On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 05:50:33PM -0700, Tom Watson wrote: > I find all of this an interesting discussion, and it looks like: > 1) People want to hear some output. > 2) "Pro" people don't want to blow up speakers. Yes. I'd add to number 2: "pro" people don't want to hear any output until they set the relevant control to give output. > It seems that all of us have differing ideas on "what to expect" when it comes > to audio interfaces. Twenty years ago, these problems really didn't exist, > since computer audio was in its infancy, but now audio is everywhere, and it > muct be accounted for. Alsa's implementation of having audio MUTED on > initialization (startup) is a good one, and many distributions have init > scripts that take over from there, restoring old values. While not ideal (just > set the audio to where I want it!), it is about the best we can do. > Doing it any other way would in fact render "pro" hardware unusable. > The "pro" guy who doesn't want to blow up his speakers, I can only offer a > suggestion. What do you do when plugging in and out "normal" audio equipment. > Most of the time I turn down the level control since my big fat fingers will > end up touching the tip/ring of the audio connector and LOTS of hum results. > If you don't do this, you may have a PEBKAC problem which I (or any other > developer) can solve. If a software mixer starts up unmuted it's too late. With hardware you have the option of pressing a mute button or turning down a gain control before turning power on. A software mixer needs to be running before you can alter the default values. > > I think we are all chasing a problem that really doesn't exist. > > As for dB, some people refer to 0dB as "full scale". Some refer to it as 0 VU. > Some make it out to be 1-v p-p. Go figure. The biggest problem is that crazy > people think "louder" is better. It isn't! The main misunderstanding appears to be the fact that dB settings in a mixer refer to gain, not level. John _______________________________________________ Alsa-devel mailing list Alsa-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://mailman.alsa-project.org/mailman/listinfo/alsa-devel
