Homepage › Forums › RetroPie Project › Everything else related to the RetroPie Project › Can I switch soundcards on a per emulator basis?
- This topic has 10 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by
karloss.
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05/16/2014 at 01:25 #6827
IIeBoy
ParticipantI have connected a USB soundcard to the original speaker inside an Apple //e case. It works! But I want sound to go through that USB device only when I run LinApple (the Apple //e emulator).
Q: Is there a way to change the sound output device on the fly, when loading each emulator?
Currently I have set the system to use the USB device (the Apple speaker) system-wide, by changing the following as specified at https://learn.adafruit.com/usb-audio-cards-with-a-raspberry-pi/updating-alsa-config
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
options snd-usb-audio index=0
But I’d like to use the main sound device (HDMI output) for the rest of the system and the other emulators. Ideas welcomed!Background: The sound quality is horribly glitchy in LinApple. But I have made an Apple Piie using an Apple //e case, including its speaker. For //e emulation, my aim is to connect the sound card output to the existing Apple //e speaker. I’m told by the dev of LinApple that using a USB sound card fixes the glitchy sound provided by the Pi.
06/01/2014 at 23:03 #7204IIeBoy
Participant*bump*
06/02/2014 at 15:50 #7211karloss
Participantcan i ask why you only want to use it for that emulator, sound via headphone jack is shite on all the emulators, not just that one…and a usb soundcard is the only want to fix it…
06/02/2014 at 20:09 #7218IIeBoy
ParticipantI have OK sound on all the other emulators. LinApple was the only one where it seriously popped and crackled. Hope this helps you answer my original question? Thanks.
06/03/2014 at 12:42 #7227karloss
Participantok, well as far as im aware, this cannot be done without a reboot, maybe trying playing about and making the change then restarting the alsa process, that may make the change..
though I still don’t see why you need to change, just used the external soundcard all the time..
06/03/2014 at 16:03 #7228trimmtrabb
Participantwhat’s the performance like with usb audio?
06/03/2014 at 19:07 #7231IIeBoy
ParticipantI wanted to switch because the quality of the Apple //e speaker is horribly bad for emulators like MAME which I’d rather go through HDMI sound, but it’s beautifully bad when emulating the actual Apple //e ;)
The quality of the USB sound card sadly only improves the actual audio quality a tiny bit. Not even 10%. I wouldn’t bother frankly – I just wanted the option. Mind you the sound card was under $5 on Amazon :D
I am disappointed with so many aspects of Pi emulation that I’m now working towards replacing it with a Wii running Homebrew Channel and their emulators instead. :(
06/06/2014 at 15:50 #7275karloss
ParticipantI completely disagree with this, the usb sound card completely removes all the distortion and feedback experienced via the standard phono from the pi…if I was you I would replace the speaker in the Apple..
no performance hits with usb audio.
06/06/2014 at 17:29 #7276trimmtrabb
Participantwhich usb audio are you using Karloss?
06/06/2014 at 22:40 #7287IIeBoy
ParticipantKarloss, it’s not about agreeing or “completely disagree”ing, it’s different setups, different equipment, different emulators.
It’s just a fact that with my USB sound device, the sound is still appalling through LinApple only.
You may be using a different emulator, or different USB device.
Trust me the Apple speaker is fine, it plays test MP3s through the Pi surprisingly well.
Thanks for your input.
06/07/2014 at 10:20 #7306 -
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