esound issues (was Re: [Fwd: sound in CURRENT])

[Sean McNeil]

On Sat, 2004-08-21 at 22:01, Tim Robbins wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 21, 2004 at 09:24:11PM -0700, Sean McNeil wrote:
> > On Sat, 2004-08-21 at 21:04, Tim Robbins wrote:
> > > On Sat, Aug 21, 2004 at 01:37:01PM -0500, Conrad J. Sabatier wrote:
> > > > On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 19:13:13 +0200
> > > > Christer Solskogen <solskogen at carebears.mine.nu> wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > -----Forwarded Message-----
> > > > > > From: Christer Solskogen <solskogen at carebears.mine.nu>
> > > > > > To: freebsd-current at freebsd.org
> > > > > > Subject: sound in CURRENT
> > > > > > Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:26:03 +0200
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > FreeBSD funshine.carebears.net 5.3-BETA1 FreeBSD 5.3-BETA1 #1: Sat
> > > > > > Aug 21 15:51:04 CEST 2004    
> > > > > > root at funshine.carebears.net:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/FUNSHINE  amd64
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I cant get sound working on my SB Live. 
> > > > > > I have the following in kernel config:
> > > > > > device          sound
> > > > > > device          "snd_emu10k1"
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > It seems like I dont have any sound modules either in /boot/kernel
> > > > > > (yeah, i know the modules are named snd_*)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > (no need to CC: back to me. I`m subscribed)
> > > > > 
> > > > > Could this only be on amd64?
> > > 
> > > [long rant snipped]
> > > 
> > > It's unreasonable to claim that the whole sound system is broken on the
> > > basis of one driver not working with your hardware -- I've had no problems
> > > whatsoever with sound on my system, using both the onboard sound (VIA 8237/
> > > Analog Devices AD1980 with the snd_via8233 driver) and an old Sound Blaster
> > > Live! Value card (with the snd_emu10k1 driver).
> > 
> > Well he mentioned actually 2 different chip sets.  I do not know if they
> > are the same driver, though.  I'm using the snd_via8233 as well and have
> > terrible sound quality.  Have you played back mp3 files on that
> > machine?  Do they sound good completely through?  Mine sounds hurried at
> > times.  Like it is getting interrupts too soon.
> 
> MP3 files play back fine with XMMS, mpg123, and everything else I've tried.
> The only time they don't is when WITNESS and INVARIANTS are both turned on
> and the box is under heavy load (buildworld, portupgrade, etc.).

I just did some additional experimentation with xmms on my amd64
-CURRENT box.  Sound is just fine with OSS driver play but is terrible
with esound.  I hear pops, skips (like it lost data), and other small
artifacts when playing an mp3 file.  Here is the MPEG info:

MPEG 1, layer 3
Bitrate: Variable
avg. bitrate: 199 kb/s
Samplerate: 44100 Hz

Cheers,
Sean