How to boost volume of unamplified speakers?

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer audio hardware
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slenkar
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Joined: Sat 11 Jul 2009, 01:26

How to boost volume of unamplified speakers?

#1 Post by slenkar »

Hi my speakers are supposed to be plugged into another PC that has a built in amp
, that PC broke so I now plug the speakers straight into the soundcard but they are very quiet.

what i need is a way of boosting the volume to the whole OS (turn it up to 11)

when people talk on vent (mangler) i can boost their volume with a slider so its nice and loud, so I know its possible

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darkcity
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#2 Post by darkcity »

Does vent (mangler) run on Puppy?

Have you turned everything up in retrovol?
:twisted:

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Flash
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#3 Post by Flash »

As far as I know, the speaker output of all motherboards is very low power, requiring amplification before it will drive speakers with enough power to be heard. Sound cards also generally require their output to be amplified.

Slenkar, if you still have that old computer, the card where the speakers were plugged in may be still good. It must contain an amplifier. You should be able to move it to the new computer. Otherwise, you'll have to either get a sound card that has an amplifier, an external amplifier for the speakers or new speakers with a built-in amplifier.

slenkar
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#4 Post by slenkar »

yeah mangler works in precise puppy as long as you go into the hidden folder in /root/ and change pulse to alsa in the config file

interesting idea to get the amp out of the old pc

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Flash
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#5 Post by Flash »

The first computer I bought had a Winmodem in it. Apparently those things have amplifiers that are powerful enough to double as the output amplifier for the speakers. Unfortunately everything in a Winmodem is done in software, so you can't use them in Linux for the audio amplifier. :( So I had to buy speakers with built-in amplifiers. Too bad, because H-P had done a good job of matching the speakers to the amp. They really sounded good.

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darkcity
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#6 Post by darkcity »

if mangler is getting higher volume then it seems odd other programs can't.

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Flash
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#7 Post by Flash »

Yeah, I can't explain that - unless there's something about your computer that you haven't told us.

slenkar
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#8 Post by slenkar »

I managed to get a pre-amp on my retrovol by adding a script as said here:
http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/adding- ... nd-levels/

I installed a fresh precise and now when I try to do it the sound system crashes.

slenkar
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#9 Post by slenkar »

create /etc/asound.conf
and paste this:
pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
}
ctl.!default {
type hw
card 0
}
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "softvol"
}
pcm.softvol {
type softvol
slave {
pcm "dmix"
}
control {
name "Pre-Amp"
card 0
}
min_dB -30.0
max_dB 30.0
resolution 6
}
You have to restart the computer to see any effect.
Then you get PreAmp in retrovol

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Marv
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#10 Post by Marv »

Tested in X-precise 2.2 (Precise 5.6.1 based, xfce4-mixer), Carolite 1.1 (Racy 5.2.2 based, xfce4-mixer), and LxPup 13.10c (Slacko 5.6 based, retrovol mixer). Worked great in X-Precise and Carolite with the xfce4-mixer. Preamp control shows up and works. In LxPup, using retrovol, I haven't yet gotten the preamp control to show up. Rebooted, tried both type hw and type plug in the conf file etc. Also played with alsamixer with no sucess yet so I'm batting .666 here. Not too bad :? My guess is that it would also work on X-Slacko 1.1, also with the xfce4 mixer, but don't have that on board right now.

All of the above on a Fujitsu S6520 core 2 duo all intel laptop with HDA Intel audio.
Pups currently in kennel :D Older LxPupSc and X-slacko-4.4 for my users; LxPupSc, LxPupSc64 and upupEF for me. All good pups indeed, and all running savefiles for look'n'feel only. Browsers, etc. solely from SFS.

slenkar
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#11 Post by slenkar »

2/3 not bad :wink:

canin
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#12 Post by canin »

works on my laptop running slacko 5.7 thank you!
slenkar wrote:create /etc/asound.conf
and paste this:
pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
}
ctl.!default {
type hw
card 0
}
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "softvol"
}
pcm.softvol {
type softvol
slave {
pcm "dmix"
}
control {
name "Pre-Amp"
card 0
}
min_dB -30.0
max_dB 30.0
resolution 6
}
You have to restart the computer to see any effect.
Then you get PreAmp in retrovol

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Flash
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#13 Post by Flash »

So was Slenkar's problem solved or what? :?

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8-bit
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Location: Oregon

#14 Post by 8-bit »

You can also try clicking on the PLAY icon on the desktop.
Select Preferences
Select Edit and then Mplayer
On that screen is a setting for Volume Gain.
Try changing that to a higher value.

WiZard
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Joined: Sun 11 Sep 2005, 20:04
Location: Oklahoma USA

preamp in slacko 6.3.0

#15 Post by WiZard »

I can't get the add a preamp in slacko 6.3.0 using the /etc/asound.conf file with this code to work (this works with slacko 5.7). Has anyone gotten a preamp to work in 6.3.0?

Code: Select all

pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
}
ctl.!default {
type hw
card 0
}
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "softvol"
}
pcm.softvol {
type softvol
slave {
pcm "dmix"
}
control {
name "Pre-Amp"
card 0
}
min_dB -30.0
max_dB 30.0
resolution 6
}

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ally
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#16 Post by ally »

hey slenkar

thanks, working well on my lenovo x230 xenialpup64

:)

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