CoolerMaster 5.1 headset not working properly on Ubuntu 14.04
I'm using a USB 5.1 surround sound headset and it's not working how it should.
I am able to use the 5.1 surround sound. Sometimes even in Steam games so it is possible. The problem exists when using the headset on Skype or Google Hangouts.
When I set it to "Analog Surround 5.1 Output + analog Input" in PulseAudio Volume Control I'm not able to use my mic sometimes. Usually I can but as soon as I activate my mic (by pulling it down from the side) my sound gets disabled. I need to reboot if I want sound again.
If I set it to "Digital Stereo IEC958 Output + analog Input" it works sometimes. Usually it gets set to this automatically and I hear loud static when someone talks. (Probably because it tries to send stereo into a 5.1 channel). I need to set it to 5.1 Take out the USB, kill Pulseaudio, plug it back in and set it to Digital Stereo. Only then do my sound and mic work. And this doesn't even work every time. Sometimes I need to reboot.
As you can see a whole hassle just to talk to my friends on Skype. I would love a solution for this problem. I've searched online and all I could find was checking alsamixer but it shows my headset and 5.1 channels and 2 mic inputs (just like PulseAudio).
I'm not sure what you information you need from me in order to help. Tell me and I will provide :)
71 Answer
This is a USB 1.x device, using full speed, i.e., 12 Mbit/s signalling. This means that the bus just has not enough bandwidth for all the channels used.
To reduce bandiwth requirements,
- remove all other USB devices from the same bus (it is often not obvious which ports belong to the same bus),
- reduce the sample rate to 44.1 kHz, or
- reduce the number of playback channels to 4.
