Prelude76 Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 I came across this in LinuxCult forums. Thought i'd run it by ya. A new version of The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA 0.9.4) has been released.The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) provides audio and MIDI functionality to the Linux operating system. ALSA has the following significant features: 1. Efficient support for all types of audio interfaces, from consumer soundcards to professional multichannel audio interfaces. 2. Fully modularized sound drivers. 3. SMP and thread-safe design. 4. User space library (alsa-lib) to simplify application programming and provide higher level functionality. 5. Support for the older OSS API, providing binary compatibility for most OSSALSA Project PageInstalling ALSA c/o freshrpmsRPM's can be found at http://freshrpms.net/ although 0.9.4 is not yet available, check there in a few days.I personally use ALSA instead of the more typical OSS sound drivers, for reasons of quality and the ability to support multiple streams to the card, for example allowing simultaneous playback of music via XMMS and desktop sounds from applications such as ICQ, GAIM or the Gnome/KDE desktop effects.How tricky is it to remove OSS drivers and replace them with these ALSA drivers? anyone tried them yet? i noticed playing MP3s in XMMS in SuSE isn't as nice as playing them in WinXP, and it will stand in my way of an eventual ful switch over into Linux. Can anyone with a bit more linux experience then me try these drivers out and let me know? I'm not confident enough to mess around with my sound drivers yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 I seem to have the ALSA drivers already installed in SuSE with my SB Live! Value. Mandrake also has them installed. For me, XMMS sounds better in Linux than Winamp in XP on the same machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 I don't really like the DSP in Linux. No sharing. In Windows, if you playing mp3 in WinAmp and open up Windows Media Player to play some movie at the same time. The sound would get overlapped, but not in Linux. Only one application occupy /dev/dsp at one time. Even if you don't play music in xmms, you can't have sound in mplayer unless you close xmms first. I am abit sick of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 PreludeCheck in your software management what drivers are actualy installed, the ALSA are probably on your CD´s; install those and see if there is a quality improvement, you can upgrade to the new ones once they are ¨fully tested on bugs¨ by all the hardcore ALSA fans.The ¨old¨ ones I now have on my Mandrake do perfectly fine. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prelude76 Posted June 3, 2003 Author Share Posted June 3, 2003 im gonns have to check which drivers are loaded. thanx for the tips, guys.maybe in XP it sounded better because i listened to a better song at the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Only play your best songs in Linux Prelude . . . . . Thought you would have known that ! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henderrob Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Heck, I'm just glad I have sound and can play MP3s without fuss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 You´re right henderrob, all these new young Linuxers have no idea how hard it used to be to get your soundcard working in Linux only a few years ago. The nightmares many of us had getting the right drivers and tinkering the configfiles. All that is past tense now, in a few years time also the modem hassles people have now will be just a memory. ( I hope ) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chr1s Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 I don't really like the DSP in Linux. No sharing. In Windows, if you playing mp3 in WinAmp and open up Windows Media Player to play some movie at the same time. The sound would get overlapped, but not in Linux. Only one application occupy /dev/dsp at one time. Even if you don't play music in xmms, you can't have sound in mplayer unless you close xmms first. I am abit sick of it.I don't get that. I can run XMMS and XINE and get e-mail sounds/ desktop sounds etc all at the same time (mandrake 9.1). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent007 Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 How tricky is it to remove OSS drivers and replace them with these ALSA drivers? anyone tried them yet? i noticed playing MP3s in XMMS in SuSE isn't as nice as playing them in WinXP, and it will stand in my way of an eventual ful switch over into Linux. Can anyone with a bit more linux experience then me try these drivers out and let me know? I'm not confident enough to mess around with my sound drivers yet. Prelude,Are u using KDE? If so, disable the ARTS server and change the output plugin in XMMS to OSS...OSS definately gives a better o/p than arts...007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 You´re right henderrob, all these new young Linuxers have no idea how hard it used to be to get your soundcard working in Linux only a few years ago. The nightmares many of us had getting the right drivers and tinkering the configfiles. All that is past tense now, in a few years time also the modem hassles people have now will be just a memory. ( I hope ) BrunoI am an early starter for Linux as well, and I experienced the pain trying to get sound work in Linux. but still up to this date, it is still in need of improvement. To me, it is still lagging behind BeOS or Windows for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 I don't really like the DSP in Linux. No sharing. In Windows, if you playing mp3 in WinAmp and open up Windows Media Player to play some movie at the same time. The sound would get overlapped, but not in Linux. Only one application occupy /dev/dsp at one time. Even if you don't play music in xmms, you can't have sound in mplayer unless you close xmms first. I am abit sick of it.I don't get that. I can run XMMS and XINE and get e-mail sounds/ desktop sounds etc all at the same time (mandrake 9.1). Well, perhaps, something is different in your system as opposed to SuSE. Nonetheless, I have tried Mandrake 9.1 before, and same problem as on every machien I have installed so far. I have installed it on about 5 to 6 machines in my room, and sound device is not shared at all for me.My sound card is either Intel chipset, Yamaha, or SoundMAX Well, I will wait for better release of Linux in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 I don't get that. I can run XMMS and XINE and get e-mail sounds/ desktop sounds etc all at the same time (mandrake 9.1).So do I chr1s, and the quality is perfect, have no complains since 8.2. Before that the drivers and config were hard to get right, the day I installed 8.2, no more hassle. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 I don't really like the DSP in Linux. No sharing. In Windows, if you playing mp3 in WinAmp and open up Windows Media Player to play some movie at the same time. The sound would get overlapped, but not in Linux. Only one application occupy /dev/dsp at one time. Even if you don't play music in xmms, you can't have sound in mplayer unless you close xmms first. I am abit sick of it.Hmm,SuSE 8.2 and my SoundBlaster Live! Value seem to work perfectly together. I can play multiple audio streams and the sound card can share the output amongst a couple of apps simultaneously. It's possible the Linux drivers don't support the SoundMax audio too well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chr1s Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 I don't really like the DSP in Linux. No sharing. In Windows, if you playing mp3 in WinAmp and open up Windows Media Player to play some movie at the same time. The sound would get overlapped, but not in Linux. Only one application occupy /dev/dsp at one time. Even if you don't play music in xmms, you can't have sound in mplayer unless you close xmms first. I am abit sick of it.Hmm,SuSE 8.2 and my SoundBlaster Live! Value seem to work perfectly together. I can play multiple audio streams and the sound card can share the output amongst a couple of apps simultaneously. It's possible the Linux drivers don't support the SoundMax audio too well. I was thinking that - I have a SoundBlaster Live! too and I don't get any of these problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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