[gentoo-user] Re: Phonon + PulseAudio Problem

[Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de>]

On 05/22/2010 07:59 PM, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote:
> On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 1:21 AM, Nikos Chantziaras<realnc@arcor.de>  wrote:
>> Latency is the delay between giving the order to play a sound and the sound
>> actually being played.  It's usually around 30ms here with ALSA/dmix, and
>> around 10ms with OSS/vmix.  It's not funny trying to play something in a
>> software synth with a keyboard when having a 30ms latency.
>
> As I said, you're doing it wrong. No "normal" (average desktop, media
> center, laptop, linux-phone) user needs 10ms of latency in audio.
> That's overkill. Yours is a special case, and you need special
> software. Try Jack.

I don't do professional audio.  I have a normal PC.  And just like I 
sometimes use a synth in Windows (I'm just a hobbyist), I'd like to do 
the same in Linux.

Windows: I don't need Jack there.  Audio latency is low even with 
non-ASIO drivers.

Linux: I suddenly need "Jack" and specialty hacks and must do without a 
mixer!  No thanks.  OSSv4 allows me to use my machine in the same manner 
as Windows: It just works and does the right thing regardless of the 
application I'm running.

ALSA/Pulse needing third-party stuff just to get basics right 
(acceptable latency; not *ultra* low latency, just acceptable one) is a 
sign that they're not designed right.

And OSS4 dying because of kernel-mixing is a bit far-stretched.  "No FP 
mixing in kernel" is Linux-specific.  Other kernels don't have a problem 
with that.

And in the end, you know what?  Even if OSS4 had a broken design, it's 
still better, because it works better.  At least it gets the basics 
right.  Other operating systems are much more advanced in that manner. 
It's ALSA that holds Linux audio back.