The audio volume in AlsaMixer and normal KDE tray audio volume applet do not match! Why is it so?
pactl info
Server String: /run/user/1001/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 69
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: #####
Host Name: Manjaro
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 0.3.38)
Server Version: 15.0.0
Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo
Default Source: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo
Cookie: 0f4a:fd46
Alsa = Advanced Linux Sound Architecture can run without any sound server/sound router, just by itself, hence is normal to have independent audio level … A sound server will sit between ALSA and your applications. And then the application can have their own sound level, independent of the rest …
But it is the same while PulseAudio was installed
When I was using Openbox I had volume miss match between ALSA and PulseAudio for a while. Not that big, only a few digits lower. Don’t remember correctly but after few updates of alsa or alsa configs it fixed issue. There wasn’t too many updates if any of PulseAudio then, so I’m betting on ALSA. I mean, how it counts volume level. When I replaced PulseAadio with PipeWire I didn’t notice any changes between sound level, however.
Do volume levels depend on host OS? If not, then the same ‘thing’ mentioned in the OP are also there in Fedora 35 (which uses pipewire by default) -
