# Dual Sound Card Setup [SOLVED]

## HeXiLeD

I am planing on setting up my box with a dual sound card setup.

Currently  i am using an audigy as sound card:

```
01:0b.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy (rev 03)

01:0b.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy MIDI/Game port (rev 03)

01:0b.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Creative Labs SB Audigy FireWire Port
```

```
Card: Audigy 1 [SB0090]                  

Chip: TriTech TR28602
```

I am using the kernel 2.6.16.16 alsa drivers compiled staticly and not as modules.

I also have an onboard sound card that  i would like to setup/use and if possible  the idea is to be able to use both at the same time.

I would like to use 1 sound card for some programs and another for other programs.

the onboard sound card is:

```
Intel High Definition 

C-Media CMI9880 7.1
```

and the kernel driver available seems  to be:

```
<> Intel HD Audio

Say Y here to include support for Intel "High Definition                                                                                    

  │ Audio" (Azalia) motherboard devices.                                                                                                         

  │                                                                                                                                                

  │ To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the module                                                                             

  │ will be called snd-hda-intel.                                                                                                                

  │                                                                                                                                               

  │ Symbol: SND_HDA_INTEL [=n]                                                                                                                    

  │ Prompt: Intel HD Audio                                                                                                                        

  │   Defined at sound/pci/Kconfig:320                                                                                                            

  │   Depends on: !M68K && SOUND!=n && PCI && SND                                                                                                  

  │   Location:                                                                                                                                    

  │     -> Device Drivers                                                                                                                          

  │       -> Sound                                                                                                                               

  │         -> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture                                                                                                  

  │           -> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (SND [=y])                                                                                     

  │             -> PCI devices                                                                                                                   

  │   Selects: SND_PCM                                                                                                                              

  │                                                   

```

Questions :

a: can this dual setup be done with no problems and fully working ?

b: can anyone confirm if the kernel driver works with the onboard sound card?

c: can i use both sound cards at the same time with no problems and setup for different applications?

Thank you

----------

## scoon

Hey there, 

Well at first glance here: http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/index.php?vendor=vendor-C-Media#matrix

I'd guess that it may be tricky to get working.  

I am curious as why use 2 sound cards ? Could you elaborate as to why you'd want to do this ? 

I have onboard and I bought a audigy 2zs and I just disabled the onboard becuase it is crappy compared to the card.  

-scoon

----------

## HeXiLeD

Well the reason why i would like to have it working is mostly due to the fact that all my audigy inputs/outputs are taken and i need a few more. ( i know i could use a jack spliter but i also would like to have more hardware working)

Many of my posts are hardware related because i would like to see most of it working with linux and see how far it can be pushed.

Part of the usage for this card is, as i said above, to try to have diffieent programs using a different card.

Lets say; xmms uses the audigy and vlc uses the C-media onboard card.

There is also another detail about my alsa. If i raise  the volume to the max with some aplications such as xmms the sound gets a bit static and noisy. I always have alsa PCM volume around 80% and xmms around 80% too  if i want to see how high can  i go with the master volume without causing sound distortion. ( i wonder why this happens ).

----------

## scoon

Hmmm, 

Sounds like someone is going for ghetto 7.1 surround sound.  The other problem you may have is actually having proggys specifically target a card.  My best *guess* leads me to believe that sound from proggys is achieved not throught direct interaction w/ hardware but w/ sound servers like alsa, arts or esd. 

BTW, I also like pushing linux as hard/far as I can, I am just quite curious as to your intent here.  So, I may type rude, but I am not trying to be.

-scoon

----------

## HeXiLeD

well... my current speakers are 5.1... and according to what  i have read 7.1 for the 'regular' user is not really worthy.

But still  it would be cool to have this working.

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> sound from proggys is achieved not throught direct interaction w/ hardware but w/ sound servers like alsa, arts or esd.

 

probably, i have to check that too and if true... it might be an issue to run both cards at the same time with alsa.

i guess that if it happens that way, i can try alsa for the audigy and esd.

i was thinking about something like :

audigy being  /dev/dsp1

cmedia being /dev/dsp2

and then i could setup each media application to use a specified /dev/dsp*

or simply choose the desired card in the program used  like we can see here 

however this is all new ground here for me and currently time available for nixing ... is almost none.

Today i recompiled the kernel for a few things and enabled  the onboard sound in the bios.

It was a surprise for me to see that  i can turn on the onboard audio card to be AC97 or Intel Audio.

currently as:

```
0:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
```

----------

## scoon

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> i guess that if it happens that way, i can try alsa for the audigy and esd.
> 
> i was thinking about something like :
> ...

 

Hmmmm.  Except that esd need alsa to run.  I made it sound like they are all separate from one another, but they really are not.  Again, if you can get this figured out, I'd be super curiouse.

-scoon

----------

## Philantrop

 *Blue-Steel wrote:*   

>  *Quote:*   sound from proggys is achieved not throught direct interaction w/ hardware but w/ sound servers like alsa, arts or esd. 

 

ALSA provides low-level sound drivers, not high-level sound servers like arts or esd.

 *Blue-Steel wrote:*   

> it might be an issue to run both cards at the same time with alsa.

 

No, I have two sound cards running with ALSA simultaneously.

 *Blue-Steel wrote:*   

> audigy being  /dev/dsp1
> 
> cmedia being /dev/dsp2

 

And that should work just fine.

----------

## yngwin

 *Philantrop wrote:*   

> No, I have two sound cards running with ALSA simultaneously.

 

Can you explain more of the details of your setup? Especially the alsa configuration? I'd like to use my USB headset and speakers simultaneously, but so far I can only make one or the other work.

----------

## Philantrop

Uhm, well, gladly if I knew what you'd like to know. :-)

I simply compiled the ALSA kernel drivers for both cards as modules and they get loaded at boot time. I have (a)dsp devices for both of them as well as mixers and the rest of the gang. I can use them to my heart's content. :-)

It simply works for me but if you have specific questions I'll gladly elaborate on them.

----------

## scoon

 *Quote:*   

> ALSA provides low-level sound drivers, not high-level sound servers like arts or esd.

 

Sure, but one can have sounds with just ALSA and not arts and not esd.  In that regard, ALSA is sort of like a sound server.   

But that is a point not worth going any farther on.

 *Quote:*   

> No, I have two sound cards running with ALSA simultaneously.

 

I still don't understand the point of why one would want to do that.  But the other 1/2 of the requirement is being able to have some proggys use one card while other proggys use another card.  That is something I have never thought of doing and am quite curious on how that would get done. 

-scoon

----------

## Philantrop

 *scoon wrote:*   

>  *Quote:*   No, I have two sound cards running with ALSA simultaneously. 
> 
> But the other 1/2 of the requirement is being able to have some proggys use one card while other proggys use another card.  That is something I have never thought of doing and am quite curious on how that would get done. 

 

Pretty easily: For applications that can use a(n) (a)dsp device directly, configure them to use one or the other. It's possible, too, to start artsd with the "-D" option to run on a specific sound device. I guess the same is possible with esd (which I don't use).

----------

## scoon

Whew, that sounds like a lot of work to me.  Thanks for the response tho. 

-scoon

----------

## HeXiLeD

well i had this working a while ago (in my last post) and didnt even noticed.

this is very simple to do.

Conclusion:

2 Sound cards

1: pci - Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy (rev 03)

2: onboard -  Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

kernel support:

```
<*> Sound card support 

 Advanced Linux Sound Architecture  --->

      <*> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture  

      <*>   OSS Mixer API

      <*>   OSS PCM (digital audio) API

      [*]     OSS PCM (digital audio) API - Include plugin system

      PCI devices  --->

      <*> Emu10k1 (SB Live!, Audigy, E-mu APS)\

      <*> Intel HD Audio
```

$ almixer -help

This would be : $ alsamixer -c 0  (for the audigy) and $ alsamixer -c 1 ( for the intel audio)

After this we can choose which card we want to use for which application in the application menu/preferencies/options.

Ie: 

audigy being /dev/dsp1

cmedia being /dev/dsp2

Here is an example with xmms

This topic is solved.

----------

