Hello everybody

I've been noticing that the sound from the speakers used to come in very low volume, so much that sometimes it's impossible to hear anything ( in some videos for instance, or in skype), even when volume is at the maximum.

I thought it was a problem with the hardware, until I tried Pavucontrol and realized that, when Kmix's sliders are at maximum - i.e. 100% - sliders in Pavucontrol can go even higher, up to 153% (11dB).
With that setting, sound gets actually "controllable" and audible, which is actually what I expect to get from my computer - instead of running to get some headphones!

I found a couple of similar reports on the internet also, like here or here or here

Did anybody experience the same? Why is there this difference? Will it be deleted?
--> is this a bug or not?

I believe KMix deliberately does not attempt to use Pulseaudio's volume boosting functionality, as that occurs in software.

bcooksley wrote:I believe KMix deliberately does not attempt to use Pulseaudio's volume boosting functionality, as that occurs in software.

can I ask you to be more specific on the point? what does it mean "as that occurs in software"? is it the reason for not being able to boost volume?

it just sounds a bit frustrating when I can't hear some sounds and it's because....someone deliberately chose me not to? that's of course not the right answer, so I'm asking what's the real reason for such a choice ----

anyway, it's also possible to adjust boost volume in alsamixer, after pressing F5 to show boost channels. at least I can still use Kmix for the moment - since adjusting volumes with kmix resets pavucontrol's settings and therefore boost

From what I recall, the developer mentioned that where possible, Pulseaudio will use the hardware (of the audio card/chip) to alter the audio's volume, rather than doing it in software.

No hardware supports more than 100% so Pulseaudio, much like VLC, is forced to scale the volume in software when you use volume boosting, which leads to distortions and other artifacts.

yeah, I got the point that it software amplification, which will never be as good as some good hardware

still, of what I understand, Kmix in previous versions would let you choose if to enable boosting or not, which is the best option I can imagine - if a software is capable of doing it, why just avoid it doing so?

right now I'm forced to use software boosting through alsa all the time, as it would be quite annoying to open alsamixer everytime the volume is too low (as it happens quite often)

You may wish to file a feature request asking for Volume Boosting to be supported.