[SOLVED] Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

[Princey]

Hi, I have two sound cards, a realtek (on board) recognised as Intel ICH and a SoundBlaster Audigy 2. I can get most applications to use the SoundBlaster as the default sound card, however, none of the options in VLC gets it to play on the SoundBlaster, it always defaults to the RealTek. Question is, how do I get to set the SoundBlaster as the default sound card?

[muzicman0]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

do you use both? If not, just disable the onboard sound in the BIOS.

mm0

[Princey]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

I do use the both sound cards. The I use the input and output on the front of the pc for skype conversations. For all other purposes, I use the PCI SoundBlaster.

[0x00FE]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

Having the same problem, posted it in the software section cause I believe it was software related (bug)

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3111324.0

[rfakhrai]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

Isn't there a way to hook up your SB card to the motherboard so that it will be routed to the front panel?

I can provide you with a method to effectively blacklist the onboard sound and use only the SB but I'm assuming you don't want that.

[Princey]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

Having the same problem, posted it in the software section cause I believe it was software related (bug)

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3111324.0

I think mine is close to yours. One minor difference is that Kaffeine, Dragon and everyone else uses the SoundBlaster. VLC is the only one that doesn't and I do NEED VLC for video playback especially for my movies. Tto the poster who suggested blacklisting, I can easily just disable it in the bios but what good would it do? And no, I can't reroute it to use the front panels or I'd have done so and just disable the onboard sound card and finish. I solved the issue in the previous version but the same technique applied doesn't work in this new release. Maybe it's a software bug like 0x00FE mentioned.

[Snowhog]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

You can't specify the audio to use in VLC's Tools > Preferences > Audio > Output ?

[Princey]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

I can, snowhog, the problem is it will still default somehow to playing on the onboard card no matter if the system and everything else points to the soundblaster.

---------------------------
Update
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Did a fresh install and everything seems to be working fine now.

[Princey]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

I think I spoke too fast. After finally rebooting, the same issue has resurfaced. VLC refuses to play except on the second sound card irrespective what I try. Any ideas other than disabling the onboard sound card?

[Pajoe]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

I don't know if it will help you but on my system I do have and use two sound cards:HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog (on board) and one with my video card Radeon HD 4550 .

On my setup I only use the HD 4550 audio processor when I am sending the video to the plasma tv using an hdmi cable. In order to get the sound working through the hdmi I must go into the pavucontrol menu and select the hdmi "set as fallback" to get things working properly else there were some programs that would not play audio through the hdmi connection. If I do not return the setting "set as fallback" to my NVidia sound chip there are some programs that try to use the hdmi. I never tried to catalog which program does what but know which way works, we don't use the plasma tv too often, just when we want to play an .iso file or sometimes Hulu etc.

You may want to experiment with the PulseAudio Volume Control menu, and try switching the default fallback device in the configuration section. Perhaps pulseaudio settings are creating a conflict for you.


joe

[claydoh]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

I hate to say it, but this is where pulseaudio is supposed to work better. Maybe installing that might be helpful. (pulseaudio is NOT installed by default in Kubuntu as it is in Ubuntu)

[Princey]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

Thanks for that input. I have installed PulseAudio and somehow have played around with it. Under configuration, it doesn't list the soundcards by name, just by analog in etc. (See attached screenshot pulse2). How do I get it to change?

[claydoh]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

Have you looked at the Multimedia section in System Settings, it should list your decives a little clearer. I don't recognize those dialogs - assuming vlc's settings? I don't know what "profiles" mean .

[Princey]

Re: Getting 2 sound cards to behave nicely

That was the pulseaudio settings. I rebooted the system and went back to pulse audio settings and the other soundcard showed up. Now, I can successfully switch soundcards at will. Thanks a million for the help guys.

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