I have looked around many forums and seens many debates over VoodooHDA vs AppleALC. The favor is always towards AppleALC but when a user tries to "install" it, nothing usually happens. I will state a quick comparrison over information I have seen...
VoodooHDA
- Always works except that one system nobody cares about (most complaints are from users with unsupported laptop hardware)
- Always quiet, audio can only be heard in a silent room and headphones produce shrill static/beeps/clicks (depends on who you ask)
- Runs "Out Of The Box" (It works without user modification)
AppleALC
- Requires other kexts to function
- Requires shuffling around kext order (AppleHDA must be loaded after this)
- Requires changing boot configuration
- Requires layout injection
- Several Plist configurations exist for the same codecs
- Does not work out of the box (Requires some modification)
- Even if hardware is supported and guaranteed to work, it still might not work
- Requires patching of files that could render the system unbootable/irrecoverable
- How it works changes depending on where it is installed (Bootloader/Library/System)
- Easily breaks from other modifications (loading the wrong kext will cause a broken patch requiring a complete reinstall)
- Will only work with vanilla files (or a vanilla install, vanilla was mentioned at some point and the usual "BEAST TOOL BAD, NO USE TOOL, START OVER!")
- May require DHDT patching (And no, the guides are NOT easy to follow. Go look at a guide to C programming coming from Python, that's the comparison from a "Noob" point of view)
- For the majority of users it will not work at all (May cause more harm than good)
That's going over the many forums, Reddit, Tonymacx86 (bot replies made it hard to read), Hackintosher, etc...
I myself have tried many times to get AppleALC working, and it just doesn't. My codec is supported, it only works with the predefined layout-ids (none worked). I ended up using VoodooHDA, first try, it worked. I then became skeptical of AppleALC and the people that would suggest its use. It is always stated that patching is "easy" and that there is "nothing to lose" from doing it, and that is simply wrong (you lose time, lots of it per issue that arises and the occasional data file from using a drive not in a "native format" since most will be starting from Windows, some from Linux). Patching, as most state, is "easy", and that is likely true with experience, but coming from no experience (most Windows users have no conception of user modification).
Every time I look up AppleALC, it's problem after problem, so why would you guys recommend it? Yes, it can offer native audio, but that "can" is turning into a "slim chance" with every post I see (more and more hardware configurations get added to the "It just won't work list" than the "Yes, it's working" one).
I also have to wonder why an easy install tool doesn't exist. The only thing I can think of as a rational argument is "How would we know it is working?", with the irrational being "We don't want to make one" as that makes it harder for users, then they complain and make issues, then it just gets harder for developers...
A simple tool design would detect hardware (the ALC), and inject layouts from 1 to 100 (just because), it the layout properly works then Mic and Output would work, a loud sound could be played and if the Mic can pick it up, then that is the layout that works, rebooting after every failed attempt of course... This coming from a Python developer...
PyopenAL, json persistent data, startup file, etc...
TL;DR
VoodooHDA works, AppleALC doesn't, causes problems, so why is it raved about from others?
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