Comment 121 for bug 275998

Perhaps the alsa (non-pulse) "Digital" slider controls analogue sensitivity (pre-amp)? Marcus' hack adds software amplification - post-amp at the very end of chain. Basically it's multiplying the samples (both captured sound and whatever noises/distortions) by some factor. The later the amplification is done the more distortions add up to the sound and amplifier boosts all of them equally.

The ideal solution would be to restore the original control, still Marcus' slider is way better than bare pulse. I'd keep his solution as a good workaround and keep the bug open until a proper solution is in place.

Cheers,
Tomek