Slight distortion with mic and playback audio

Hey everybody, I’ve just installed a fresh copy of openSUSE 13.1 and things have been going great but I’ve noticed a small issue. I like to use Google Hangouts to talk to my friends and everytime I join a call for about 3-5 seconds, I get this strange distortion on the playback stream. Also, my friend has said that there is a little bit of distortion on my mic in comparison to before when I was using Windows. I did an lsmod | grep realtek and noticed that the modules for the realtek sound drivers were loaded (I haven’t installed anything myself, just using the default audio) but should I install something else? Like a seperate build of drivers that would improve the quality of the audio?

Thanks,
Simon

I don’t really know the answer.
But, you should explain

  1. Are you using KDE or Gnome
  2. Have you experienced any issue with audio playback such as with Music?
  3. Have you installed the multimedia stuff?
  4. What web browser are you using? (Could you try Chrome?)

I’m using KDE, Youtube videos and Music have no playback issues what so ever, not sure quite what you mean by multimedia stuff and I’m currently using Chrome.

Do you obtain that same distortion if you record audio with a different application that uses pulse audio , and with a different application that does not use pulse audio ? Or do you get it in both cases ?

Multimedia stuff = https://forums.opensuse.org/entry.php/149-openSUSE-13-1-Multi-media-and-Restricted-Format-Installation-Guide

Have you tried other browsers?

Yes, the quality of the recording is superior to the quality of the call in Hangouts. There are very minute clicks/pops but they are almost indistinguishable.

I’ve installed the Multimedia stuff via Packman.
I’ve tried Firefox and Iceweasel with the same result.

Now, I’ve noticed something very strange. When I initiate a call or another party initiates a call with me and I pick up or they pick up, there is distortion on the playback stream for about 5 seconds. Then, it disappears completely and the sound is fine. However, if I use Skype this issue does not occur and if I leave Skype running in the the background while I call or the other party calls me with Hangouts, the issue does not occur. :\

These issues are usually tricky to pin down.

KDE in particular can be a little more so than Gnome.

I’m reluctant to encourage too much delving as it’s always possible it could get worse.

But I’ll say this:
In KDE system settings in the Multimedia section and Audio is where I might start looking