[kwlug-disc] Troubleshooting sound on BBB

[Bob Jonkman]

Paul's description of the sound is similar to something I've experienced 
using Jitsi. I think (speculation) it has to do with echo cancellation 
and latency, either in the network or within the remote device. It seems 
as if the echo gets cancelled a fraction of a second too late causing 
very loud bits, or the remote audio gets cancelled instead of the local 
audio.

On Jitsi the fix is to stop and start the session at the remote end, ie. 
the end not experiencing the problem, but likely causing it by not doing 
echo cancelling properly. Of course, with a large number of participants 
it would be infeasible for everyone except John to stop and start their 
session..

If it *is* echo cancelling then using headphones may reduce or eliminate 
the problem.

How busy is John's device when this happens? Are there other tasks 
running? Does eliminating the video affect the problem?


--Bob.


On 2023-03-28 19:14, Paul Nijjar via kwlug-disc wrote:
> John Driezen and I are having troubles making his audio sound okay on
> BBB. It was working okay before, but now when he speaks there is some
> squeaking noise along with his voice, and his voice seems quite quiet.
> In addition he is hearing cracks and pops from his end.
> 
> It is also the case that every so often his sound will get VERY LOUD
> for about a half second or so without him changing any settings on his
> computer.
> 
> The webcam only has a microphone. He is using speakers on his computer
> -- not a headset -- so that may be part of the issue. We have fiddled
> with Pulseaudio and alsamixer but adjusting volumes there does not fix
> much.
> 
> He is running Linux Mint on a desktop.
> 
> We are meeting Thursday at 5pm to try and troubleshoot further. If
> anybody with audio bravery is willing to help us out that would be
> amazing.
> 
> - Paul

-- 
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
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