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Errors using Audacity on Rasp Pi 4

brm

December 11, 2023 21:54

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Hi all. I have returned to recording on the HiFiBerry DAC+ ADC after a break. But I am encountering errors using Audacity software - see enclosed image. Any ideas on how to address this?

Hardware is Raspberry Pi 4, with HiFiBerry DAC+ ADC Pro. Software is Raspberry Pi OS with latest updates. Pi OS says Audacity is 2.4.2.

I have tried removing PulseAudio as suggested on the Pi website, as I thought it may conflicting with Audacity - but I suspect the problem is deeper.

Prior to removing Pulse - recording and playback using "arecord" worked ok. Currently playback is not working due to absence of Pulse. I may have to put this back.

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8 comments

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team December 12, 2023 05:39

  "Unmatched rate symmetry" shows that you're trying to play and capture at different sample rates and/or sample formats. Both have to be exactly the same.

• 0
  
  brm December 12, 2023 05:42

  How do we correct this? Is it a Audacity configuration problem?

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team December 12, 2023 05:56

  Can be Audacity or the system. What did you configure? 
  Make sure, you use the hardware device to connect audacity to the sound card, NOT some default, plughw or Pulseaudio device.

• 0
  
  brm December 12, 2023 21:31

  Can I use the Pi config.txt file to adjust sample rates? I cannot find anything in Audacity or in the Pi OS to set this.

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team December 13, 2023 05:24

  No. The application always sets the sample rate. You can also do this in Audacity:
  https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/sample_rates.html
  
  Also check that audio middleware like Jack, PulseAudio or PipeWire isn't running as these will connect to the sound card with their own sample rate requests.

• 0
  
  brm December 20, 2023 09:58

  Update. A lot has happened since my last post. In an effort to get Audacity operating I downloaded and installed the latest Raspberry Pi OS. It was dated 5/12/23. Packages were then updated. Kernel is now 6.1.0-rpi7-rpi-v8.

  Config.txt as it stands.

  # For more options and information see
  # http://rptl.io/configtxt
  # Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details
  
  # Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
  #dtparam=i2c_arm=on
  #dtparam=i2s=on
  #dtparam=spi=on
  
  # Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
  # dtparam=audio=on
  
  # Additional overlays and parameters are documented
  # /boot/firmware/overlays/README
  dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplusadcpro
  
  # Automatically load overlays for detected cameras
  camera_auto_detect=1
  
  # Automatically load overlays for detected DSI displays
  display_auto_detect=1
  
  # Automatically load initramfs files, if found
  auto_initramfs=1
  
  # Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver
  dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d,noaudio
  max_framebuffers=2
  
  # Don't have the firmware create an initial video= setting in cmdline.txt.
  # Use the kernel's default instead.
  disable_fw_kms_setup=1
  
  # Run in 64-bit mode
  arm_64bit=1
  
  # Disable compensation for displays with overscan
  disable_overscan=1
  
  # Run as fast as firmware / board allows
  arm_boost=1
  
  [cm4]
  # Enable host mode on the 2711 built-in XHCI USB controller.
  # This line should be removed if the legacy DWC2 controller is required
  # (e.g. for USB device mode) or if USB support is not required.
  otg_mode=1
  
  force_eeprom_read=0
  
  [all]

  $ aplay -l
  **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
  card 0: sndrpihifiberry [snd_rpi_hifiberry_dacplusadcpro], device 0: HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro HiFi multicodec-0 [HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro HiFi multicodec-0]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

  As a result of these changes Audacity has come back to life, and displays both recording and play lights on the board. Funny though -the hifiberry is not listed as input or output. Instead Audacity is using defaults and this is working ok.

  Alsamixer opens with settings for the PulseAudio Card. I have to select the hifiberry sound card (F6) to see its settings. It is not perfect but Hifiberry works well and my recordings are good for the moment.

   

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team December 20, 2023 12:26

  If you run this using PulseAudio, you won't be able to select the sample rate directly. PulseAudio just connects with it's internal sample rate (usually 48kHz) and will resample everything back and forth. For many use cases that's just fine, for optimal audio performance I would recommend to disable PulseAudio and directly access the hardware device.

• 0
  
  brm December 26, 2023 08:39

  Ok. Thanks for the feedback. I can try this. In addition to Pulse Audio, RaspPi OS 05/12/23 has pipewire and wireplumb audio software. Do they pose any problems? Last time I removed Pulse Audio I suffered complications.  It broke the replay component of the HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro. Anyway we shall see.

  One problem I came across with my current (Pulse Audio) set up - with no Analogue input (turntable), in Audacity I selected the record button and found a lot of static noise coming through the speakers. That was disappointing. Not sure of the cause of this yet.