GitLab

Version, Distribution, Desktop Environment:

• Fedora 33 with KDE
• pipewire-0.3.25-1.fc33.x86_64
• Kernel 5.10.23-200.fc33.x86_64
• kdelibs-4.14.38-23.fc33
• Audient iD4 USB audio interface
• Audio Technica AT2020 mic (condenser mic with XLR connector, 48V phantom power is provided by audio interface)

Description of Problem:

I'm having sound issues with my USB audio interface and mic setup. The mic volume is way too low. I have to crank gain on interface to 7/10 (70%) and boost the mic volume in 150% to get the mic source level to a usable output level. 7/10 gain is the highest gain that does not produce measurable noise. Starting at 8/10 it starts to get noisy. 150% volume does not work well. Some software like browsers seem to override the settings and dial down the mic to a barely audible volume.

In the past I had similar issues with pulseaudio. The auto-adjustment was less severe and happened less often, though. I was hoping that PW would make my audio issue go away magically. :)

In the mean time I'm using a script with a while/sleep 1 loop to force mic volume to roughly 150%.

while true; do
    pactl set-source-volume alsa_input.usb-Audient_iD4-00.iec958-stereo 100000
    sleep 1
    echo -n .
done

How Reproducible: always

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Record sound with microphone

Actual Results: The source output at 100% is barely audible. Manually adjusting to 150% works only shortly. The auto-volume feature of browsers dial down volume during video conference sessions (Firefox and Chromium, Meet and BlueJeans).

Expected Results: 100% volume gives decent output, auto-adjustment of volume doesn't cause issues during video confernces

Additional Info Eg. pw-dump -N > file (As Attachment Please):

pwdump.json