Vortexbox playback through pre-amp - no sound

[mcooksey]

I have built a VB on a Via Epia GX mb because of the RCA outputs. I have connected this to my Meridian Pre-amp to give me volume control over my Meridian M30 active speakers, however I have no sound. There is a humming when LINE is selected, and by moving the connection to the TAPE input, I also get the humming, so there is something happening.

I've got the latest download, I've sent the settings through from VB Player to Squeezeserver, I've logged in to the box through Shell In A Box and made sure nothing is muted and the volume is up.

Any ideas?

[mintaudio]

What output do you get from 'aplay -l' and what do you have in your device settings for Vortexbox Player (Default, hw:1,0 etc.)

[mcooksey]

Oh, how embarrassing! Just re-read the device settings tool tip and typed "Default" in the Audio Device box - and it works! I'd left it blank thinking this was the default setting!!!

Thanks for the pointer, though! Sound really quite nice.

[Macross]

Default is not the optimum setting. You should use the output of aplay -L and see what channels are available and what formats.
for example. This is the output of aplay -L from my Vortexbox with a ASUS Xonar DG Soundcard.

aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=DG
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output

You would use front:CARD=DG,DEV=0 for the analog outputs the Green jack's on my soundcard, and iec958:CARD=DG,DEV=0 for the toslink connection.
This is helpful to note if you have more that one soundcard installed, or have the output split to support more than 1 stereo output, I have 3.

Make sure after you make changes to the alsamixer that you save those changes with a alsactl store "#" Where the pound sign is the number of the soundcard in question. The first soundcard or single soundcard installation is usually 0.