volume/distortion

[benwrx]

Hello all, I just installed lmms and have been having fun experimenting with it.

I noticed that I was having distortion problems only whenever I played more than 1 note at once (ie, an interval or chord) in piano roll. Messing around with the triple-oscillator options, I found that the problem persisted only when the instrument plugin volume was above a certain level ( I can crank up system/speaker volume all I want and get no distortion). Is this expected behaviour? If so, is there a way for me to put a limit on in-system volume so I can avoid the distortion?

[zonkmachine]

Is this expected behaviour?

Yes. The instruments are naturally high volume in LMMS and there has been some discussions about taming them a bit.

If so, is there a way for me to put a limit on in-system volume so I can avoid the distortion?

I don't know how others do. I mostly just turn the volume down as I go. It's a bit tricky to find a default volume that suits everybody as
the perceived volume vill change depending on the sound. The default waves are sine which are low in energy so if you then switch to
three sawtooth waves you would most likely have to control the volume a bit.
You can add an Amplifier (FX-tab) and turn the volume down enough so you can use the whole range of the synths volume control.

[diiz]

I found that the problem persisted only when the instrument plugin volume was above a certain level ( I can crank up system/speaker volume all I want and get no distortion)

Signal clipping. Try a compressor.

[diiz]

Is this expected behaviour?

Yes. The instruments are naturally high volume in LMMS and there has been some discussions about taming them a bit.

And this is probably not the right place for this discussion, but I'm still against it. No matter where we put the master volume, the clipping limit is going to come up at some point anyway. IMO it's much better that new users confront this issue right from the start, figure out why it happens and learn to avoid it, because that way people can actually lear how to solve these problems.

[zonkmachine]

Yes. The instruments are naturally high volume in LMMS and there has been some discussions about taming them a bit.

...IMO it's much better that new users confront this issue right from the start, figure out why it happens and learn to avoid it, because that way people can actually lear how to solve these problems.

Yes. I'm sort of drifting toward this opinion myself.