2010/4/9 Nicolo' Chieffo nicolo.chieffo@gmail.com
On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 1:11 AM, Raymond Yau superquad.vortex2@gmail.com wrote:
Mute Capable (1 bit) reports if the respective amplifier is capable of muting. Muting implies a –infinity gain (no sound passes), but the actual performance is determined by the hardware.
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.alsa.devel/39262/focus=16100
I think you missed the point, I'll explain again. I'm not complaining that at 0% the audio is not mute, as the bug you linked.
Clemens Ladisch (developer) 2004-11-09 09:26 The AD1981B's datasheet says that the maximum attenuation is 46.5 dB (which conforms to the AC'97 specification). To mute, use Mute.
In fact my problem is that at 0% I get mute, but I shouldn't (as reported by that developer), since the max attenuation is not -inf, but -48 dB. So if you prefer, you could see this issue from a different point of view: at -48 dB the audio should be still audible, but it's not.
so you have to decide where the issue resides (but definitely not in pulseaudio) a) it is ok that the audio is mute at 0% (in this case you have to declare -inf dB) b) the audio level is really -48 dB (in this case the volume shouldn't be cut off completely, but simply quite low) Which one do you prefer?
The DR of 16bit audio is 96dB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range
The 16-bit compact disc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc has a theoretical dynamic range of about 96 dB[7]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range#cite_note-Fries2005-6(or about 98 dB for sinusoidal signals, per the formula [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range#cite_note-seeber-5). Digital audio with 20-bit digitization is theoretically capable of 120 dB dynamic range; similarly, 24-bit digital audio calculates to 144 dB dynamic range.[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range#cite_note-HuberRunstein2005-3All digital audio recording and playback chains include input and output converters and associated analog circuitry, significantly limiting practical dynamic range. Observed 16-bit digital audio dynamic range is about 90 dB
The SNR of your codec is 95dB SNR
This mean that PA not using all the sum of the volume of the amplifer and volume knob widget to calculate the dB value of your codec