with newer (firmware) versions of the card - I don't know. I can imagine several possible reasons for your xruns but I'm not an alsa expert so maybe some/all of my ideas are wrong: 1) Interrupt conflicts with other hardware? Try disabling the network interface etc. 2) As you are using a laptop, you should also try disabling any power saving daemons (set the CPU to performance, not powersave). 3) Disable any daemons that regularly check for newly inserted CDs changed hardware, etc. (e.g. suseplugger an suse linux) 4) Most important: Disable the 'precise pointer' option of the hdsp driver if it is enabled: (In the following I assume your hdsp is the second card in the system, therefore the -c 1. If it is your first card, use -c 0. Use cat /proc/asound/cards to check) Check if precise pointer is used: amixer -c 1 gset numid=22 and change its status to 'off' amixer -c 1 cset numid=22 0 5) Hardware that doesn't like the hdsp card? (the card bridge in the laptop) Can you check on a different laptop? Does the card work under windows? 6) If this doesn't help I'm out of ideas at the moment. But the hdsp cards are known to give good results under linux. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Alsa-user mailing list Alsa-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/alsa-user
