Jack nightmare...! Trying to get headphones working with USB mic

[b.horn99]

Hey guys, I'm so frustrated right now!
So much time on my hands but nothing works... even after reading a bunch of threads on the subject
I've been using Mint for a while but I'm pretty new in music production and the whole setup between PulseAudio, Alsa and Jack is driving me crazy!

Bear with me please, I'm gonna explain the whole thing.
- I'm using Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.3 and Reaper
- with the Snowball USB and my headphones plugged in my laptop's mini-jack
- I've been trying KXStudio, QjackCtl and Ubuntu Studio Controls to get Jack running the right way...

Now the further I've been so far is to be able to record with Jack running but no sound's coming from headphones or laptop's speakers for playback.
I like using the Ubuntu Studio Controls but QjackCtl looks the more features rich...
I'm ready to follow any detailed explanation.
Thanks for your help

[Michael Willis]

The problem is that your USB mic and your on-board audio are two different audio devices. It is possible to get JACK to work with two separate devices, but it is a notorious pain in the patella.

What app are you using to record? Depending on what you are using, it might be possible to avoid JACK and go directly to ALSA, which might be a little bit less trouble. If you really want to use JACK with multiple devices, these previous threads might help you:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19610
viewtopic.php?t=16062
viewtopic.php?p=95025
viewtopic.php?t=6938

Edit: Or they might help you decide that only pain and misery come to those who choose to walk this path.

[milo]

I have managed to use different input and output devices in JACK, but experienced intolerable latency. YMMV.

Here's how to set it up: in qjackctl open the setup window, then go to the advaced tab. Set your input device to the usb microphone and your output device to your onboard soundcard. Then cross your fingers and start JACK.

Good luck!

[b.horn99]

@Michael Willis , thanks for your answer. Those links look detailed and promising! when I get some experience under my belt and I'm ready to dive deeper!

I use Reaper.
Yes I'm able to use Alsa and everything works fine.
I guess I've to stick with that for this setup (USB mic and headphone on the HDA Intel PCH card).

So what is Jack used for? A usb interface type Focusrite Solo?
I used one in the past and I was able to use it with Jack to record and monitor but I couldn't play youtube video in firefox.
Jack was not playing nicely with PulseAudio.
It seems like a classic problem on all the thread I read but I couldn't find clear instructions and explanations on how to make them work together.

Ideally I'd like to use both setup.
So if you can explain to me how to configure Jack to play nicely with PulseAudio I would greatly appreciate it man!
thank you

[b.horn99]

@milo yes I did that but the sound was not working...
So what did you do to solve your latency problem with Jack finally?
Cool song with your kid by the way!
Thanks

[milo]

So what did you do to solve your latency problem with Jack finally?

I bought a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Worth every penny!

Cool song with your kid by the way!

Thanks!

[b.horn99]

I bought a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Worth every penny!

Ok I hear you!
Could you tell me how did you set it up to use Jack? (KXStudio, QjackCtl, Ubuntu Studio Controls?)
Are you able to work in your DAW (and by the way which one are you using?) and watch a youtube video/tutorial on the side?
As I was saying before, I've access to a Focusrite Scarlett Solo so I would be so grateful if you could help me to have Jack and PulseAudio (for youtube) be able to work at the same time on this specific interface!
Thanks man!

[Michael Willis]

The easiest way I've found to get jack and pulseaudio to cooperate is to use Cadence from KXStudio, and enable the pulseaudio bridge after launching jack. It is as simple as a few clicks and then you're done. There are certainly other ways to do this with qjackctl or the Ubuntu studio controls, but somebody else will have to fill in there.

[milo]

I am using qjackctl with Ardour on Mint 19.3. It's pretty easy to set up the Scarlett as the audio device in the qjackctl setup window.

I have pulseaudio-module-jack installed, but it doesn't work. I tried to watch a YouTube video today with JACK running and got no audio until I stopped JACK. Same thing with Soundcloud. It's pretty easy to start and stop JACK within qjackctl, so it's not a problem for me. Listening to audio from a browser is never part of my workflow when I'm making music in a DAW. But I could see how it would be nice to have an Unfa tutorial open or something like that.

There have been a few threads here about browser audio with JACK. I never pay attention to them, but you might find something that works for you by reading through them. Sorry to not be more helpful than that.

Good luck!

[khz]

I have pulseaudio-module-jack installed, but it doesn't work.

Is "Jack sink" selected in "Settings: Audio --> Output devices"?

[wjl]

Like Michael said, the easiest way to get working bridges between Jack, Alsa, and Pulseaudio is to use Cadence from the KXStudio repos.

You might also want to check if jack runs as jackdbus, maybe the settings of alsamixer (on command line maybe), and whether your OS settings (I'm on Gnome) chose the right sound card as input/output (Jack sink and source work fine, but some recent upgrade chose SPDIF instead, so I haven't had sound from Firefox (like Youtube) anymore).

My Jack settings within Cadence (under Driver-Alsa) are:

Input device: hw:USB,0 [USB Audio]
Output device: hw:USB,0 [USB Audio]
Input Channels: 6
Output Channels: 6
Sample Rate: 48000
Buffer Size: 256
Periods/Buffer: 3
Dithering Mode: None

Together with the property 'Realtime' checked under the 'Engine' tab, that gives me a Block Latency of 5.3ms. My interface is a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 (2nd gen).

Although Cadence is set to autostart the complete setup at login this doesn't always work as my on-screen conky system monitor shows. Sometimes only pulseaudio comes up (might be some kind of race condition between those, this happened since Debian switched to systemd as its init system), sometimes no sound at all, so I'll have to manually start Jack from Cadence. No big deal, because afterwards everything is integrated nicely.

FalkTX mentioned something about dropping Cadence or so, so I might have to look for an alternative sooner or later (or not update his KXStudio repos anymore).

Hope that helps,
Wolfgang

[b.horn99]

hey guys,
So I got it working finally!
Thanks to @wjl I went back to KXStudio and manage to have it working perfectly following those tutorials from Skrappjaw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoN0GLY ... KiI7hFp5I6
Youtube and Jack are running in harmony! and the patchbay is so dope!
Thanks everybody

[Michael Willis]

Youtube and Jack are running in harmony! and the patchbay is so dope!

Great success! I hope we get to hear some of your music soon.