Audio quality

[ctigs]

Hello everyone.

Just got my 2G board with wifi module.  Took me a while to get it stable (bad power cable).

I finally got remix to load and run but when I plug in external speakers and try youtube, the audio os horrible.

It's got bass, but there's a reverb/echo to it, almost no midrange, and very emphasized high end.  My speakers are dual port, and are the same ones on my main pc.

They are plugged into both systems (works fine with the PC and a phone at the same time, don't say that's why it's doing it).

I use the youtube app and play a video and the audio is so bad I can't listen to it.  The HDMI output *seems* ok but that's a really cheap 32" tv with cheesy speakers, so . . . 

I play the very same video on my pc, it sounds great.  I try the chrome browser and youtube.com, and it's "a little better" but still really bad.

it's the most recent remix OS from the pine64.com website.

I'll try linux to see if it's the OS or the board.


Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

hi , most hdmi monitors have an audio jack for headphones... you can use a patch cable to your powered speakers and it will sound great.

The audio jack codec for debian and ubuntu also sounds great-- on my system. I have not piped it to any powered speakers, but the ear-buds are fantastic.

Now then, this $29 dollar SBC is a computer. Why do people expect it to be a $570 media center !?!

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The front-end on your powered speakers may require an impedence match; also, I think you'll find the hdmi audio output is superior anyway, and use that.

[ctigs]

hi , most hdmi monitors have an audio jack for headphones... you can use a patch cable to your powered speakers and it will sound great.

The audio jack codec for debian and ubuntu also sounds great-- on my system. I have not piped it to any powered speakers, but the ear-buds are fantastic.

Now then,  this $29 dollar SBC is a computer.  Why do people expect it to be a $570 media center !?!

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The front-end on your powered speakers may require an impedence match; also, I think you'll find the hdmi audio output is superior anyway, and use that.

Ok, it's not a monitor, it's a TV.  a really inexpensive one.  I tried what you said and there wasn't any change.

I don't expect a media center, or concert quality sound, but something approximately accurate to the video would be really nice.

Oddly remix has no options available for sound.  Have you tried remix on this board?  I had to go get some better uSD cards, so I am going to try linux (like I said earlier).

I just don't know yet if it is OS related or hardware.  But since it's the same crappy sound from analog as hdmi, and I have currently only tried remix, I have to wait until I can get my linux image burned.  I tried ubuntu mate but it has other issues.  If I still have problems with a new card I will make a new post about that.

But like you said, it's a computer.  Just like my orange pi, my banana pi, and my desktop, my laptop, my tablets and even my phone.  I don't know why you're blaming an impedance mismatch for speakers designed for use on a computer to be the problem as to the audio quality being bad when connected to a computer.  

These aren't radio shack speakers, they are klipsch.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

But like you said, it's a computer.  Just like my orange pi, my banana pi, and my desktop, my laptop, my tablets and even my phone.  I don't know why you're blaming an impedance mismatch for speakers designed for use on a computer to be the problem as to the audio quality being bad when connected to a computer?

 

ctigs, hi, I'm not 'blaming' anything nor anyone. 

... the reason I mentioned impedence matching is that the audio cards of most PC computer systems are VERY high quality and have been specifically designed to drive powered speakers.  We have no idea (really) what are the specifics of the audio circuitry of the PineA64 board yet, because we as yet do not have the up-to-date schematics. We have an out-of-date user's manual, and a schematic diagram that is also out-of-date and does not match all boards. I would not be surprised in the least if there were an impedence problem between the PineA64 board and your powered speakers input... neither here nor there... this is not a statement of blame, its just a theoretical possibility which should be pursued. 

I can tell you this... one of the things that impressed me about the PineA64 board is the quality of its audio -- it does not match my quad stereo system and Boze speakers... but it is very good for a $29 computer board on an index card !  

I am running debian, with the longsleep kernel, and with longsleep's audio jack codec /  on my system (with ear buds) the quality of the PineA64 sound is phenomenal. And the quality of the sound via the hdmi port on my system monitor (LG 24" with stereo) is also phenomenal. I have piped it through my sound board (Radio Shack six channel) to my stereo system with Boze speakers, and it is also phenomenal. In my case the impedence match is between my hdmi monitor and the inputs of my sound board (automatic impedence matching)... then off to the stereo system. It sounds beautiful.

The sound card in my old PS1 computer sounds better... duh... it was a $128.00 card !  ... and its a synth !

Again, the PineA64 board is a SBC computer board capable of producing quality sound... it is not, however, a high quality sound system capable of computing. That is a nuance worth contemplating.