Questions tagged [audio]
For questions about the recording and playback of speech and music on your computer, as well as for problems about the sound component of videos.
7,326
questions
1582
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6
answers
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How do I make a machine "blank screen" for a period of time (as a penalty) if certain noise levels are reached?
My kids (4 and 5) yell a lot when playing games on the computer. I found an effective cure for this. When I hear loud noises, I ssh into the game computer and do:
chvt 3; sleep 15; chvt 7
This ...
607
votes
11
answers
259k
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From a quality perspective, what is better: turning volume up in the software, in the OS, or on the speakers?
If music isn't loud enough, how do I get the best quality (even if the difference is in fact so small it's negligible)?
By making the music louder in my music player, game or other sound-producing ...
313
votes
16
answers
214k
views
Combine one image + one audio file to make one video using FFmpeg
This should be pretty trivial, but I can't find a way to get it to work.
I want FFmpeg to take one JPEG image and an audio file as input and generate a video file of the same duration as the audio ...
213
votes
7
answers
268k
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How can I normalize audio using ffmpeg?
I want the loudest peak sound in a movie clip to be as loud as the codec allows, then have every other sound amplified accordingly.
What's a practical example in order to accomplish this using ffmpeg?...
176
votes
2
answers
126k
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ffmpeg - replace audio in video
How to replace the audio in a video file using an audio file using ffmpeg?
I imagine the command looks like:
ffmpeg -i v.mp4 -i a.wav -MAGIC video-new.mp4
This is very similar to How to replace an ...
133
votes
9
answers
276k
views
Is there a way to listen to the input sound on Mac OS X?
Is there any easy way to listen to the input on a Mac?
For example, assume I have a microphone hooked up to the input (i.e. line in) of my Mac, and I have headphones hooked up to the output of my ...
126
votes
7
answers
171k
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FFMPEG: Convert m4a to mp3 without significant loss
I have a load of audio files (about 1000) which I want to convert from m4a to mp3 so I can use play them on a CD player which has a USB port.
I tried doing something simple like: ffmpeg -i FILE.m4a ...
122
votes
6
answers
39k
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Can I write (200 MB - 150 min) music to a (700 MB - 80 min) CD?
I have mp3 songs of audio quality 320 kbps. The total size of the songs is around 200 MBs with a total playing time of around 150 minutes.
Can I write these songs to an audio CD, whose specs are ...
122
votes
14
answers
395k
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How can I control the master volume in Windows?
Some keyboards have volume controls on them that can be pressed anytime to control the master volume. My keyboard does not have that. Is there a way that I can create a key macro that will work like ...
122
votes
7
answers
370k
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Is there a way to restart audio without restarting a Windows 7 computer?
Sometimes, when I start my machine, the volume control is set to 100, but it plays relatively quiet. I can fix it by rebooting my machine. Is there a way to restart audio devices, without rebooting ...
115
votes
10
answers
314k
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Play MP3 or WAV file via the Linux command line
I would like to make an alarm system backed by a Ubuntu (no graphical interface) box, which plays various announcement and alarm audio tracks (.mp3 or .wav) via the command line.
For example:
$ root&...
114
votes
15
answers
522k
views
Bad sound through bluetooth headphones
I have a problem with the sound quality of a pair of Acoustic CHP600BT Solutions Bluetooth Headphones - Black.
When I connect these headphones to my phone (Samsung S2 plus), the sound quality is ...
113
votes
6
answers
635k
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Does DisplayPort carry sound as HDMI does?
Does DisplayPort carry sound as HDMI does?
Specifically, I am looking at Lenovo Laptops T410 or T510.
I'm wondering if the spec permits for audio over DP, and if possible whether the Lenovo laptops I ...
105
votes
6
answers
165k
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"reload" mac audio drivers without rebooting
I have an external audio interface (M-audio fast track c400). In order to get my macbook to recognize it (display in audio/midi setup), I have to reboot, which is a hassle. I have had other m-audio ...
97
votes
2
answers
467k
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What's the difference between stereo and hands free?
Every time I connect a bluetooth headset it shows up as 2 things on sound playback devices.
I can choose bluedio stereo or bluedio hands free.
What is that?
What's the difference?
I often see the ...
93
votes
2
answers
266k
views
What do ALSA devices like "hw:0,0" mean? How do I figure out which to use?
I've searched over and over and can't find any explanation of what "hw:0,0" means. How do I determine the number of my USB audio card? MPD requires me to enter something like this:
audio_output {
...
91
votes
8
answers
109k
views
Reduce background noise and optimize the speech from an audio clip using ffmpeg
I extract audio clips from a video file for speech recognition. These videos come from mobile/other handmade devices and hence contain a lot of noise. I want to reduce the background noise of the ...
79
votes
1
answer
128k
views
Add audio to video using FFmpeg
I’m trying to add sound to a video using FFmpeg, but for some reason, when I play the resulting file, it doesn't have any sound. I also tried doing it with an aac audio file, as well as leaving out -...
79
votes
2
answers
146k
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Windows 8 turns program sound volume down randomly
I recently upgraded to Windows 8 from Win 7 64 bit and have started to encounter a strange issue.
When I have any program running which plays sound, such as a game or spotify, after a random interval (...
78
votes
4
answers
161k
views
Disable "ding" sound when changing volume on Windows
Every time I change the audio level via Windows 7 Professional x64's Task Bar's audio control to up or down, Windows does a ding sound, which is quite annoying.
How do you disable this?
77
votes
14
answers
142k
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Properly downmix 5.1 to stereo using ffmpeg
I have a 5.1 audio track from a film where front left and front right contains music, and center contains dialogue. Playing the 5.1 track in VLC blends everything together nicely.
I'm trying to ...
76
votes
7
answers
197k
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Restart Ubuntu sound processes via command line
I tried to hibernate Ubuntu (which fails, but thats another issue) and resumed my system.
After this, the sound doesn't get played.
What command can/should I run to restart the ubuntu sound system.
76
votes
12
answers
218k
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Routing Applications sound to different sound device? (Windows)
Anyone know how I can set for an application to output its audio to a specific device in Windows? I'm dealing with applications where it's not possible to go into their settings and choose which ...
73
votes
2
answers
57k
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How do ALSA and PulseAudio relate?
While trying to get my sound to work, I was wondering about the roles of ALSA and PulseAudio. I have both installed and was wondering, for example, which of them needs to know about my sound card.
...
71
votes
11
answers
198k
views
Windows 10 volume randomly jumps to 100%
Today I installed Windows 10, and I love it except for this bug:
The volume has a bug. When I'm watching YouTube videos on Microsoft Edge and I click next video, my ears will be blown off because, ...
69
votes
9
answers
682k
views
How do I play audio through a Bluetooth headset in Windows 7?
I recently did an in-place upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 RTM. For the most part, things have gone brilliantly. The only issue I've been facing is regarding my Bluetooth headset, a Dell BH200. The ...
67
votes
4
answers
54k
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How do you mute the ding sound in Google Chrome when find on page returns no results?
In Google Chrome, on Windows 7, if you hit Ctrl+F and you type in random letters, you will hear a ding sound. I want to mute that sound.
How would I go about doing that?
66
votes
2
answers
47k
views
Computer volume drops when USB deviced plugged in
This is really an odd issue. When I close the laptop (I use it on a docking station; it doesn't leave the docking station when this issue occurs) or when I open iTunes, the volume output on the ...
66
votes
10
answers
403k
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Windows keeps making these random "device connect" and "device disconnect" sounds
Throughout the day I notice that my computer makes apparently random device-connect and/or device-disconnect ("boink") sounds.
I suppose it is the same sound you hear when connecting or ...
64
votes
3
answers
144k
views
How to encode audio with Opus codec?
The Opus audio codec looks like the best codec so far for compressing audio. It has recently become supported in the latest ffmpeg and VLC players. However, there is no documentation I can find on how ...
63
votes
10
answers
138k
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Can I increase the sound volume above 100% in Linux?
I am running KDE 4.6 in Debian Testing. Is there a way to increase the sound (i.e. more than the standard 100%)? The current settings with my speakers seem a bit too quiet in some cases.
I found a ...
62
votes
8
answers
349k
views
How do I swap audio output of the left and right speakers?
I have two speakers stereo speakers but when I use the sound control panel applet to test my audio configuration I get sound in the right speaker when the user interface indicates the right speaker ...
61
votes
12
answers
199k
views
How to make the PC speaker beep from the Windows 7 command prompt?
I'm running some lengthy video encodes using the Handbrake command line interface. After all my encodes are done, I would like to have the PC speaker beep, as I usually turn my large external speakers ...
60
votes
4
answers
116k
views
Is it possible to have two sources of audio output to different speakers in Windows 10?
I have a Bluetooth speaker that I’d like to stream my Spotify music to while at the same time having my YouTube video from Chrome output sound to my monitor speaker. I’m using a DP cable. Is this ...
59
votes
6
answers
15k
views
Do most music CDs contain the needed info about their tracks?
I see that many audio players (I mean multimedia software like Winamp or Foobar2000) have the ability of searching music information on databases like CDDB. Shouldn't such info already be available on ...
59
votes
3
answers
164k
views
Convert mp3 to wav using FFmpeg for VBR
What command should I use to convert a mp3 file to wav whose bitrate is variable. Or better how would I know whether that source audio is fixed bitrate or variable?
59
votes
6
answers
90k
views
How to stream my GNU/Linux audio output to Android devices over WI-FI?
I want to stream my audio output over the network (Wi-Fi) to my Android devices. I'm not looking for a music/video streaming solution, but I would stream any audio output of my GNU/Linux desktop to my ...
58
votes
8
answers
10k
views
How do I check if a 2-track WAV file is "really" in stereo?
I have an audio file (WAV format to be specific). When I open it with an editor (e.g. audacity), I see two channels I suspect that the recording is actually mono rather than audio, i.e. I suspect the ...
57
votes
4
answers
18k
views
Can I losslessly increase the volume of an MP3 file?
I want to increase the volume of some MP3 files that I have. Is there a way to do this in a lossless way (without re-compressing the MP3 file and hence decreasing its quality)?
56
votes
9
answers
518k
views
How to use two audio devices simultaneously with Windows 7?
I have an audio connector on board (Asus P8H67-I) and an USB audio card (Teufel). How can I use the two devices simultaneously?
As far as I can see I have to set one device to the standard output ...
56
votes
9
answers
229k
views
Turn volume up over 100% in Windows 7
I find that for some applications, even turning the volume up to 100% on their application or the master volume just isn't enough. Is there some setting somewhere where I can push the limit?
55
votes
4
answers
34k
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How can I play a sound from the command line in macOS?
I would like to play a short sound file from the command line in Mac OS X, independent of any audio player application, in order to provide notification that a long job has finished.
53
votes
15
answers
51k
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Does it make sense converting a file to a higher audio bitrate?
When a certain file (mp4, flv, etc) has a 95 kbps audio bitrate - does it make sense outputing to a higher bitrate when converting to mp3 or other format (be it lossy or not)?
Would this result in ...
53
votes
8
answers
113k
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How to decode AAC (.m4a) audio files into WAV?
How would you convert (decode) AAC files into WAV format? (Or, if you prefer, how to decode & re-encode them into MP3 or Ogg Vorbis? But WAV is sufficient as I already have good tools for WAV ➔ ...
51
votes
3
answers
272k
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How can I switch an application to a different playback device on Windows 10 [duplicate]
Googling for solutions to this problem seems to lead to third party solutions like this, sometimes with scripting like this. I'm no stranger to either, but It seems crazy to me that there isn't a ...
51
votes
5
answers
274k
views
Google Chrome adjust volume per tab
Is it possible to adjust the volume of individual tabs in Google Chrome?
I've found an extension that allows the volume to be muted, but it does not allow variable volumes.
UPDATE
Years after asking ...
50
votes
8
answers
40k
views
Disable audio output to DisplayPort device
I'm on OSX 10.9.2 using a Samsung SA850 Display connected to the display port of my MBP 15" Late 2012 Model.
All seems fine, but there is a problem with audio. Generally, whenever the display goes to ...
49
votes
3
answers
78k
views
Windows 10, manually reconnect to already paired Bluetooth device?
On Windows 10 and I've already paired the Bluetooth headset previously. When I turn it on it connects to the last used device (my iPhone; I manually disconnect).
How do I tell Windows "Please ...
48
votes
3
answers
372k
views
How to create a virtual audio device and stream audio input with it
Here's my concrete problem:
I am broadcasting a game via XFire and it uses the Windows audio device to capture any audio I receive. As I am broadcasting, other users who watch the video stream are ...
48
votes
5
answers
530k
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HD Audio or AC97 connector - Which to use when, and what's the difference?
I'm currently setting up a older system in a new case (i'll be upgrading it in stages, and the old parts then go back into the old case ;p), and i'm having a bit of confusion over which cable to use, ...