Hi,

I have had a problem with mixer-program and sound of my mA1-c for some time now. Same problem has been actually from day I got my A1 and happens with every audioplayer.
Normally all mixer sliders are set to mute or -34.5dB, except "Internal PCM" and "Master volume" which are at 12dB. When "Internal FM" slider is moved to top position sound starts to sound distorted. This starts at 9.5dB.

Sample: fm.mp3

Also "External Line In" gives quite volume boost to PCM sounds which shouldn't be like that?

Sample: linein.mp3

Also, sound gets sometimes "out-of-sync" when loading large sites in iBrowse (AW.net does this every time) and after page has loaded sound remains distorted. It sounds like computer was running out of cpu and doesn't have enough time to play audio. When re-loading page sound gets back to normal quite often, but not every time. This distorted sound error happens most often with iBrowse but sometimes it can occur in normal use too (like slowly resizing big windows etc.)

Sample: ibrowse.mp3

- integrated mA1 audio
- cmi8738.audio 5.4
- ahi.device 6.2
- Mixer 1.11
- os4 update 3

Any ideas what might be wrong?

Last edited by densho on 09-Jul-2005 at 02:04 PM.

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OS4 on X5000 / Peg2 / mA1

@densho

First of all, if you put any slider above 0dB, you can get distortion, it's as simple as that. Now, the FM slider shouldn't do anything since there is nothing 'behind' it. I've seen this on other chips though, that inputs that are 'floating' (not properly closed) can interfere tremendously.
The line in shouldn't give a volume boost indeed. That said, the cmi driver still remains something that needs quite a bit of work, since I quickly put that together for the microA1 production release and didn't have time since then.

Regarding your 'out-of-sync' problem, I have no idea.

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Audio Evolution
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@DaveAE

Ah, good to know that CMI-driver is being worked on! I think it would be more intuitive to have mixer levels limited to values that can't produce any distortion.

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OS4 on X5000 / Peg2 / mA1

@densho

Distorted audio comfirmed with ibrowse.mp3 & net activity. I haven't got around to installing mixer yet. I just noticed this distortion with some of my other mp3s with SongPlayer & IB.

Just tried with IB & Amplifier & no distortion.

Last edited by sundown on 09-Jul-2005 at 06:20 AM.

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Hate tends to make you look stupid...

@densho

As this appears to be a uA1-C specific problem, can I get you to alter the subject line to reflect that?

Or are we not sure this is limited to the micro right now?

Last edited by wegster on 09-Jul-2005 at 06:09 AM.

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Are we not done with the same silly arguments and flames yet??!

@wegster

Where else is the CMI8738 used?

Other tests I have been doing have only been with Micro owners.
I suggest we wait for Dave to reply here, then change thread title if he thinks
this is a Micro issue only.

Best Wishes,
#6

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This posting, in its entirety, represents solely the perspective of the author.
*Secrecy has served us so well*

@wegster

Or are we not sure this is limited to the micro right now?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're not sure yet. This tread is about audio distortion, not lockup. Download the ibrowse.mp3 file, play it with SongPlayer, then load a web site & see if the audio goes bad. You don't have a µA1, so that could help us figure this out.

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@sundown

Confirmed. This thread -is- about audio distortion and -not- lockup.
As if I had to tell you. Heh!

Best Wishes,
#6

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@densho
Question- in WB/Prefs/AHI/Advanced do you have AHI debugging enabled? or kernel debug and a debuglevel set? A combination of the above I can get 'stutter' in audio (and general OS slowdown).

_________________
Are we not done with the same silly arguments and flames yet??!

@densho
Can you post the original (non distorted) sample for us to base tests on?

@all- you realize densho's links ALL have distortion, he's just recording the results, so if you use ANY of his linked to files, they will ALL show distortion....Right?

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Are we not done with the same silly arguments and flames yet??!

@number6

I can't say if it's a microA1 issue. I don't have my micro set up right now and I won't have time until Wednesday earliest to try and reproduce it.

There always seems to be trouble related to networking which makes me think it's not audio driver or AHI related at all. I want to have a look at the eth3com source code to see if it does anything bad, but that can well be early August until I have time to dive into this.

Before that time, buy some real CD's, support your favourite bands and put them in a proper CD player!

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Audio Evolution
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Sorry for late answers, I was few days off.

Distortion happens here with Amplifier too :/

I'm not sure if this happens only on mA1-C models. No debug info was chosen in AHI-prefs. Gotta check that kernel debug later today.
I can't post original sample because it was recorded from internet radio (played with TuneNet) :) It doesn't matter what the source is (mp3, netradio, mod etc), distortion happens in any case.

And yes, those mp3 examples I provided have distortion in all of them, don't use them for testing ;)

(edit) yep, kernel debugging was disabled too.

Last edited by densho on 09-Jul-2005 at 02:01 PM.

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OS4 on X5000 / Peg2 / mA1

@densho

AHI has 2 different methods for playing back, one using the device interface (like used on most mp3 players if not all) and the library interface (like AE4). Could you try the AE4 demo, load in a AIFF sample and try with IBrowse if you still can get distorted audio? Also, for this test, get Mixer out of your startup-sequence or WBstartup, so that it can't interfere and reboot.

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@DaveAE

I tried playing with AE (Great program, btw), but sounds gets garbled again.

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OS4 on X5000 / Peg2 / mA1

@DaveAE

Well I have had this "problem" since I got my µA1 in January.
It was far worse in update 2 causing me to do a reboot to fix
the sound, now it just takes pressing stop and then play again
to fix it.

So how do I get the distortion? Well If I play mp3's and start IBrowse
(with a web start page) the sound gets distorted the same time
IBrowse starts to draw the web page.

I noticed a strange thing the other day, while playing mp3, surfing
with RDesktop and for a while wanted to check something with IBrowse
it didn't make the sound distorted anymore?!
Seems to me everytime RoadShow/eth3com inits a network connection
there is some disturbance to the sound. But not when another program
already uses the network. Don't know if this was freak lucky try but I will
for sure have to look into this some more.

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/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

The reason for this bug seems to have been found by DaveAE.

Post 88

Also this problem was noticed by some XE owners on this thread so
it was not a isolated µA1 problem.

_________________
/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

I suggest you try using the SPDIF connector (it's the one at the front of the case, providing you've got a case that supports this).

The quality is really quite impressive.[quote]

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Amont Informatique
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