[linux-audio-user] Hardware recommendations for recording under kernel 2.6/Alsa

[Alexander MacLennan]

You can find this chipset in quite a few cheap sound ( not audio cards )
I use one for music playback in a shop, I wouldn't use it for anything
more than that. Its on par with a soundblaster / onboard motherboard
sound solution



On Mon, 2004-08-23 at 15:06, Jason White wrote:
> Frank Barknecht writes:
>  > 
>  > Not necessarily. Cassette tape is not exactly high end material. I
>  > don't think, your recordings will suffer much by recording them with
>  > the onboard card. But I don't know that special board and chip
>  > combination, so I would recommend you just try it out.
> 
> I'm not familiar with the capabilities of the chip either. Neither is
> it obvious how to interpret the following:
> 
> arecord -l
> **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
> card 0: CMI8738MC6 [C-Media PCI CMI8738-MC6], device 0: CMI8738-MC6 [C-Media PCI DAC/ADC]
>   Subdevices: 1/1
>   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> card 0: CMI8738MC6 [C-Media PCI CMI8738-MC6], device 2: CMI8738-MC6 [C-Media PCI IEC958]
>   Subdevices: 1/1
>   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> 
> If I run amixer I get the following. Without knowing the capabilities
> of the chip it isn't clear what all the settings do. Is there a good HOWTO
> guide or tutorial available? Some are obvious, e.g., master volume,
> but others are not. I checked amixer(1) but it doesn't describe the
> options or define the terminology used.
> 
> Simple mixer control 'Master',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume
>   Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 31
>   Front Left: Playback 28 [90%]
>   Front Right: Playback 28 [90%]
> Simple mixer control '3D Control - Switch',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined cswitch
>   Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 31
>   Front Left: Playback 24 [77%] [on] Capture [off]
>   Front Right: Playback 24 [77%] [on] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Synth',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined cswitch
>   Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 31
>   Front Left: Playback 24 [77%] [on] Capture [off]
>   Front Right: Playback 24 [77%] [on] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Line',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch
>   Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 31
>   Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
>   Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Line-In As Bass',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Line-In As Rear',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'CD',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch
>   Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 31
>   Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
>   Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined cvolume pswitch pswitch-joined cswitch cswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Capture channels: Mono
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 31 Capture 0 - 7
>   Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture 0 [0%] [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Mic As Center/LFE',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [on]
> Simple mixer control 'Mic Boost',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 5V',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [on]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Copyright',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 In Monitor',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 In Phase Inverse',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 In Select',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 In Valid',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Loop',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Output',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [off]
> Simple mixer control 'PC Speaker',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 3
>   Mono: Playback 2 [67%]
> Simple mixer control 'Aux',0
>   Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch
>   Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
>   Limits: Playback 0 - 15
>   Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
>   Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [off] Capture [off]
> Simple mixer control 'Four Channel Mode',0
>   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
>   Playback channels: Mono
>   Mono: Playback [on]
> 
> 
> !DSPAM:412998239056804268171!
-- 

Alexander MacLennan
PhD Student
Curtin University of Technology
+61 8 9266 2129