[Sorry if this is a duplicate -- I was too stupid to subscribe the first time and my mail hasn't been moderated yet, apparently.]
Me again...
Referring to the issue I described on 2010-03-28 [http://www.spinics.net/lists/alsa-devel/msg32731.html], the situation hasn't changed since then.
In short, I *really* need to lower the DXS volumes in order to play sound properly. If I don't do it, I get massive distortion.
It's not a matter of the output stage, but of the input stage. Lowering PCM or Master doesn't help anything, but using softvol in mplayer does (I need to get down to 20%, so I effectively hear 14-bit audio, nice...).
Back in March, Clemens told me to use hwmixvolume. It's nice, I can now access what I could previously access in alsamixer. But when I close the audio stream and start a new one, the volume is reset to 100% -- blowing my ears with loud and distorted sound.
So my solution for now is: stick with Linux 2.6.30...
Please, even if the solution with the DXS controls in alsamixer didn't comply with the ALSA policies, *it did work*! The current one *does not*. Maybe make the maximum (or default?) DXS volume available as a mixer control or as a module option or something -- whatever you consider the best solution. But the current state is just not acceptable.
Thanks
Sören