How to modulate speaker output sound? [SOLVED]

[Sky Aisling]

Hello Kennel Mates,

Can an external speaker sound be adjusted through any app I can find on Bionic Beaver(64) frugal install on flash drive?
or
Does anyone have a suggestion for an app that will modulate the speaker sound?

I have a 'new' machine to me. Lenova H535, 8GB RAM, no HDD, broken card reader,
Computer Vendor: LENOVO
Product Name: 10117
Version: Lenovo H535
Serial Number: ES13191202

The machine requires an external speaker.

I purchased a set of speakers - Logitech s120 - from our local tech shop.

They work but I am not comfortable with their sound.

Is there a way to modulate the speaker sound? LIke add more bass and less treble?

Thank you in advance,

Sky

[williams2]

You can setup a software equalizer.

Create a file /root/.asoundrc

Put this in the file:

Code: Select all

 ctl.equal {
     type equal;
   }
   pcm.plugequal {
     type equal;
     # Modify the line below if you don't
     # want to use sound card 0.
     slave.pcm "plug:dmix";
   }
   # pcm.equal {
     # Or if you want the equalizer to be your
     # default soundcard uncomment the following
     # line and comment the above line.
   pcm.!default {
     type plug;
     slave.pcm plugequal;
   }

You can show the equalizer in alsamixer like this:

Code: Select all

alsamixer -D equal

You can set audio levels from a script, like this:

Code: Select all

amixer sset 'Master',0 81% 81%

[Sky Aisling]

@williams2

Thank you.
The alsa equalizer is what I want, I think. I am used to using GUI presentations. I'll have to carefully study the terminal coding you suggest in order to set up the alsa equalizer. May take me a while.

Sky

[bigpup]

Right click on speaker icon in the tray.
In right click menu.

Select mixer.
See if anything is listed that needs turned on or adjusted.

Settings->Hardware gives added items that can be added to the mixer.

Settings->Main
Changing Volume Scaling to Logarithmic may make a difference in sound quality.

[Sky Aisling]

@williams2

Hello williams2,

OK, I'm working on learning how to use the terminal to accomplish this solution.

How do I get the coding you suggest into the new root directory ".asoundrc"?
I've copied the coding from your post, but, when I open .asoundrc there is no "paste" option.

Sky

[Sky Aisling]

@bigpup

bigpup writes:

Right click on speaker icon in the tray.
In right click menu.

Select mixer.
See if anything is listed that needs turned on or adjusted.

Settings->Hardware gives added items that can be added to the mixer.

Settings->Main
Changing Volume Scaling to Logarithmic may make a difference in sound quality.

Sorry bigpup, I didn't see your post before williams2 post.
This new forum is taking a bit of getting used to.

I will check out your suggestion and get back asap.

EDIT: Meanwhile Back At The Ranch...
Here is a screenshot of what I am seeing.
I notice that the sound card in the Retrovol Configeration is hw:1.
I notice that the sound card in the Sound Card Wizard is 0.

Sky

[garnet]

On bionicpup32 8.0, you can find 'pEqualizer Graphic Equalizer' under "Multimedia" menu. Launch that, and you will find a graphical equalizer show up. Then launch the applications you want to use. You can adjust the sliders on the equalizer and the sound will change immediately. Don't close the equalizer while your sound/music programs are still running; only close it when you're done.

I tried with the Radio Streamer (also from the Multimedia menu) and it works very well.
There are some presets available and you can even create/delete new presets. No command line required.
Another amazing work from puppy devs! ^_^

Of course, what @williams2 would work as well, but the job's already done for you. bionicpup32 is a standard puppy (not a special build or anything) so I suppose you will find the same pEqualizer in many other puppy variants too.

[Sky Aisling]

@garnet
Yes, pEqualizer is what I am looking for in GUI form. Thank you.

The 'new' machine I am setting up only takes 64bit distros.
I've tried BB32 on it and it won't take.
So, I'm running with BB64.
BB64 Multimedia didn't show pEqualizer.
So, I took pEqualizer from Puppy Package Manager.
I will play with that today and see what I can accomplish.
The final answer just might be to find a higher quality set of speakers.

Sky writes:

I have a 'new' machine to me. Lenova H535, 8GB RAM, no HDD, broken card reader,
Computer Vendor: LENOVO
Product Name: 10117
Version: Lenovo H535
Serial Number: ES13191202

@garnet
EDIT: Update - The good news is that I am able to finally get BB32 to run on this machine. I prefer BB32. The pEqualizer is set like I would like to have it set. The sound is improved. pEqualizer on BB64 gave me issues on saving the configuration. The BB32 pEqualizer is set just right. Thanks again, garnet.

Sky

[williams2]

On my laptop, running BionicPup64, if I set the Speakers level to 0 and mute the Speakers output level, the sound from the headphones jack has more bass and has a much fuller sound.

when I open .asoundrc there is no "paste" option

Your picture shows that you created a directory named .asoundrc/
.asoundrc needs to be a file.

You can delete the .asoundrc directory using rox filer, or you can type:
rmdir .asoundrc

You can create and edit the .asoundrc file by typing:
geany .asoundrc

If the equalizer in the menu works for you, that's a perfectly good way to do it.
And you might get better sound if you mute the internal speaker level, too.

[mikewalsh]

@Sky Aisling :-

You may be on the money with your comment about a better quality speaker system, y'know.

Those of us who are getting on in years (!), will remember back to the 60s/70s/early 80s, when to get decent bass quality from a speaker system, you needed decent speakers with separate 'tweeters' (high range), 'squawkers' (mid-range), and 'woofers' (for bass). Of necessity, with the state of speaker design as it was in those days, the bass 'woofers' tended to be a fair size - anywhere from 8" to 12" in diameter; they needed to be able to convert the output from the huge magnets they used into actual sound.....and that conversion process wasn't so efficient then.

Speaker design has come on by leaps & bounds in the intervening years. You can now get tiny speakers, from the likes of Bose, for instance, that can produce the same sound quality as those huge speakers of yesteryear. The D/A conversion process is now highly efficient, and speakers no longer NEED to be large.

Computer speakers tend to be primarily set-up for speech; hence why top- and mid-range get priority over bass, since that's the range human speech falls into.

I use a slightly unusual solution. I have a powered speaker system by Goodmans, that I bought nearly 20 years ago. This has a pair of smaller, mid- to high-range "satellite" speakers.....and these connect to the central, mains-powered unit. This contains the amplifier, and a rearwards-facing sub-woofer that 'fires' out of a port at the back. This unit is designed to sit near a wall, since the rich bass sound is generated by the sound waves 'bouncing' off the solid wall. This is what gives the bass such depth. It also has physical bass & treble controls, along with an overall on/off/volume control.

This unit is supplied by a single 3.5 mm jack plug! It was intended as a powered sound solution for CD/mp3 players, which only ever came with earphones. Since computers use a similar jack socket/plug arrangement, it works equally as well here.

I'm also unusual in that I prefer a warmer, richer sound than most folks. I prefer the sound of the older valve radios over modern transistor varieties; to my mind, the sound is just indefinably 'better', somehow. Don't ask me how.....sound preference is a very personal, individual thing. What I like, somebody else may hate..!

Mike.

[garnet]

@Sky Aisling: Don't mention it. I'm glad I could help, even if only a little ^_^

[Sky Aisling]

@mikewalsh Mike writes:

I'm also unusual in that I prefer a warmer, richer sound than most folks. I prefer the sound of the older valve radios over modern transistor varieties; to my mind, the sound is just indefinably 'better', somehow. Don't ask me how.....sound preference is a very personal, individual thing. What I like, somebody else may hate..!

I'm with you there Mike. A richer, warmer sound is what I need to hear from a speaker. You are so right in that my 'hay day' of sound systems was 65 years ago in my mid-twenties. I still think of tweeters and woofers and stacking the big boxes against a wall to reverb the sound. And, a bit of pleasant herbal treats added to the mix. That was also the day when I could rent a whole victorian house for $70 a month. Utilities extra for $12. Ha!

So, today I am out searching for a small set of speakers that will give me that mellow, sweet sound that you enjoy also. This new 'e-age' takes some adjustments, eh? Small speakers fit nicely into small spaces like my 2' x 4' computer area. This is all good. One more reality check in today's fast moving tardis.

Sky

[Sky Aisling]

@garnet Yes, Your suggestion did help. Thank you. As I wrote mikewalsh, I think the solution is education about today's speakers and hopefully upgrading the hardware.

EDIT: time for upgraded speakers.