Combine Pi2Scart with USB-soundcard?

Yuke

Hello, i have big problems with audio quality (Crackling/Popping) on my Pi2Scart setup because of the bad AV-port of the Pi3. Is it possible to get something like this:

https://www.amazon.de/Cablesson-Audio-Converter-Schwarz-Type/dp/B071GR7ZZM/ref=sr_1_46?ie=UTF8&qid=1516017801&sr=8-46&keywords=usb 2.0 stereo soundcard

and combine it with my Pi2Scart? Someone tried something like that out?

Thanks

:edit: sorry wrong link at first

Rion

@yuke Sure it is. The audio quality from the built-in 3.5mm jack is notorious for low quality audio/crackling/popping.

Just use one that's compatible with raspian.

Yuke

Hello @Rion can you recommend one? The one i posted says Raspberry Pi in the description at least :P

Will it override the 3,5mm jack of the pie automatically or do i have to tweak a configfile or something?

Rion

@yuke If the page says it Raspberry pi compatible then it will/should work without problems on the Pi 3.

About audio output. That have to be changed in the Retropie setup to output sound from the usb soundcard instead.

Yuke

Do you mean the same menu where you change between Auto/Hdmi and 3,5mm jack?

Rion

@yuke Sorry i misspoke. Here is the correct info from the wiki

Yuke

Oh well. Its not plug and play but it still seems doable. Thanks for the info.

I hope it works with the Pi2Scart hat so i can output the audio to my CRT tv.

madmodder123

@yuke Have you tried putting these in your /boot/config.txt?
######## Uncomment to help remove white noise (if needed)
#disable_audio_dither=1
######## Uncomment to completely remove white noise over 3.5mm connection
#audio_pwm_mode=2

They seemed to make a pretty big difference in audio quality for me.

Yuke

Yes i did and it changed the quality of my sound dramatically (into better). But it seems that my AV-Jack is giving up on me now (It literally has gone rusty and i just have the Pi for two years now...). Its not enjoyable to play the games anymore with all the noise/static/crackling. Hopefully the USB-Soundcard solution will fix the problem, i really wanna finish Valkyrie Profile. :D

Hopfully the sound quality is similar to USB-Headsets...that would be enough for me as i mainly use those.

Yuke

Ok i cant get it to run it seems. A fucking plug and play solution is too much to ask in the year 2018 it seems.

Blockquote1
/$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0951:16a4 Kingston Technology
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 054c:09cc Sony Corp.
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Blockqote2
/$ cat /proc/asound/modules
0 snd_bcm2835
1 snd_usb_audio
2 snd_usb_audio

Blockquote3
/$ amixer
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Limits: Playback -10239 - 400
Mono: Playback 400 [100%] [4.00dB] [on]

Can anyone tell me the console commands to set this up? I tried the guides from here but it didnt work (In the guide there was only one listed usb_audio device).

mitu

@yuke Language please. In the link on github, there's an extra step to make the usb sound module the default one - see the step 5. You can see a list of soundcards that system detects executing

aplay -l

You should have 3 I think, 2 are the default ones on the PI system (Jack and HDMI), the 3rd one should be the USB soundcard.

Yuke

Sorry @mitu, i was really frustrated. Lost half of my day trying to get this working.

This is what i got with the command you gave me:

Code:
card 2: Audio [HyperX 7.1 Audio], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

What configfile do i have to edit now?

mitu

@yuke Look in the Alternate USB Audio Method, step 5

We can change and force the system to load the sound cards in a different order by creating a sound configuration file. Create the file by using the command below:

    sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

You will then enter the Nano editor environment and type the following lines:

   options snd_usb_audio index=0
   options snd_bcm2835 index=1
   options snd slots=snd-usb-audio,snd-bcm2835

Afterwards, press Ctrl+X to exit and answer Yes when prompted to save.

Yuke

@Mitu I tried that the whole day but because i have two usb devices shown it looked like that afterwards and it didnt work...

Blockqote2>
/$ cat /proc/asound/modules
0 snd_usb_audio
1 snd_bcm2835
2 snd_usb_audio

I dont know how to change this so that number two changes to 0 (i guess this was my problem but thats just a guess...)

Yeah, it seems thats the problem...the usb_device shown as 1 is actually my ps4 controller...

Yuke

Yes, i was right. Without my PS4 controller its working...Does anyone have an idea how i can differentiate between my two usb-devices?

Blockqote2
/$ cat /proc/asound/modules
0 snd_bcm2835
1 snd_usb_audio
2 snd_usb_audio

1 is my PS4 controller
2 is my USB soundcard

mitu

@yuke Look in the https://alsa.opensrc.org/MultipleCards#Multiple_devices page, there's a section about Ordering multiple cards of the same type , talking about ordering the cards detected by the USB ids. Edit the file referenced in the step 5 I mentions and make sure the USB card comes first, then try again.
EDIT: There's a section specially about USB soundcards on https://alsa.opensrc.org/MultipleUSBAudioDevices, with some example configs.

Yuke

thank you