On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 12:08 AM, Gale Andrews <gale@...> wrote:
>
> | From Steve the Fiddle <stevethefiddle@...>
> | Sun, 9 Jan 2011 21:07:14 +0000
> | Subject: [Audacity-quality] FAQ "streaming audio" question
>> On Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 10:11 PM, Gale Andrews <gale@...> wrote:
>> >
>> > | From Steve the Fiddle <stevethefiddle@...>
>> > | Fri, 7 Jan 2011 01:53:30 +0000
>> > | Subject: [Audacity-quality] FAQ "streaming audio" question
>> >> http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=recording&i=streaming
>> >> The comments for "Windows and Linux" seem to only apply to Windows.
>> >> Would it be better to remove the reference to Linux here, as the
>> >> instructions are specific to Windows and do not apply to Linux?
>> >
>> > Do you have a suggestion for Linux-specific text? I believe the
>> > text does apply to Linux except for the second half of the second
>> > paragraph, though since Linux doesn't apparently support my
>> > sound device properly I can't directly record stereo mix myself on
>> > Linux.
>> >
>>
>> I'm not sure what the situation is with "Linux", but I'd not be
>> surprised if it varied from one distribution to another.
>>
>> On Ubuntu, and I'd guess any distribution that uses PulseAudio as the
>> default sound system, the recording and playback devices should
>> normally be set to "default". This will then set Audacity to use
>> PulseAudio and the actual device used would be configured in
>> PulseAudio Volume Control.
>
> But I understand that PulseAudio Volume Control and Device Chooser
> aren't even installed by default. From descriptions I've seen, Linux
> novices will struggle to install or use Pulse Volume Control and
> Device Chooser.
>
I think it's unfortunate that they are not installed by default (and
clearly documented).
Installing is extremely easy either through Synaptic or "Ubuntu
Software Centre".
Using PulseAudio Volume Control can be confusing for new users, but I
think that is mostly due to unfamiliarity and very brief documentation
in the Ubuntu "Help Centre".
>
>> On any distribution that is using Jack, Recording and Playback devices
>> should be set to "Jack" and signal routing configured through Jack
>> Control.
>
> Likely to be useless for novices unless their distribution uses JACK by
> default and makes its operation transparent. Do more advanced
> distributions (other than UbuntuStudio) use JACK as the default sound
> system?
I think most distributions that focus on creative media have Jack
installed as standard (64 Studio, Musix, Ubuntu Studio, JackLab ...)
For other mainstream distributions installing Jack should be as simple
as installing any other Linux application though setting it up
optimally can be rather more difficult. Jack now runs well on a
standard Ubuntu installation with a minimum of fuss. Probably just
installing Jack Control will install and configure everything
necessary for a working Jack Audio System. I'll have to try that on a
clean Ubuntu installation.
>
>
>> > I was thinking we could add a link to:
>> > http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recording_audio_playing_on_the_computer#Linux
>> >
>> > but are you saying a Linux user will never find a "Mix" or similar
>> > input in the Audacity Mixer Toolbar, and will (assuming the sound
>> > device has capture ability) always have to use ALSAmixer, or worse,
>> > get to grips with JACK? It would be good if you or Bruno can make
>> > the time to add instructions for JACK to the above Wiki page.
>> I've never seen a "Mix" or similar device option on Linux (other than
>> "dmix" but I think that's completely different).
>
> Please look at ALSAmixer:
> http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recording_audio_playing_on_the_computer#Linux
>
> I would have thought (if inputs are still not selectable in Mixer
> Toolbar/Device Toolbar) that ALSAmixer was the easiest way for
> novices to choose inputs.
The easiest way to select a physical input is to use the Audacity
Device Toolbar.
In my case, to select the microphone input on my laptop (the only
input socket) that would be to select
HDA Intel: ALC268 Analog (hw:0,0)
To select my USB sound card I could select:
USB audio codec: USB Audio (hw:1,0)
In Ubuntu 10.10 there is no option in either the Device Toolbar or
AlsaMixer to select "Stereo Mix" (although I think there was in a
previous version of Ubuntu).
************************************
The major complication for new users with either Jack or PulseAudio
is that Audacity's input/output sockets are not visible unless in
record/playback mode.
************************************
>
> When I had Linux on a computer whose sound device was fully
> supported by Ubuntu/Linux, I could use ALSAmixer to capture
> computer playback. At that time however the Audacity Mixer Toolbar
> was known to be broken on Linux, so input sources could not be
> chosen in Audacity.
>
>
>> It's been problematic making instructions for this, not only because
>> of differences between distributions, but due to the continually
>> changing sound systems within specific distributions. Ubuntu seems to
>> have settled on PulseAudio (for now), though there are significant
>> differences between Ubuntu 10.x and previous versions.
>>
>> Using Jack has been difficult to document as Audacity has been so
>> unreliable in supporting Jack, but as it now appears to be pretty
>> stable it could be a good time to give this a go. Jack is the default
>> for Ubuntu Studio and relatively easy to set up as an option for
>> Ubuntu.
>
> I'll wait to hear from you, but I fear it could be of limited value for
> novices. Probably needs a new Wiki page. The "limitations" of JACK
> in Audacity should be kept here (probably out-of-date now):
> http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Linux_Issues#JACK
>
>
>> > Also do those Wiki instructions work for using the ALSA PCM file
>> > instead? I posted to the Forum:
>> > http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=37305#p98574
>> >
>> > that I couldn't get them to do so.
>
> As no-one has apparently got those instructions to work it seems they
> should be removed from Wiki. Have you tried those steps?
>
No I've not tried, but IMHO it's a lot easier and more user friendly
to use PulseAudio Volume Control than .asoundrc file.
(http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Asoundrc states that
"Neither the .asoundrc nor the asound.conf files are required for ALSA
to work properly. Most applications will work without them."
>
>> > What inputs does the Mixer Toolbar selector show for you on Ubuntu
>> > (when you don't select the pulse device)?
>> >
>>
>> Assuming that Jack is not running, the options in Preferences are:
>> Host = ALSA
>>
>> Playback:
>> HDA Intel: ALC268 Analog (hw:0,0)
>> USB audio codec: USB Audio (hw:1,0)
>> front
>> surround 40
>> surround 51
>> surround 71
>> pulse
>> dmix
>> default
>>
>> Recording:
>> HDA Intel: ALC268 Analog (hw:0,0)
>> USB audio codec: USB Audio (hw:1,0)
>> pulse
>> default
>>
>> (hw:0,0) = my internal sound card
>> (hw:1,0) = my USB sound card
>> default = pulse
>> the "surround" settings are irrelevant - they're supported by the
>> sound chip but there are no sockets for them on the laptop.
>> dmix = not sure, never used it.
>>
>> The same options for Recording and Playback devices appear in the
>> "Device Toolbar".
>
> Michael has just now removed input source choice (mic, line...) from
> Mixer Toolbar because it should now be in Device Toolbar instead. It
> would be great if you could build HEAD and give some Ubuntu feedback
> for Bug 11 when you have time:
> http://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11
My current HEAD build is December 29th,
I'll be updating shortly and will report any changes, but this version
looks identical to Audacity 1.3.12.
>
> But are you saying that even before that latest commits, you don't see
> anything like "Mic" and "Line" (or something understood to be so) in
> Mixer Toolbar input selector (when a (hw) device is selected)? Are
> the sources and devices aggregated in Device Toolbar now after the
> latest commits?
>
> I thought the aim was still to allow choice of input source (mic, line...)
> in Audacity on Linux. From the sound of it we need more feedback on
> Linux on whether this aim is supported in HEAD or not.
>
>
>
>
>
> Gale
>
>
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