As requested by wiz: I use Arch, btw.
I know for a fact that there are oldfashioned audiophiles like me (I've met quite a few) who love 2.1 systems to anything multichannel. These multichannels nowadays can be a bi*ch, sometimes quite literally. I know cuz I've experienced it. Many of them also use linux bc of the better sound quality - compared to the quality Spyware offers. So, this topic is for all audiophiles who use 2.1 audio systems (2 speakers + subwoofer) but for some reason the sound of the movies they're watching is too quiet and/or too indistinguishable what the characters are saying.
Nowadays the most of the sound cards integrated into the motherboard (if not all of them) are multichannel, meaning 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and so on. Which, for a regular Spyware user that would mean they'd have to buy the corresponding multichannel audiosystem. But with linux we have options that cost $0.00.
Note that this just a general instruction which I discovered by accident and which works for me, but you're free to alter it however you want to fit your system or your needs.
1. First, you need to change pulseaudio configuration. Open this file in your favorite text editor:
Unless you've made previous changes to it, by default all lines are commented with the semicolon symbol. The main settings you need are these:
They're located in the first block of lines in the file. Whatever there is in this block, you need to change it to look like the code above. Then save the file and restart pulseaudio by running
There are other ways to restart it but IMO this is the "cleanest" way bc after killing the process of PA, systemd restarts it on its own, so all you nee to do is wait for a few seconds for that to happen.
2. Then, depending on the video player you're using (I'm using SMPlayer with mpv as a backend), you need to find your player's "Sound" tab in its settings and if there's a setting for the output, choose any available multichannel profile that ends with .1 - 5.1, 6.1, etc. Then "Apply" and/or "OK" in the player's interface. Restart the player.
And that's it. This makes the audiotrack of the movie between 30% and 50% louder but not too loud (no clipping), just enough for you to be able to hear the difference. Not only it becomes louder but also clearer and the characters' lines are clearer to understand. I tried that with a movie that comes with the crappy AAC codec (not the AAC by Apple, talkin' about the FOSS AAC which usually sucks a lot) and (un)surprisingly my trick made the sound louder and more understandable what the actors were saying.
Why this works so good? Because SMPlayer "talks" to ALSA/Pulseaudio and sends X.1 sound to PA. But you have already forced PA to downmix everything to 2.1, thus everything it receives is being downmixed and sent to the 2.1 audio system. The 2 rear channels are being sent to the 2 speakers you have which makes the sound a little louder and clearer. Even the bass becomes way more pleasant than usual.
By default the setting in SMPlayer (and probably other players too) is "Automatic" or "2.0", or even "stereo". But these 3 settings simply skip the subwoofer. When ***player sends "automatic", "2.0" or "stereo", there's nothing for PA to downmix and part of the sound disappears. When the player sends 5.1 sound, the downmixing works properly and PA gets the full scope of the sound.
That way you don't have reencode the entire movie in order to amplify the sound, nor do you have to extract the audio and amplify it through another program and then put it back in the mkv.
I know for a fact that there are oldfashioned audiophiles like me (I've met quite a few) who love 2.1 systems to anything multichannel. These multichannels nowadays can be a bi*ch, sometimes quite literally. I know cuz I've experienced it. Many of them also use linux bc of the better sound quality - compared to the quality Spyware offers. So, this topic is for all audiophiles who use 2.1 audio systems (2 speakers + subwoofer) but for some reason the sound of the movies they're watching is too quiet and/or too indistinguishable what the characters are saying.
Nowadays the most of the sound cards integrated into the motherboard (if not all of them) are multichannel, meaning 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and so on. Which, for a regular Spyware user that would mean they'd have to buy the corresponding multichannel audiosystem. But with linux we have options that cost $0.00.
Note that this just a general instruction which I discovered by accident and which works for me, but you're free to alter it however you want to fit your system or your needs.
1. First, you need to change pulseaudio configuration. Open this file in your favorite text editor:
Code:
/etc/pulse/daemon.confUnless you've made previous changes to it, by default all lines are commented with the semicolon symbol. The main settings you need are these:
Code:
default-sample-channels = 3
default-channel-map = front-left,front-right,lfe
remixing-produce-lfe = yes
remixing-consume-lfe = yesThey're located in the first block of lines in the file. Whatever there is in this block, you need to change it to look like the code above. Then save the file and restart pulseaudio by running
Code:
pulseaudio -kThere are other ways to restart it but IMO this is the "cleanest" way bc after killing the process of PA, systemd restarts it on its own, so all you nee to do is wait for a few seconds for that to happen.
2. Then, depending on the video player you're using (I'm using SMPlayer with mpv as a backend), you need to find your player's "Sound" tab in its settings and if there's a setting for the output, choose any available multichannel profile that ends with .1 - 5.1, 6.1, etc. Then "Apply" and/or "OK" in the player's interface. Restart the player.
And that's it. This makes the audiotrack of the movie between 30% and 50% louder but not too loud (no clipping), just enough for you to be able to hear the difference. Not only it becomes louder but also clearer and the characters' lines are clearer to understand. I tried that with a movie that comes with the crappy AAC codec (not the AAC by Apple, talkin' about the FOSS AAC which usually sucks a lot) and (un)surprisingly my trick made the sound louder and more understandable what the actors were saying.
Why this works so good? Because SMPlayer "talks" to ALSA/Pulseaudio and sends X.1 sound to PA. But you have already forced PA to downmix everything to 2.1, thus everything it receives is being downmixed and sent to the 2.1 audio system. The 2 rear channels are being sent to the 2 speakers you have which makes the sound a little louder and clearer. Even the bass becomes way more pleasant than usual.
By default the setting in SMPlayer (and probably other players too) is "Automatic" or "2.0", or even "stereo". But these 3 settings simply skip the subwoofer. When ***player sends "automatic", "2.0" or "stereo", there's nothing for PA to downmix and part of the sound disappears. When the player sends 5.1 sound, the downmixing works properly and PA gets the full scope of the sound.
That way you don't have reencode the entire movie in order to amplify the sound, nor do you have to extract the audio and amplify it through another program and then put it back in the mkv.
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