Skype sounds audio distorted in Ubuntu


Now that I have Skype installed on Ubuntu 13.04 I discovered that the various Skype sounds were distorted.  It was almost like the sounds had some static mixed in with them.  I thought it was probably just a problem with the new version of Skype, or the new sound drivers.  However, I made a discovery that fixed the issue.

I tried the AlsaMixer fix, but it didn’t work. (A reboot simply resets the PCM to 100 again, and the sound is still crackly.)  So it all came down to a simple file edit to get it fixed.

Edit the file /etc/pulse/default.pa using the command:

sudo gedit /etc/pulse/default.pa

Add the following to the end of the line shown:

pulse audio file

So after adding “tsched=0” to the end of the line “load-module module-udev-detect” you will be all set.  After a reboot the sounds is still good.

Enjoy!  Hope it works for you.


17 responses to “Skype sounds audio distorted in Ubuntu”

  1. Thank you very much! After making this change, and rebooting, it cleared up my sound issues!!!!

    Robert Porter

  2. Hello Adam,

    thank you for your solution. It solve troubles with sound in Skype.

    Unfortunatelly it also remove sound indicator from Ubuntu toolbar.

    Do you have any idea how to deal with it?

    Thank you,

    Radek

  3. Works – many thanks. But can I suggest you put your red ring around ‘use_ucm=0’ as well. Because I initially just added the ‘tsched=0’ to that line in the config file and only later noted that the original did not have ‘use_ucm = 0’. I think that kills the pulse audio. I am using ubuntu 11.04 and the pulse audio still hasn’t been fixed it seems. What’s up with Ubuntu/Canonical that this issue has dragged on for years ??