Configuring pulseaudio-equalizer defaults

I’ve recently been using the Logitech G930 headset with my Ubuntu 11.10 install and I’ve found that the default configuration offers nothing in terms of decent sound (tinny, no bass, etc). Thankfully, I’ve been able to turn to pulseaudio-equalizer for help with turning down the treble and up the bass. However, using pulseaudio-equalizer-gtk wasn’t an entirely satisfying experience as the default volume for my headset kept being set to 100% upon restart. Now, if you recall my previous post on this headset, having the volume for the device set at 100% leads to static being audible and this is a very bad thing.

Thankfully, pulseaudio-equalizer offers configuration in the form of ~/.pulse/equalizerrc.  It’s not well documented (read: I had to go dissect the source code) but essentially, you can control the output device’s volume by changing the 4th item within the configuration file. So the start of my config looks like this:

mbeq\_1197
mbeq
Multiband EQ
1
Laptop
< ...snip...>

and that number 1 is the volume percentage (eg 1 = 100%) that will end up landing in ~/.pulse/default.pa as the default volume for the device being equalized. Change this number, then run:

pulseaudio-equalizer disable-config
pulseaudio-equalizer enable-config
pulseaudio -k

and wait for PA to be restarted for you. Take notice that the default volume is now set correctly.

I should mention that if you want to know what the other options relate to, inspect the source of /usr/bin/pulseaudio-equalizer, around line 54 onwards.

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