I thought about the software option so that's why I've been unsuccessfully trying to build jack_mixer (I have to build from SVN but there is no autogen.sh script and autoconf is not working). I like the fact that jack_mixer has midi control so I can use a external midi controller to change the levels... but the problem is that if I lower the volume on the software side and I increase the level on the monitors, then I start hearing a lot of noise mixed with the (now lower) sound signal (since the analog out of the FA-101 is still high). This is why I thought an analog mixer between the FA's outs and the monitors would be better. I researched the XLR attenuators and I found that paying for two of those (around $35CAN each) has a higher price than a small mixer ( e.g. the Behringer XENYX 502 for $57CAN), but maybe there are cheaper attenuators around, I'll take a look (thanks for telling me about them, I didn't thought about it).
If the software solution was the right one, it would be nice if Qjackctl had a simple mixer for the outputs that remembered settings so each time you start it you don't have to worry about opening another mixer application and dealing with all the software connections... but I guess I could just have a script that runs each time Jack is started.
Cheers!
Hector
On 8/24/07, Fons Adriaensen <fons@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 02:15:04AM -0400, Hector Centeno wrote:
> well... tested in Windows and the level is as high as in Linux. There is no
> Edirol control panel or software mixer to lower the levels in the interface.
> I guess I'll have to get a mixer.
A pair of XLR in-line attenuators will be much cheaper !
But I'm convinced that all this is a non-problem if looked at
in the right way. Consider this:
When using active speakers connected directly to the sound card,
you want to adjust the individual speaker gains once and then
forget about them - they are not meant as a 'volume control'.
In that case you adjust the gains of the monitors in such a way
that a full scale signal from the soundcard produces the _maximum_
_peak_ volume that you will ever require. This will be much higher
than the normal listening level, typically 30 dB or so higher.
In such a system you don't have a master volume control in hardware,
so you need to provide one in software. All applications then should
connect to the app providing this master volume control instead of
to the soundcard directly.
In other words, you don't try to use the full range of the sound
card all the time. If it's 24-bit and good quality there's nothing
wrong with that.
Imagine that your speakers would have a digital input. That would
create exactly the same situation - the average digital level you
would send to them would be quite low.
In this case, consider the software side of your soundcard to be
the digital input of your speakers. Then it becomes entirely
logical to put the volume control before the soundcard, i.e. in
software.
--
FA
Follie! Follie! Delirio vano è questo !
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