Realtek ALC883 on 11.1 Sound Quality

English Hardware
#1

Hi there,
Have just installed 11.1 and I do have sound but it is very distorted and does not have much volume.
Just wanted to know if ALC883 runs under Linux and if so what can I do to improve performance.

Thank you.

David C. Findlay

All info for my setup is given in the following lines.

My ALSA information is located at http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=5bdf319abb09386967be26881ddf780352b1eed6

linux-574w:~ # rpm -qa | grep alsa
alsa-1.0.18-8.9
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-devel-1.0.18-8.9
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.43
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-1.37
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.13
linux-574w:~ # rpm -qa | grep pulse
pulseaudio-utils-0.9.12-9.5
libpulse0-32bit-0.9.12-9.6
pulseaudio-module-x11-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-module-jack-0.9.12-9.5
libpulsecore4-0.9.12-9.5
libxine1-pulse-1.1.15-20.8
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-esound-compat-0.9.12-9.5
libpulse-mainloop-glib0-0.9.12-9.5
libpulse0-0.9.12-9.5
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.13
libpulse-browse0-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-module-lirc-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf-0.9.12-9.5
linux-574w:~ # rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.18-8.9
linux-574w:~ # uname -a
Linux linux-574w 2.6.27.7-9-default #1 SMP 2008-12-04 18:10:04 +0100 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
linux-574w:~ # cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound

options snd slots=snd-hda-intel

u1Nb.c9J1KXzTGCE:82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller

alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
linux-574w:~ #

#2

You might like to try this](http://forums.opensuse.org/hardware/407603-snd-hda-intel-alsa-5-1-audio.html). I have found though that the file works best if you place it in /etc as asoundrc. Be sure to read the file description at the start to determine if it might suit your needs.

Also use YaST > Hardware > Sound to configure your mixer settings. If you start an instance of kmix or kamix or others in the gui you may need to re-check the levels in those graphical mixers. You will also probably want to add the multimedia repository (opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/audio/openSUSE_11.1/) in order to obtain the latest alsa version.

#3

Further to RCCrouch’s recommendation, when trying to fix your low volume, specifically go to YaST > Hardware > Sound > Other > Volume, and move the volume levels there for Master and PCM volume up higher. Much higher. Then close YaST. Then start your mixer, and there you need to select an optimum volume level for both Master and PCM volume that is sufficiently loud, but NOT distorted.

Also, don’t use vlc for this test. vlc is notorious for introducing distortion at higher volume levels via its individual volume control.

Also note that the PCM volume control in your mixer may change dynamically when you start a new multimedia app, and you may need to go back to your mixer, and move up its volume level for each newly started app.