Linux Poor quality audio from analogue line out
#1
I've got Kodi running on a Linux box connected to my TV via HDMI - I've configured Pulse Audio to allow simultaneous output to both HDMI and the analogue out on the motherboard which works brilliantly (both perfectly in sync which is great) BUT the output from the analogue connector sounds very poor - it's hard to describe but it's like the resolution is too low so sounds scratchy and squelchy (lots of hi frequency in the sound).

I can't see anything in Pulse Audio that would drive the output resolution and I'm not running a desktop environment (Kodi runs under Openbox).

Is there a setting somewhere that I can set/check?
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#2
same without dual audio?
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#3
while playing in kodi issue: pactl list sinks and pactl list sink-inputs

If we don't see anything there. You need to stop pulseaudio and start it with pulseaudio -vvv then start kodi, play something and afterwards please post the pulse log output.
First decide what functions / features you expect from a system. Then decide for the hardware. Don't waste your money on crap.
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#4
(2016-09-14, 19:38)wsnipex Wrote: same without dual audio?

Yeah just double checked that. If I toggle a stream that's currently in progress (such as live TV) between HDMI, analog and simultaneous there is no difference. HDMI is perfect, analog less so.
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#5
pactl list sinks
http://paste.ubuntu.com/23182165/

Stopped Kodi, killed pulse, started pulse with -vvv, started Kodi, started playing sound
http://paste.ubuntu.com/23182183/

pactl list sink-inputs
Returns nothing regardless of pulse running in verbose mode or not - I hope this is the expected behaviour.

Pulse default.pa
http://paste.ubuntu.com/23182206/
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#6
I didn't think what I have just done would articulate the issue very well but it turns out it does. I've played the same song from Spotify, once using the Spotify plugin in Kodi and once using the Sonos app, both times the song was recorded on my iPhone with the microphone 4 inches from the speaker. The difference (even taking into consideration the volume difference between the two sources and environmental noise) is night and day.

The same audio track ("Cool" by Alesso, chosen because it has musical components which suit the test) is played from the same source (Spotify) via the same Sonos speaker, the only difference is one is fed via the analogue out of my Kodi box the other comes directly from Spotify.

I also played the video version of this track (to prove it wasn't the Spotify plugin in Kodi) and that sounds the same as sample 1 below (as does all audio played via the analogue out port)

See what you guys think:
Sample 1 (Recorded from Spotify playing in Kodi)
Sample 2 (Recorded from Spotify playing via Sonos)

Pay particular attention to the piano intro and any words with "S" in the song.
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#7
In fact kodi does absolutely nothing besides feeding pulseaudio. It basically does the same as feeding one of your sinks, e.g. the HDMI gets the very same data the server gets for your analog device.

Try to verify the behaviour with e.g. mpv using pulseaudio. There is nothing kodi could do for you sadly.
First decide what functions / features you expect from a system. Then decide for the hardware. Don't waste your money on crap.
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