Volume control weird

[stealth]

The kmix volume control looks weird to me. I did a fresh install of my main system the other day. The individual volume controls for all the speakers behaves strangely. There is no longer an actual master volume control. There used to be before I did the fresh install. I have to pick a volume control and select it as the master control. This is also the first time that kmix has shown two separate sound chips. All the hardware is the same as it was when I originally installed PCLinuxOS on this computer about 5 years ago. My install had been a rolling upgrade for about the last 5 years. Some of the old behavior was probably hanging around. I am probably seeing what may have been around for a few years already. I also discovered the hard way that Amarok takes control of the volume if it is open. If I adjust the volume down in Amarok it restricts the maximum control volume in kmix. If I set Amarok volume to max and close Amarok so it is not running in the background then kmix has full control of the volume again. If I have Amarok open and leave the sound in Amaork at full volume and control it from kmix everything appears to work as expected.

It seems there has been some related anomalies in the past for others.

I have sound and it works fine this is just weird. Does it sound to anyone like there is a problem here?

[Just17]

Do you have PuleAudio installed?

[stealth]

Yes. Is that a problem?

[Just17]

Yes. Is that a problem?

No, not a problem, but an explanation ......  kmix integrates with PA and so what it displays is different to what it would without PA.

Do you use PulseAudio Volume Control?

[stealth]

Probably not. I have never tried to figure out the difference between pulse audio and alsa. I don't mess with the sound on my computer. If it works I just raise or lower the volume from the control in the bottom right corner. I am assuming that is kmix. I have a 5.1 surround sound speaker system connected. I can get it real loud at times.

If you have any tips/suggestions for best sound performance and operation I am all ears. Err eyes 

Thanks

[Just17]

Pulse Audio is another layer on top of Alsa, and the user can control the sound system through Pulse Audio's GUI.
The options are exposed to the user through PulseAudio Volume Control and a couple of other utilities such as PAPrefs, PulseAudio Manager & PulseAudio Equaliser.

You need to install PA Vol Ctrl and get to know its functions in order to appreciate what it allows the user to manage .....  not only volume ....  but also how the sound stream is managed from any source and to any sound device attached to the system.
It is particularly useful for managing sound to and from USB attached devices such as speakers and wireless headphones as well as Bluetooth connected devices.

So my advice is to install the   pavucontrol   package from Synaptic and get to know it.
You might find it makes things much easier to manage.

[stealth]

Thank you doing that now.