[alsa-devel] What does 0dB refer to? (Logitech USB Speakers)

[John Rigg]

On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 10:55:35PM +0100, James Courtier-Dutton wrote:
> I think everyone is misunderstanding the issue here.
> All ALSA sound cards, without any intervention from user space, will 
> boot up with ALL SOUND MUTED.
> Most distros then have an /etc/init.d startup script that restores sound 
> card levels to the previous state before the previous power off.
> The problem is, what to do the first time the system is installed. I.e. 
> No "previous state" exists.
> a) General users will normally want some level of sound by default the 
> first time they boot into a newly installed system.
> b) Professional users want everything muted the first time.
> My personal preference is ALL SOUND MUTED in ALL cases.

Mine too.

> I figure that if a user does not have sound, the first thing they will 
> do is go to the volume control and turn it up!
> I do believe that a general user should only have to touch one "Master" 
> volume control to do this "turn it up" step.
> 
> Most consumer distos do not agree with me and want the volume turned up 
> already by default.
> The problem is deciding on a generally good level for these distros.

Fair point. Actually there is an easy workaround for those of us who
prefer everything muted every time: remove or disable the init.d 
script.

John