Bad audio quality from microphone on Manjaro KDE Pahvo, compared to Windows 10

Hi,
I am experiencing bad audio quality from my microphone on Manjaro, it was okay on Windows 10.
Current setup is Bluetooth Huawei AM61 headphones for audio (output) and a generic 3.5mm jack microphone (input).
It could be that the default microphone used is from the Headphones, and not the Front one, with the jack. I prefer to use the Front microphone.

$ inxi -Fxxxz                                                                                                                                                    
System:    Kernel: 5.14.10-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0 Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.5 tk: Qt 5.15.2
           wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: H110M-G/M.2 serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: P1.10 date: 05/11/2017
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Pentium G4600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake rev: 9 cache: L2: 3 MiB
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 28808
           Speed: 1430 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1430 2: 3600 3: 3600 4: 3600
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: ASRock driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5912
           class-ID: 0300
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz s-dpi: 96
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.3 direct render: Yes
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
           bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170 class-ID: 0403
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.14.10-1-MANJARO running: yes
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
           Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.38 running: yes
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASRock driver: e1000e v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6
           chip-ID: 8086:15b8 class-ID: 0200
           IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth: Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-3:6
           chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
           Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: see --recommends
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.36 TiB used: 682.63 GiB (48.9%)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Kingston model: SA2000M8500G size: 465.76 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
           serial: <filter> rev: S5Z42105 temp: 34.9 C scheme: GPT
           ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: DT01ACA100 size: 931.51 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200
           serial: <filter> rev: A750 scheme: GPT
Partition: ID-1: / size: 76.35 GiB used: 42.26 GiB (55.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6
           ID-2: /boot/efi size: 96 MiB used: 25.2 MiB (26.3%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:      ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 4 GiB used: 1.84 GiB (46.0%) priority: -2 file: /swapfile
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:      Processes: 243 Uptime: 17h 26m wakeups: 3 Memory: 7.48 GiB used: 6.69 GiB (89.5%) Init: systemd v: 249 Compilers:
           gcc: 11.1.0 Packages: pacman: 1290 Shell: Zsh v: 5.8 default: Bash v: 5.1.8 running-in: yakuake inxi: 3.3.08
$ inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --no-host --width                                                                                                                     
System:
  Kernel: 5.14.10-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.14-x86_64
  root=UUID=7a406fa8-0645-46ec-983a-e6c98b43244c rw quiet apparmor=1
  security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.5 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
  Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: H110M-G/M.2 serial: <filter>
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: P1.10 date: 05/11/2017
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  RAM: total: 7.48 GiB used: 6.76 GiB (90.4%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: Dual Core model: Intel Pentium G4600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
  arch: Kaby Lake family: 6 model-id: 9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: EA
  cache: L2: 3 MiB bogomips: 28808
  Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800
  4: 1263
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon art bts
  clflush clflushopt cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl
  dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est flexpriority flush_l1d fpu
  fsgsbase fxsr ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs intel_pt
  invpcid invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe mpx msr
  mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge
  pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep smap
  smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow
  tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave
  xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf
  mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: spec_store_bypass
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional,
  IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: ASRock driver: i915 v: kernel
  bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5912 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
  loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2")
  s-diag: 582mm (22.9")
  Monitor-1: DP-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102 size: 476x268mm (18.7x10.6")
  diag: 546mm (21.5")
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.3
  direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: ASRock
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170
  class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.14.10-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.38 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASRock driver: e1000e v: kernel
  port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b8 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) type: USB
  driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-3:6 chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.36 TiB used: 682.63 GiB (48.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: SA2000M8500G
  size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
  lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: S5Z42105 temp: 34.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Toshiba model: DT01ACA100
  size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
  type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: A750 scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 78.13 GiB size: 76.35 GiB (97.73%) used: 42.26 GiB (55.4%)
  fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6 label: N/A
  uuid: 7a406fa8-0645-46ec-983a-e6c98b43244c
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 100 MiB size: 96 MiB (96.00%)
  used: 25.2 MiB (26.3%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  label: N/A uuid: 8E54-A225
  ID-3: /mnt/hdd/e raw-size: 24.37 GiB size: 24.37 GiB (100.00%)
  used: 11.27 GiB (46.2%) fs: ntfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  label: E - Data 2 - HDD uuid: E8E272EDE272BF7E
  ID-4: /mnt/hdd/h raw-size: 731.51 GiB size: 731.51 GiB (100.00%)
  used: 503.32 GiB (68.8%) fs: ntfs dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7
  label: H - Data 3 - HDD uuid: 62B617A0B617742F
  ID-5: /mnt/ssd/d raw-size: 187.64 GiB size: 187.64 GiB (100.00%)
  used: 125.75 GiB (67.0%) fs: ntfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
  label: D - Data - SSD uuid: 2C9A23B39A23790A
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 4 GiB used: 1.98 GiB (49.4%) priority: -2
  file: /swapfile
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
  label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-2: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 size: 199.4 GiB fs: ntfs
  label: C - Windows - SSD uuid: 70B8619EB8616416
  ID-3: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:4 size: 500 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
  uuid: 62CE6C94CE6C61F1
  ID-4: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
  label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-5: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 100 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
  uuid: BCF0780CF077CAE2
  ID-6: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 size: 149.41 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
  uuid: 6CCA13D43C3DC503
  ID-7: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 size: 506 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
  uuid: EE3A82783A823E19
  ID-8: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6 size: 25 GiB fs: bitlocker label: N/A uuid: N/A
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 10 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-3:6 info: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
  type: Bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
  chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
  Device-2: 1-9:4 info: Logitech G203 Gaming Mouse type: Mouse,HID
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
  power: 300mA chip-ID: 046d:c084 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-3: 1-10:5 info: SINO WEALTH USB KEYBOARD type: Keyboard,HID
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s
  power: 100mA chip-ID: 258a:0001 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s
  chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.5 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 244 Uptime: 17h 34m wakeups: 3 Init: systemd v: 249
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 Packages: pacman: 1290 lib: 333
  flatpak: 0 Shell: Zsh v: 5.8 default: Bash v: 5.1.8 running-in: yakuake
  inxi: 3.3.08
$ sudo alsa-info.sh --upload
http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=a20bc74f30fe8800b24dbab9f438950d4f54dd1d
$ journalctl --catalog --priority=3 --boot=-1                                                                                                                              
-- Journal begins at Sat 2021-10-09 21:44:50 EEST, ends at Fri 2021-10-29 14:27:03 EEST. --
<D0><BE><D0><BA><D1><82> 28 15:44:10 sleeper kernel: x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
<D0><BE><D0><BA><D1><82> 28 15:44:18 sleeper pulseaudio[932]: Source noechosource does not exist.
<D0><BE><D0><BA><D1><82> 28 15:44:18 sleeper pulseaudio[932]: Sink noechosink does not exist.
<D0><BE><D0><BA><D1><82> 28 15:52:09 sleeper pulseaudio[932]: Error opening PCM device front:0: No such file or directory
<D0><BE><D0><BA><D1><82> 28 15:52:09 sleeper pulseaudio[932]: Error opening PCM device front:0: No such file or directory

$ journalctl --system --boot=-1 > journal-output.txt 
# uploaded to hastebin
https://www.toptal.com/developers/hastebin/pijayipovu.yaml

It seems that you have two mics connected to your machine, can you see them in the system tray by clicking the volume icon? If you can see both of them then just switch to the mic you want to use.

If you can’t find both of them, then try to read this wiki:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseAudio/Troubleshooting#Microphone_not_detected_by_PulseAudio

1 Like

Hi,
Thanks for the response!
Only one of the microphones is visible.
I believe you meant this:
image

$ arecord -l                                                                                                                                                       
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: ALC887-VD Alt Analog [ALC887-VD Alt Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I notice your mic sensitivity is set to 100%, which will pick up a lot of noises. Try to reduce it to 50%~70% and it will help you with your recording quality.

2 Likes

$ alsamixer

Edit: Thanks, it is better now.
How should I go about applying some noise/echo cancelling options to further improve the quality?

Sometimes it’s just the sensitivity problem as I mentioned above, sometimes it’s the audio profile problem that leads to low recording quality. Since you mentioned that you want to use your front mic instead of your Bluetooth Headset mic, I think it would be better for you to read through that wiki page carefully. It mentions various possible causes such as the sound card resampling rate. Sound problems are quite difficult to be “solved” because only you understand what it sounds like.

1 Like

Data from alsa-info.sh shows that the onboard audio codec has 2 capture inputs

card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]

card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: ALC887-VD Alt Analog [ALC887-VD Alt Analog]

The audio controls for the card show both inputs are configured to use the Front microphone jack

Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Front Mic' 'Rear Mic' 'Line'
  Item0: 'Front Mic'
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',1
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Front Mic' 'Rear Mic' 'Line'
  Item0: 'Front Mic'

Previous users with similar audio codecs have reported problems with audio quality when one microphone jack is connected to the 2 capture inputs

the GUI-equivalent controls in alsamixer for configuring the microphone connections are hidden in the window overflow in the screenshot
(This is one of the reasons why screenshots are unhelpful for troubleshooting)

I suggest you use → key in alsamixer to find the control for Input Source,1

and ↓ ↑ to change the capture input to Rear Mic

and then use this command to save corrected ALSA settings

sudo alsactl store
1 Like

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