Very low output Volume

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DeRock89
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Very low output Volume

Post by DeRock89 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:47 am

I honestly don't know if this is a hardware or software issue. I've pretty much completed my first build and now I'm trying to iron out this issues. Thanks to the help of the wonderful community, I've already fixed several things.

My system is putting out very poor max volume. Initially during my build, the sound worked fine, now the volume is much lower at the max volume then it was initially. I hadn't changed anything related to sound prior to getting poor volume output.

All I have done before this issue happened is install Cambles safe Shutdown and add Roms. I never messed with any of the sound circuitry. Emulation station system volume is set to max. I've tried different settings with no results such as manipulating Alsamixer. I did notice that when turning the volume wheel that it wasn't smooth and sometimes would be loud for a split second so I installed a new volume pot. With the new one, volume transition is smooth and works great but volume is still low(I don't need to turn it down anymore though lol)

I do notice that there is some sort of error related to alsamixer that is new that sometimes flashes on the screen for a split second when termainal code shows, such as when opening something such as wifi or raspi-config in the settings, but my BW screen resolution is too poor to actually read thesmall text that only displays for a second. Ive also noticed that sometimes the emulation station master volume automatically goes down to zero % and I have to turn it back up again.

I lack the knowledge and experience with electronics to track the issue down myself. All I know to do is follow the circuits with a meter tester and listen to weather it beeps or not to see if there are broken connections.

I am using the "Easy Mono Amp rev 1" from Kitch-bent. I have the left, right, and ground from the Pi3 AV plug going to the volume pots first three legs, the other legs on the pot go to A+ and A- on the mono amp, power is supplied to the amp from the power strip and the next wires go to the speaker of course. I wanted left and right channels combined and it worked before. I am not using any sort of headphone jack.

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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by YaYa » Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:17 am

Could share picturesx of the circuitry !?
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DeRock89
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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by DeRock89 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:00 am

YaYa wrote:
Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:17 am
Could share picturesx of the circuitry !?
Yeah here's a link to an album of pictures showing everything with the audio. I'm ashamed of all the hot glue, but I kept breaking wires from taking it back apart and moving the halves around so much so I got paranoid and got glued all the wires that go from the front half to back half. I HATE having to fix a wire broken from a through hole....

I don't know what the software is that you guys use to make the wiring diagrams, so I just did my best to draw a picture of my audio circuit...

https://imgur.com/gallery/zoDZp

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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by DeRock89 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:13 am

The error message is "volumecontrol, failed to find mixer elements?"

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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by DeRock89 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:13 pm

YaYa wrote:
Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:17 am
Could share picturesx of the circuitry !?
Someone on the Amazon add where I purchased my pots said that the pinout differs from most. Now I'm wondering if my original pot broke and I wired the new pot wrong...

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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by YaYa » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:39 pm

I had a similar issue with this message with Kite’s SAIO. I didn’t bother with trying to solve, i just flashed a fresh image and the message was gone.
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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by DeRock89 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:42 pm

YaYa wrote:
Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:39 pm
I had a similar issue with this message with Kite’s SAIO. I didn’t bother with trying to solve, i just flashed a fresh image and the message was gone.
But what about the poor volume output? Is this an issue with the circuits do you think?

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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by YaYa » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:45 pm

I’m trying to understand your circuitry lol. You are taking the sound from AV out ? Why don’t you take it from the audio jack ?
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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by YaYa » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:48 pm

Your wires are really thick :o
except for power cables, you should use 28/26AWG and for power 24/22AWG.
It will be easier to manage the cables and close the case
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Re: Very low output Volume

Post by YaYa » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:49 pm

A picture from the PI should also help. I cannot see everything
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