Rasberry Pi 2 Sound Help Please

[Paff813]

Rasberry Pi 2 Sound Help Please

I am using a Rasberry Pi 2 for my show and everything is working great except the sound. The sound is staticy. I was wondering has anyone used a USB set of speakers for sound instead of using the audio jack on the Pi?

Thanks!

R/
Mike

[cmschleich]

I just ordered a USB to jack converter and will try it in the next week. Can't speak to your issue without the setup, but I've found my Pi3 3.5mm audio jack is a mess.

[CaptainMurdoch]

Some fm transmitters do fine with the Pi while others sound terrible.  I think a lot has to do with the power supplies used but there are several factors.  My fm-02 and Pi sounded much better when I powered the fm-02 with an old laptop power supply and buck converter.

[Paff813]

I just had a V-8 moment.  I think my problem is I am running video so the sound is going through the HDMI and may be causing interference on the audio jack.  My sound is MP4 files. 


Could this be my problem?

[CaptainMurdoch]

The audio for a video file will go out HDMI if you are using HDMI video unless you check the checkbox to force analog audio.  I believe MP3 playback will also go out the HDMI port of you have a HDMI device connected.

The audio from a video will not go out the USB port because the omxplayer video player bypasses ALSA and talks directly to the hardware for audio playback so it can't use USB audio.

[cmschleich]

The audio for a video file will go out HDMI if you are using HDMI video unless you check the checkbox to force analog audio.  I believe MP3 playback will also go out the HDMI port of you have a HDMI device connected.

I did an HDMI test earlier today (Pi3) for MP3 output as part of trying to ditch the 3.5mm jack. I didn't get anything out. Would love insight if this is possible (I dont' use video).

[Paff813]

I am running MP4 videos in my display running a HDMI converter the VGA.  I am forcing the sound through the jack and it is staticy.  Is it because I am saving the file as a MP4 or it is a digital files forced into an anolog setting?


Any recommendations?

[Rob Baldwin 12]

if your having issues with the sound being static turn down the sound volume... 50 is a nice volume ... the issue is the onboard sound card is pwm... and if the music is loud and the volume is all the way up instead of clipping like a traditional amplifier... it produces static...


If turning down the sound doesnt fix the issue try using a usb sound dongle... amazon has one for 4.95 that works with raspberry pi

[Paff813]

I turned the volume down on the FPP below 50 and it worked just fine.  Thanks everyone!