Hi,
I like plexamp. But the audio quality is sub standard.
Crackling and distortion.
Fiddling with loudness levelling, preamp, limiter makes no difference.
Same hardware PlexHTPC and Plex Web play OK, as does Kodi with Plex Connect.
Using HTPC >HDMI Screen > Optical > Edifier R1855DB.
Cheers
Any chance you have EQ or preamp set too high?
Linux + Plexamp is bit-perfect.
"It sounds like an issue with the ALSA output or Linux sound system, "
FYI the distortion is not evident in other players, including PlexHTPC and Plex Web. On that basis it’s reasonable to rule ALSA out (?).
However, from that and your comments I set the preamp settings to the lowest (0).
The distortion seems to be gone.
Good enough for now. I’ll play around a bit more later.
Thanks.
It sounds like an issue with the ALSA output or Linux sound system, I haven’t heard of this sort of thing before 
could be low quality sample rate conversion at the TV ?
for example, plexamp sends 44.1kHz over HDMI to the TV, and the TV then converts it to 48kHz for its optical output … TVs don’t always do this well
audio from your other apps (HTPC, Plex web) might take a different route (pulseaudio?) which resamples to 48kHz with higher quality before sending to the TV, which would avoid the TV’s low quality conversion
I fiddled about a bit more.
Noticed in the PC’s Audio Settings amplification was 100%. When I reduced that I was able to increase the Plexamp’s pre-amplification without risking distortion. The effect is not linear- reducing Audio Settings > Amplification to 90% allows Plexamp’s pre-amplification to be ramped up above the default without introducing noticeable distortion.
Conclusion: In regard to plexamp, It seems about achieving the right balance with the PC’s “Audio Settings” amplification. The only mystery is why only plexamp is affected?
Anyhoo, let’s consider this solved.
Cheers
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