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After using Alsa and PulseAudio for a while, I feel they are not yet strong enough for Audio capture and audio playback.

When I test with loud-speaker and microphone, there is self feedback-loop.
When I test with some internal PCI-Express card, Linux audio creates static white noise.

It seems that a lot of problems exist, without any permanent solution. I followed many suggestion like using external sound card to resolve such issues. But it turns out that there is something wrong with the Linux audio system, with either Alsa or PulseAudio.

The same hardware turns out to be very solid for audio capture and playback by when using Windows 7/8 or Mac OS X.

My concern is that Alsa and PulseAudio are not equal to CoreAudio from Mac. And Microsoft Windows also has their own audio platform.

What else can I use for Linux? Is it possible to get CoreAudio or another audio platform without using Alsa or PulseAudio?

My setup: (i have tried several)

The main goal is to send PC1 audio to PC2. But for the moment all the audio testing is done in local PC1.

Case 1) My PC1 is capturing the audio from its own mother-board sound card. Which creates static white noise, i can not kill this noise, its always there while using mother-board sound card speaker out and mic-in or without mic even there is a static noise.

Case 2) My PC1 is capturing the audio from external USB microphone, and My PC1 is also using an external USB creative sound blaster card.

In his case, i have less noise now. But there is a problem i can hear myself louder while having the loud speaker volume higher and microphone volume to normal level.

This case also get resolve while using Ear phone, instead of using Loud speaker

Case 3) My PC1 is capturing its mother-board sound card using general microphone. And speaker out is using external speaker box. I have static noise white noise, not removable.

All those case does not happen when i use he same PC1 with Windows XP/ 7/8 or Mac OS X. Only this happening while using Alsa or Pulse audio.

For the moment i am using External USB microphone and External USB sound card to avoid the noise. Still without having any solution to remove the self feedback loop.

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  • I don't understand your setup. Are you recording some sound, then playing it back later? Are you recording sound on one machine and playing it immediately on another? Are you recording sound on one machine and saving it to disk on another? Are you playing an audio file on one machine through an audio device connected to another machine? Are you looking for a way to massage recordings (e.g. active feedback cancellation)?
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Feb 18, 2012 at 23:50
  • @Gilles: Please see above my random testing in the section mentioned "My setup: (i have tried several)".
    – user11085
    Commented Feb 19, 2012 at 8:56
  • Have you tried using only alsa (removing pulseaudio out of the equation) or replacing pulseaudio with JACK? Pulseaudio brings a lot of problems to the table, it's not a suitable server for professional sound. If neither of these options gets your desired results, I guess your last bet is to replace alsa with OSS.
    – Cestarian
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 16:46

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I'm not exactly sure what you meant with "ALSA or PulseAudio", I assume you meant PulseAudio over ALSA. I'm also in the dark, in regards to your distribution, so I'm prevented from being very specific. If you provide your distro + version, I can let you know if this problem has known workarounds. GNU/Linux audio has improved, but it's not on level with CoreAudio. Windows Audio is closer, but still sounds much clearer ... and embarrassingly also performs better. Regardless, You have a few options to test out.

  • Disable PulseAudio: I know some will cry murder, but it has helped even in 2012.

  • Route With JACK2: You can remove white noise in realtime, if necessary.

  • Consider OSSv4 to replace ALSA: architectural decisions aside, it plainly works better

Some will argue against my (any) audio recommendations, but from an audiophile who records, These have helped me at times. Audio can often be one of those 'controversial' FOSS subjects.

BTW: You should also consider filing a bug report, with your respective distribution.

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