[mythtv-users] Double-audio. And yes, line in is muted and set to record.

[Jarod C. Wilson]

On Tuesday, Sep 23, 2003, at 17:41 US/Pacific, Harondel J. Sibble wrote:

> On 23 Sep 2003 at 13:22, Jarod C. Wilson wrote:
>
>> http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/kmix.png
>
> Hmmm, that's interesting from a number of perspectives....
>
> Are you using alsa or oss?

ALSA.

> I've previously noticed that when I switch from
> oss to alsa, the mixer choices change.  After a recent kernel compile 
> after
> which I ended back up with the default kernel oss drivers and kudzu 
> redected
> the card, I ended up with my current mixer as mentioned in the previous
> email, since reinstalling/setting up alsa again, the mixer strangely 
> enough
> hasn't changed to the one I've come to expect from alsa.

Odd...

> Everything otherwise works fine though.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess.

>> So you don't actually have the sound card hooked to the amp via digi
>> coax? Everything works fine in another machine of mine where I was
>> using analog out. (a few minutes pass)
>
> Not currently, however that is in the plan. Not sure if I'll need to 
> replace
> my amp, as AFAIK, it will only play non digital audio via the analog 
> inputs
> on the amp.

Hm... I've got the Cambridge SoundWorks DTT2500 connected to my 
computer via coax, and I have yet to find anything that doesn't play.

> I haven't tried using a coax only cable. Although that would sure
> simplify cabling for me.  I do have the digital I/O card for my SBLive 
> which
> has an spdif in and out so I may just give that a try when I have a 
> few spare
> minutes.

Lemme know how it goes!

>> Okay, I just tried hooking to the analog out on the card, and it
>> exhibits the same problems. Dammit.
>
> That's about what I expected

:-/

>> I'd love to just use btaudio, but it don't work. Can't ever get the
>> bttv drivers to detect an msp34xx chip.
>
> I used to have an avermedia card in my machine however it also wasn't 
> btaudio
> capable, maybe you have one of the aver cards with the sony chipset.

Knowing my luck, probably. This was actually the 3rd card I purchased, 
in hopes of getting a decent #2 tuner. First, I picked up an MSI 
TV at nywhere, because it was really cheap, then found out it was 
cx2388x-based, and really not ready for use under Linux yet (I've had 
only a few very small successes w/the cx88 driver; I still have the 
card). Second, I grabbed a Pinnacle PCTV Rave. What a piece of crap 
(not to mention it had the new tuner that doesn't work under Linux). I 
returned it and got the AVerTV (slightly less crappy than the PCTV 
Rave, but not by much). These were my choices at the nearby shopping 
area. Shoulda just got another PVR-250 (they were out of stock) or 
ordered something online, but I'm impatient. :)

>> I have these in kmix (many more in alsamixer...):
> Seems to me that is the mixer for alsa.

Yep.

>> Entering and exiting xawtv clears the continuous playing audio 
>> problem.
> Good, that's expected.

Now I've got new problems that I'm in the middle of mucking with. Dual 
sound cards... I think I have them set up right, and both are 
controllable via kmix or alsamixer, but I haven't got line in on card 2 
playing through card 1's output just yet...

>> As an aside, I have to repeat how crappy the AVerTV-captured video
>> looks compared with the PVR-250 video.
> Totally!!! I have about 6 or 8 tuners In order of visual quality, from 
> best
> to worst, in my experience:
>
> PVR-250 looks amazing! I plan to get a second one soon.

Topped only by the pcHDTV (still waiting for mine to arrive...)

> ATI TV Wonder - depending on settings can look pretty crappy, normally 
> looks
> pretty good, although not as good as the pvr-250.
> Aim's labs Videohighway/Vxtreme - decent video generally
> WINTV Pci (similar to the wintvgo) - iffy, sometimes looks good and 
> sometimes
> bad, both in linux and windows
> AVER TvPhone - looks crappy period, I've seen postings about the 
> amount of
> noise that their connectors introduce in the video

Yeah, there does seem to be quite a bit of noise that gets into the 
picture, and I've double-checked that the signal is good (it is plenty 
strong; it can feed HD content to my HD cable box without problems). 
The card just plain sucks, I guess.

>> I need the playback button on lGain checked also.
> Hmm, yes that sounds right, I wish I had kept notes the last time I 
> went
> through this.
>
>> Yeah, I'm still tinkering a bit.
> Heh, maybe you post any notes you come up with.

I was thinking I'd probably do that. And contribute some to the 
official docs, if pertinent.

>> Thanks for the suggestions. Nothing seems to have helped just yet, but
>> I understand things a wee bit better...
> Well, that's to the good of all, I'm surprised more people haven't 
> posted
> about this since the Creative cards seem to be in high use judging by 
> posts
> on this list. Mind you dual tuner use seems much less common....

And lots of dual tuner folks seem to go dual PVRs, so no audio issues 
for them, further limiting the possible victims. I'm currently having a 
hard time believing anyone uses a bttv card for their primary and is 
actually happy with it... But a large TV really makes the flaws stand 
out, and I guess I just have one of the worst bttv cards... :)

ADVICE TO ANYONE NEW: DO NOT BUY AN AVERTV STUDIO (unless you intend to 
use something other than the tuner for input; it might be okay for 
that). Oh, the radio does work quite well though...

>> I would definitely prefer to do that, but like I said, no msp34xx
>> detected, so no btaudio. I posted a question about it to both the
> Might I suggest dumping that card and getting a TV Wonder (not the 
> VE), if
> for nothing else than the better video quality.

I'm thinking about it. I've already got a pcHDTV on the way (in theory, 
anyhow...), and use of the second tuner for me is rare, so I can live 
with it for now, if I can manage to kludge it into working.

>> another go, but thus far, I've been SOL on the btaudio front, so dual
>> sound cards seems inevitable...
> Bummer dude.

Yep, at least so far... If I get lucky, everything might be working by 
the time I go to bed...

--Jarod

-- 
Jarod C. Wilson, RHCE

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