Audio Configuration
From Performous
Normally Performous detects everything automatically and just works. This process may, however, fail if other applications are keeping your sound card to themselves or if you have strange audio hardware.
One problem worth a special mention is PulseAudio, an audio server used by modern Linux distros. If you are having any audio issues, try starting Performous with PulseAudio suspended:
pasuspender -- performous
The pasuspender program comes with PulseAudio utilities.
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[edit] Audio playback (if autodetection fails)
Use --pdev <device string> to set the audio API (alsa, pulse, jack, ...). Some devices also take parameters, e.g. alsa:plughw:0,2 will use driver alsa with ALSA device string "plughw:0,2" (conversion plugin + first sound card and the third subdevice of that). Use --pdevhelp to get the list of available devices and further help.
[edit] Microphones (if autodetection fails)
--mics may be used for manual configuration and --michelp displays the list of devices and their usage. You may also specify the mics option multiple times to use more than one sound card, if you have many.
If you don't specify anything, Performous defaults to two microphones and will prefer the SingStar or Rock Band ones, if available.
On Windows the only available driver is pa19, but you can still specify the number of channels (the default is 2) and the sound card to use, e.g. --mics 1@pa19:2 (one mic at sound card 2). Please notice that the most recently plugged device is used automatically, so in most cases no configuration is required.
Windows Vista misdetects SingStar USB microphones as a mono microphone so that only the blue microphone works. You have to change it to stereo (see Advanced tab on the device configuration that you can access by right clicking the volume control icon in systray).
[edit] Microphone to speakers
[edit] Adjusting audio sync
Usually it takes a fraction of a second for the sound to come out of the speakers after it has been sent out by Performous. Similarly, there's a delay on audio input. Some flat panel displays also introduce rather long delay from when the image is rendered to when it is actually displayed. Performous has to compensate for all these latencies in order to allow smooth gameplay.
[edit] A/V synchronization (all modes)
This is the difference between the time it takes for the audio and the video to get out of the system. If the setting is incorrect, notes on screen will pass the black line at an incorrect time.
Adjust with Ctrl+F1 and Ctrl+F2 in singing screen.
[edit] Audio roundtrip latency (singing)
This is the time it takes for the audio to go out thru the sound card, to the speakers, and in via the microphone and the sound card back, all around until Performous has detected the tone. If the setting is incorrect, the pitch wave will appear mispositioned on the notes, when the singer matches his timing on what he hears (rather than on the notes seen on screen).
While in singing screen, press Ctrl+S to enter synth mode, which will play the notes using synthesized sine waves. Place the microphone near a speaker and adjust with Ctrl+F3 and Ctrl+F4 until the pitch wave matches the notes.
[edit] Audio/controller latency (instruments and dancing)
This setting controls the synchronization between audio output and controller input. The value should be the controller input latency plus the audio output latency. Adjust it with Ctrl+F5 and Ctrl+F6 so that you can hit the notes most precisely by ear (without looking on the screen).
[edit] Tips for reducing audio latency
In order to see your singing on screen as realtime as possible, you should try to minimize the audio input latency and the video output latency. The video output latency can be affected by frame rate and by your display, but there is little you can do about it, and also the amount of latency is usually not more than 50 milliseconds at most. The audio input latency is affected by resampling/mixing audio servers such as PulseAudio. Preferrably you should use ALSA or JACK directly with your card, as this will provide the minimum latency.
Using analog connection to your stereo instead of S/PDIF can also often reduce the latency slightly.
