4 ms·

Related, VLC Media Player destroyed Dell speakers thread https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/VLC-Media-Player-WARNING/td-p/4082242 https://

Related, VLC Media Player destroyed Dell speakers thread https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/VLC-Media-Player-WARNING/td-p/4082242 https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/VLC...

jolmg 5y ago
I wouldn't blame VLC. Here's the response from main VLC developer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7205875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7205875 I agree with them that when using the official API for whatever-X, you can't be blamed when X fails. Whatever X is, it should be built to cover all uses of its official interface. In the case of VLC, that X is the Dell sound hardware, which can't handle certain uses because of a power incompatibility between the Dell sound card and the Dell speakers. Reminds me of a case long ago where a GUI program took blame because it sometimes caused the X11 server to crash. That was clearly a bug on the X11 server side, too. A server should be built such that it's impossible for a client to crash it.
- kevingadd 5y ago
  I always get a little nervous when really messed up audio gets sent through my semi-expensive speakers... "are they designed for this? did I just ruin them by playing a game with a buggy audio mixer?"
  - jolmg 5y ago
    The audio mixer is dependent on the speakers, not the other way around. The speakers should be able to handle anything the mixer is able to throw at it. If they aren't, that's fault on the speakers' part.
    - bob1029 5y ago
      I think this is a grey area depending on your setup and listening preferences. I have ~2kW of RMS amplification available to my floorstanding loudspeakers and subwoofer. There is a lot of DSP/EQ protection in between my HTPC and the mechanical drivers in the speakers. Despite all of this, I have had incidents where the software glitches out and plays the un-decoded DTS/DD stream. If you have your volume set at or near reference when something like this happens, it can cause physical damage (to both your speakers and your ears). (Audio) Engineering is all about balancing many complex factors. Mistakes happen and you can't address all of the edge cases without ruining the overall user experience. To say its the fault of the speaker is a little bit accusatory in my opinion. Can you ruin your car by taking certain actions? Certainly. Is this the car's fault? No.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - nitrogen 5y ago
        To add to this, depending on the amplifier design you might get better linearity (less harmonic distortion) by significantly overprovisioning power.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
- josefx 5y ago
  > That was clearly a bug on the X11 server side, too. A server should be built such that it's impossible for a client to crash it. Not sure X11 itself was to blame for most crashes. GPU drivers tended to be hit or miss in the past and if I remember correctly even Microsoft had enough of that mess at some point and started to isolate them from its otherwise monolithic kernel, just so it could at least recover the session instead of blue screening.

jolmg 5y ago

I wouldn't blame VLC. Here's the response from main VLC developer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7205875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7205875 I agree with them that when using the official API for whatever-X, you can't be blamed when X fails. Whatever X is, it should be built to cover all uses of its official interface. In the case of VLC, that X is the Dell sound hardware, which can't handle certain uses because of a power incompatibility between the Dell sound card and the Dell speakers. Reminds me of a case long ago where a GUI program took blame because it sometimes caused the X11 server to crash. That was clearly a bug on the X11 server side, too. A server should be built such that it's impossible for a client to crash it.

kevingadd 5y ago
I always get a little nervous when really messed up audio gets sent through my semi-expensive speakers... "are they designed for this? did I just ruin them by playing a game with a buggy audio mixer?"
- jolmg 5y ago
  The audio mixer is dependent on the speakers, not the other way around. The speakers should be able to handle anything the mixer is able to throw at it. If they aren't, that's fault on the speakers' part.
  - bob1029 5y ago
    I think this is a grey area depending on your setup and listening preferences. I have ~2kW of RMS amplification available to my floorstanding loudspeakers and subwoofer. There is a lot of DSP/EQ protection in between my HTPC and the mechanical drivers in the speakers. Despite all of this, I have had incidents where the software glitches out and plays the un-decoded DTS/DD stream. If you have your volume set at or near reference when something like this happens, it can cause physical damage (to both your speakers and your ears). (Audio) Engineering is all about balancing many complex factors. Mistakes happen and you can't address all of the edge cases without ruining the overall user experience. To say its the fault of the speaker is a little bit accusatory in my opinion. Can you ruin your car by taking certain actions? Certainly. Is this the car's fault? No.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - nitrogen 5y ago
      To add to this, depending on the amplifier design you might get better linearity (less harmonic distortion) by significantly overprovisioning power.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
josefx 5y ago
> That was clearly a bug on the X11 server side, too. A server should be built such that it's impossible for a client to crash it. Not sure X11 itself was to blame for most crashes. GPU drivers tended to be hit or miss in the past and if I remember correctly even Microsoft had enough of that mess at some point and started to isolate them from its otherwise monolithic kernel, just so it could at least recover the session instead of blue screening.