[alsa-devel] Fast Track Ultra 8r...
Hello,
I'm new here and somewhat understand how to script php and python ... and very unskilled with linux... anyway i noticed that the default alsa mixer values for fast track ultra 8r are way off the optimal when the sound card is first time plugged in.
What I expected was clear stereo/surround sound, what i got was distorted mono sound with reverb! Far away from optimal settings!
So, I stated to seek knowledge on web, and finally stumbled upon a homepage that had some info about the Linux support.
What i found out was that the sound card has internal routing system, zero latency and a effect processor.Also i found out that the routing works by controlling the input/output levels at alsa mixer.
The problem, by default all alsa mixer values are assigned to 100%, this means the internal routing is routing everything to everything distorting the sound, and making the output mono!
The website I found had suggestion and a bash script to correct the internal routing: http://heikki.ketoharju.info/2013/03/linux-and-fasttrackultra/#comment-989
alas, the main article is a good read too :)
Well the script did not work for me, so i changed the settings manually to my alsa mixer, which took quite some time, and it works like a charm.
Anyway my best wish would be to get a fix for this sound card, so it would "just work" when plugged in.
Thanks for any info on how i could get this "patch" to be widely available so others could benefit it too.
Best regards, Petri
Hi Petri,
It's been me who worked out the patches for mixer support on the Fast Track Ultra series some while ago. The question you asked has been asked before and I've answered it similarly before. Let' get into it:
What I expected was clear stereo/surround sound, what i got was distorted mono sound with reverb!
How do you come to expecting stereo/surround sound from a device that has 8 outputs, 8 inputs and 8 'software input' channels?
Far away from optimal settings!
Yes, that's true. But actually I don't think there is something like 'optimal settings' for this device in general since use cases differ a lot: You might look into stereo/surround, others prefer 'diagonal software only’ I for myself have completely different needs.
The only reasonable sane default I can think of is 'everything muted'. But that again wouldn't fit many expectations. (Although I would probably implement *this* default if there was a consensus on it.)
That's why I decided not to do anything with the current defaults. At least they make it *very* clear that you probably should adjust something for this device ;-)
Maybe I should add a Readme to the ALSA docs but I haven't found the time to do so.
BTW, you can save your own settings via alsactl.
Ultimately I think that anybody using this device should adjust his initial settings via a script first since it is a major pain in the ass to manually adjust all those controls.
A dedicated Fast Track Ultra mixer application could also be helpful. So if you're interested: Just start working on it.
Regards, Felix
participants (2)
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Felix Homann -
Petri Järvisalo