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Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS)?

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Do you prefer, ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS)?

ALSA
73
65%
PulseAudio
29
26%
Open sound System (OSS)
10
9%
 
Total votes: 112

Message
Author
kedaha
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#16 Post by kedaha »

qjqqyy wrote:Alsa, pa or Oss is not a matter of preference, since alsa works perfectly and i had a bad experience of pa previously in butnut, i just stuck with the "default" alsa.
I have to say, having tried all three now, that on my hardware at least, OSS4 sound quality is superb, the best I've heard emanating from a computer soundcard.
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vbrummond
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#17 Post by vbrummond »

Lspci tells me I have this card but I know it is some sort of Via vt something that has terrible Linux support:

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Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
Last time I tried OSS4 it worked (music apps played) but I thought it was just muted and could not figure out how to unmute it with the cluttery oss4-gtk application, however I really think that I just have no support for my hardware.
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Roel63
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#18 Post by Roel63 »

vbrummond wrote:I really think that I just have no support for my hardware.
What kernel do you use? I had the same with a certain VIA card, recognised as HDA Intel, and it only started working after upgrading to 2.6.38 (and higher).

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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#19 Post by vbrummond »

I am unable to compile OSS4 on anything except 2.6.32. DKMS always fails. I am using Linux 3.0 (compiled myself from Debian sources). I tried to install OSS manually but it always fails to compile. The error was annoying, if I disable regparm in oss4 it says unable to find regparm and fails to compile. If is enable it it tells me to disable and fails at the make install step.
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Roel63
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#20 Post by Roel63 »

Hmmm there my knowledge fails.

From memory, I have a Via VT1708s and this one needs > 2.6.32.

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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#21 Post by vbrummond »

Yeah I have a VIA VT1708S. Aka: Crap. I will try to install oss4 from testing if its there or manually compile from source.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#22 Post by vbrummond »

Yeah, with oss4 from testing and linux 3.0 I get:

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oss_hdaudio: HDA codec 0x11060397 not known yet
oss_hdaudio: HDA codec 0x11060397 not known yet
:(
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#23 Post by kedaha »

Yes, I notice that the opensound download site only offers debs for 2.6. Linux oses.
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phenest
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#24 Post by phenest »

eric1959 wrote:Alsa, works. Speakers : 2.1

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lspci | grep -i audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05)
. Onboard.
Webcam : Logitech Webcam C500, no issues.

Only problem : speakers not auto-muted when I plugin headphone....http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57796
Same setup as I have on my Dell Precision M90: 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
I can't use PA because of the asynchronous way the volume increases across the available channels. I also get crackling, and can exceed 100% volume (what's that all about?!). But I don't have any issues with ALSA.

It seems to me the PA devs only work with a stereo setup and fail to understand those with an LFE channel. I think PA should only be an optional plugin for those that need/want it.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#25 Post by kedaha »

For anyone who's interested in trying OSS4, here's how I installed it on Squeeze 2.6.32-5-amd64. There is a forum howto posted here but it needs updating. [Edit 26 Sept 2011: See also my HOWTO: OSS4 on Debian Squeeze from source.] No need to use module-assistant since oss4-dkms will take care of this. Please see alternative method at end of post too before proceeding.
First example:

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# aptitude install oss4-base oss4-dkms oss4-gtk
# aptitude install libasound2-plugins flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound
# nano /etc/asound.conf
Cut & paste the code below

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pcm.oss {
   type oss
    device /dev/dsp
}

pcm.!default {
    type oss
    device /dev/dsp
}

ctl.oss {
    type oss
    device /dev/mixer
}

ctl.!default {
    type oss
    device /dev/mixer
}
Now:

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# /etc/init.d/alsa-utils stop
# aptitude remove alsa-base alsa-utils
# dpkg-reconfigure linux-sound-base
You will be informed: Choosing the ALSA sound system is strongly recommended but I didn't let that put me off and selected OSS4 regardless. This completes it and now, when you reboot you'll have OSS4, although you may have to make a few minor adjustments.
There are a number of tests you can make such as typing osstest in a terminal but keep the volume low before trying it since it can be amazingly loud!
To revert to ALSA, reinstall alsa-base alsa-utils and execute the last command above to select the default and also remove /etc/asound.conf.

Alternative way:
To install the deb available from the Open Sound System Driver Download page all the following packages are necessary:

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# aptitude install binutils cpp-4.3 dkms gcc-4.3 gcc-4.3-base libglib2.0-0 libgtk2.0-0 linux-headers-2.6-amd64 linux-headers-2.6.32-5-amd64 linux-headers-2.6.32-5-common linux-kbuild-2.6.32 make
Followed by:

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$ wget http://www.4front-tech.com/release/oss-linux-4.2-2005_amd64.deb
The deb can then installed by opening the deb with the gdebi package installer or with dpkg -i .
Well, I hope this post inclines the preferences a little towards OSS4!
* For flash support:

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# aptitude install flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound
* Edited 24 Oct 2011 for note about flash.
Last edited by kedaha on 2011-10-24 09:26, edited 3 times in total.
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ivanovnegro
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#26 Post by ivanovnegro »

For what stands this flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound, as I do not have it installed on my system and it seems I do not need it either?

Edit: I think, I got it.

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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#27 Post by kedaha »

ivanovnegro wrote:For what stands this flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound, as I do not have it installed on my system and it seems I do not need it either?

Edit: I think, I got it.
Yes, I couldn't find that package either and was pleased to find it isn't necessary anymore.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#28 Post by milomak »

i experienced pa in its earliest incarnation given i run sid. it wasn't up to the task then.

i would concede that today it is probably much better. but i ask myself the question - why change configurations when my current solution works perfectly?

so even if pa is now fully functional, why would i change from alsa? except for the shorter pa.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#29 Post by kedaha »

milomak wrote:i experienced pa in its earliest incarnation given i run sid. it wasn't up to the task then.

i would concede that today it is probably much better. but i ask myself the question - why change configurations when my current solution works perfectly?

so even if pa is now fully functional, why would i change from alsa? except for the shorter pa.
I suppose PulseAudio will become the default, not in opposition to Alsa but in a complementary manner.Why change configurations when ones own solution works perfectly? Well, I thought that but - perhaps more out of curiosity than any dissatisfaction with the default ALSA - I decided to try both pa and OSS4: while I was able to achieve very good 5.1 surround sound with pa I've found that the gain in sound quality from using OSS4 is really quite extraordinary, much better than ALSA in fact on my hardware. I have set up OSS4 on both my laptop and desktop as posted above and consider that changing the configurations was well worth the time but if it doesn't work, it's easy to change back to the defaults.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#30 Post by phenest »

I've just installed OSS4 as per the above HowTo, but can anyone tell me how to enable my LFE channel. I have a sub-woofer on my Dell Precision M90 which works with ALSA. Am I missing something?

EDIT: And my laptop speakers don't mute when I plug in my headphones.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#31 Post by kedaha »

phenest wrote:I've just installed OSS4 as per the above HowTo, but can anyone tell me how to enable my LFE channel. I have a sub-woofer on my Dell Precision M90 which works with ALSA. Am I missing something?

EDIT: And my laptop speakers don't mute when I plug in my headphones.
Thanks for trying the HowTo. There's certainly a lot of documentation and tests available, for example here which may help with getting the subwoofer to play. Is there no sound from it even when playing this test?

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$ osstest -lV
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#32 Post by milomak »

kedaha wrote:
milomak wrote:i experienced pa in its earliest incarnation given i run sid. it wasn't up to the task then.

i would concede that today it is probably much better. but i ask myself the question - why change configurations when my current solution works perfectly?

so even if pa is now fully functional, why would i change from alsa? except for the shorter pa.
I suppose PulseAudio will become the default, not in opposition to Alsa but in a complementary manner.Why change configurations when ones own solution works perfectly? Well, I thought that but - perhaps more out of curiosity than any dissatisfaction with the default ALSA - I decided to try both pa and OSS4: while I was able to achieve very good 5.1 surround sound with pa I've found that the gain in sound quality from using OSS4 is really quite extraordinary, much better than ALSA in fact on my hardware. I have set up OSS4 on both my laptop and desktop as posted above and consider that changing the configurations was well worth the time but if it doesn't work, it's easy to change back to the defaults.
actually when i think about it, i think it was in fedora where i encountered pa. in debian, alsa remains the default even in sid.

i guess for me it's that i run a fairly standard setup. and it works as expected. so see no reason to move from alsa given it works out the box.
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#33 Post by vbrummond »

Alsa is the default in the kernel but pulseaudio will be required for Gnome 3. Sure you can optionally remove it but then you get no sound applet. :)
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#34 Post by milomak »

vbrummond wrote:Alsa is the default in the kernel but pulseaudio will be required for Gnome 3. Sure you can optionally remove it but then you get no sound applet. :)
good thing i don't use gnome ;)
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Re: Do you prefer ALSA, PulseAudio or Open Sound System (OSS

#35 Post by kedaha »

milomak wrote: actually when i think about it, i think it was in fedora where i encountered pa. in debian, alsa remains the default even in sid.

i guess for me it's that i run a fairly standard setup. and it works as expected. so see no reason to move from alsa given it works out the box.
No reason to move from alsa to pa but for me there's every reason to move from alsa or pa to OSS4 which has, at least on my equipment, much fuller, clearer sound, in a word - fidelity. Although I can obtain 5.1 sound with PulseAudio I've decided to make OSS4 my default system since I really like music. I've found many views on the 'net which share this view such as: The state of sound not so sorry in linux after all. But I suppose much depends on the equipment; perhaps the differences between ALSA, PA and OSS4 are less noticeable through laptop speakers and an onboard sound device than through a pci sound card and a decent set of speakers.
vbrummond wrote:I am unable to compile OSS4 on anything except 2.6.32. DKMS always fails. I am using Linux 3.0 (compiled myself from Debian sources). I tried to install OSS manually but it always fails to compile. The error was annoying, if I disable regparm in oss4 it says unable to find regparm and fails to compile. If is enable it it tells me to disable and fails at the make install step.

I had no luck when installing OSS4 in Testing from main and when I tried to compile it i also got the annoying regparm error. But the oss-linux-4.2-2005_amd64.deb trial deb package installs perfectly in testing 3.0.0-1 kernel using gdebi which takes care of the dependencies mentioned in the How-To above - or they'll get installed anyway from a previous installation of OSS4 from main. (In this case, the OSS4 packages only should be removed before installing the deb). I noticed that it uses regparms so looks like disabling regparm isn't OK. So maybe I'll have another go at compiling the gpl'd source to see if I can get OSS4 sound in Wheezy. Works fine in stable.
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