Adjusting the Mixer to resolve audio volume level issue

Sometimes you may have an issue with low audio. One option to resolve this is to install mixertui. Another is to use the built-in mixer command.

# mixer -a

On my Thinkpad this will display the following:

pcm0:mixer: <Generic (0x0000) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> on hdaa0 (play)
    vol       = 1.00:1.00     pbk
    pcm       = 1.00:1.00     pbk
pcm1:mixer: <Generic (0x0000) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> on hdaa0 (play)
    vol       = 1.00:1.00     pbk
    pcm       = 1.00:1.00     pbk
pcm2:mixer: <Generic (0x0000) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> on hdaa0 (play)
    vol       = 0.96:0.96     pbk
    pcm       = 0.96:0.96     pbk
pcm3:mixer: <Realtek ALC285 (Analog)> on hdaa1 (play/rec) (default)
    vol       = 0.86:0.86     pbk
    pcm       = 1.00:1.00     pbk
    speaker   = 1.00:1.00     rec
    mic       = 0.30:0.30     rec src
    rec       = 0.79:0.79     pbk
    ogain     = 1.00:1.00     pbk
pcm4:mixer: <Realtek ALC285 (Right Analog Headphones)> on hdaa1 (play)
    vol       = 0.63:0.63     pbk
    pcm       = 1.00:1.00     pbk
    ogain     = 1.00:1.00     pbk
pcm5:mixer: <Intel Kaby Lake (HDMI/DP 8ch)> on hdaa2 (play)
    vol       = 0.75:0.75     pbk
    pcm       = 1.00:1.00     pbk

An issue you may find is the pcm on a particular channel, say the (Analog) or (Right Analog Headphones). If this happens you will likely get very low or even no audible output coming out of the speakers.

To adjust this for the (Right Analog Headphones) you would run a command like the following:

# mixer -d pcm4 pcm.volume=1.0:1.0

This will max out the volume for pcm4 which is the Headphones jack on my current laptop. At least at the time of writing this.