(SPU2-X) Async mix vs Timestretch

[grob]

Hi guys. First of all thanks to all who put so much work in the Linux version. You're awesome.

I've only recently got back into emulation after a few years, only have 1 game currently (Dragon Quest VIII) but trying to get my hands on more so I can test a bit more. I've noticed with my setup, the sound sounded "off". For example the title music on DQ8 sounded out of tune. Played around with some settings, finally switching Sync mode in SPU2-X allowed me to have normal sound (i.e. default is timestretch but async mix gives me normal sound).

Is this normal ? Any drawbacks ?

I thought it might be pulseaudio first, but removed it from my system and things remained as they were.

Specs below. Thanks in advance!

Code:

$ uname -r ; glxinfo | grep 'OpenGL version'
4.2.2-1-ARCH
OpenGL version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 355.11

$ sudo lshw -short

H/W path         Device  Class       Description
================================================
                         system      P55-USB3
/0                       bus         P55-USB3
/0/0                     memory      128KiB BIOS
/0/4                     processor   Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU         750  @ 2.67GHz
/0/4/a                   memory      64KiB L1 cache
/0/4/b                   memory      8MiB L2 cache
/0/1a                    memory      4GiB System Memory
/0/1a/0                  memory      2GiB DIMM 1520 MHz (0.7 ns)
/0/1a/1                  memory      DIMM [empty]
/0/1a/2                  memory      2GiB DIMM 1520 MHz (0.7 ns)
/0/1a/3                  memory      DIMM [empty]
/0/100                   bridge      Core Processor DMI
/0/100/3                 bridge      Core Processor PCI Express Root Port 1
/0/100/3/0               display     GF104 [GeForce GTX 460]
/0/100/3/0.1             multimedia  GF104 High Definition Audio Controller
/0/100/8                 generic     Core Processor System Management Registers
/0/100/8.1               generic     Core Processor Semaphore and Scratchpad Registers
/0/100/8.2               generic     Core Processor System Control and Status Registers
/0/100/8.3               generic     Core Processor Miscellaneous Registers
/0/100/10                generic     Core Processor QPI Link
/0/100/10.1              generic     Core Processor QPI Routing and Protocol Registers
/0/100/1a                bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1a/1      usb1    bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1a/1/2            input       USB Keyboard
/0/100/1a.1              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1a.1/1    usb2    bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1a.1/1/1          multimedia  Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000
/0/100/1a.2              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1a.2/1    usb3    bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1a.2/1/1          input       Xornet gaming mouse
/0/100/1a.7              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
/0/100/1a.7/1    usb7    bus         EHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1a.7/1/4          multimedia  Webcam C270
/0/100/1b                multimedia  5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio
/0/100/1c                bridge      5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1
/0/100/1c/0              storage     JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller
/0/100/1c/0.1            storage     JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller
/0/100/1c.1              bridge      5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2
/0/100/1c.1/0    enp3s0  network     RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
/0/100/1c.2              bridge      5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3
/0/100/1c.2/0            bus         uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller
/0/100/1c.2/0/0  usb6    bus         xHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1c.2/0/1  usb4    bus         xHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1d                bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1d/1      usb5    bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1d/1/2            generic     Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows
/0/100/1d.1              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1d.1/1    usb9    bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1d.2              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1d.2/1    usb10   bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1d.3              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB Universal Host Controller
/0/100/1d.3/1    usb11   bus         UHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1d.7              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
/0/100/1d.7/1    usb8    bus         EHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1e                bridge      82801 PCI Bridge
/0/100/1f                bridge      5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller
/0/100/1f.2              storage     5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
/0/100/1f.3              bus         5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller
/0/101                   bridge      Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-Core Registers
/0/102                   bridge      Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder
/0/103                   bridge      Core Processor QPI Link 0
/0/104                   bridge      Core Processor QPI Physical 0
/0/105                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller
/0/106                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder
/0/107                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers
/0/108                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control Registers
/0/109                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address Registers
/0/10a                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank Registers
/0/10b                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control Registers
/0/10c                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control Registers
/0/10d                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address Registers
/0/10e                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank Registers
/0/10f                   bridge      Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control Registers

[willkuer]

Async audio enables the possibility to hear sound independent in gamespeed. In timestretch mode audio and video are synchronized. For rythm based games synchronous audio is mandatory. I think one games breaks using async mix. At least some users reported that. I always use async mix and never had issues.

Possibly your gamespeed is not at full speed which could create additional problems in the future.

[grob]

Async audio enables the possibility to hear sound independent in gamespeed. In timestretch mode audio and video are synchronized. For rythm based games synchronous audio is mandatory. I think one games breaks using async mix. At least some users reported that. I always use async mix and never had issues.

Possibly your gamespeed is not at full speed which could create additional problems in the future.

Thanks, makes more sense now !

Game speed seems good though (100%). I'll stick with async mix for now. The BIOS bootup (PS2 logo) sounds kinda wrong too with timestretch.

[willkuer]

The bios screen is actually quite demanding. Also you can boot using fastboot to skip the bios if you want.

Possibly you use to high speedhacks which can create false speed readings.

[grob]

Possibly you use to high speedhacks which can create false speed readings.

Well should be easy enough to test: I disabled all speedhacks and everything is exactly the same with timestretch (still 100% game speed but messed up sound). Switch to Async mix and everything is golden!

[willkuer]

That's at least uncommon. If you ever come back with other problems one should further debug this. But as everything works now i would rather suggest to invest time in playing than in debugging. Have fun!