alsa-user

[Alsa-user] sound effects, backgrounds, but no voices with Audigy 2zs

[Tom W. <to...@op...>]

Hello,

I surrender!  I admit that I have no clue as to what it is that I am 
doing and need help!  I've gone thru three sound cards in the past week 
and cannot get surround sound (5.1) to work correctly.   I've tried the 
SPDIF output of the MSI m'board, a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital, and 
now an Audigy 2 zs.  All exhibit the same problem, I pop in a DVD, run 
mplayer and all I get is sound effects and background sounds, but no 
voices.  People talk and nothing comes out the speakers.  :(

I've tried:  MPlayer 1.0pre4-3.3.2 & MPlayer 0.91-3.3.1 with alsa-1.0.2 
& alsa-1.0.5 & alsa-0.96.   Two channel operation is great, I hear all 
the sound, 6 channel lacks human speech.

I've tried so many things over the past several days to make it work 
that I won't list them (mplayer commands, etc.).  Like I said, I really 
don't know what I am doing here.

Is there some way, some sound file that I can play (perhaps with aplay) 
that can verify that alsa is setup properly.  Or, should I even use 
alsa, is OSS the answer to getting 5.1 surround working via SPDIF to my 
Yamaha HTR-5460 Home Theater unit?

TIA,

TomW

-- 
Tom Walsh - WN3L - Embedded Systems Consultant
http://openhardware.net, http://cyberiansoftware.com
"Windows? No thanks, I have work to do..."
----------------------------------------------------

Re:[Alsa-user] sound effects, backgrounds, but no voices with Audigy 2zs

[Peter Z. <pz...@po...>]

Hi,

If you use spdif output, and 2 channel sound is good, and if you get
front and rear channels in Dolby digital (decoded in your Yamaha
receiver - there should be something teling this), then problem is not
in soundcard. Check app (try xine) or recevier.

If you use analog speakers, use speaker-test program from alsa-utils
package.

Peter Zubaj


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Re: [Alsa-user] sound effects, backgrounds, but no voices with Audigy 2zs

[Tom W. <to...@op...>]

Peter Zubaj wrote:

>Hi,
>
>If you use spdif output, and 2 channel sound is good, and if you get
>front and rear channels in Dolby digital (decoded in your Yamaha
>receiver - there should be something teling this), then problem is not
>in soundcard. Check app (try xine) or recevier.
>
>If you use analog speakers, use speaker-test program from alsa-utils
>package.
>  
>

Hello Peter,

Yes, I had thought that the receiver might be the problem, so I started 
testing the analog outputs of the sound card.  I used a single cable 
into the amplifier and plugging it into each of the analog output 
channels (connectors) of the sound card.  When doing that, I get the 
same problem, so it is not the amplifier.  It is not the sound card as I 
have gone through three completely different cards (models: Live!, 
Audigy and Via8233).

My problem is either the command I am giving to mplayer or alsa 
configuration.  I will look for the speaker test program you mentioned 
and try that.

Thank you,

TomW

>Peter Zubaj
>
>
>
>====================== REKLAMA ========================
>Spolocnost SUN Microsystems uviedla na trh novy server Sun Fire V20z
>zalozeny procesoroch AMD Opteron.
>Viac informacii najdete na : http://www.somi.sk/sun/v20z.php
>=======================================================
>
>  
>


-- 
Tom Walsh - WN3L - Embedded Systems Consultant
http://openhardware.net, http://cyberiansoftware.com
"Windows? No thanks, I have work to do..."
----------------------------------------------------