[linux-audio-user] hardware mixing - what it _actually_ is?

Mark Knecht markknecht at gmail.com
Mon Jan 22 18:13:39 EST 2007


On 1/22/07, Lee Revell <rlrevell at joe-job.com> wrote:
> On 1/22/07, Mark Knecht <markknecht at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The device does support hardware mixing. I can take inputs coming into
> > the card and mix them directly with outputs coming from Alsa to create
> > an output stream going to my monitors in real time with no latency
> > with or without sending the inputs to Alsa for other uses.
>
> I think almost every pro and consumer card supports mixing of external
> inputs with the sound stream from the PC.
>
> "Hardware mixing" in ALSA terminology refers to the mixing of multiple
> sound sources from the PC by the hardware.  For example, mplayer
> output and system notification sounds.
>
> Lee
>

OK, fine. The HDSP family easily supports that. I have 18 outputs from
Alsa. I have 18 inputs from hardware inputs. I have 18 outputs going
to monitors, headphones and other computers. In the HDSP 9652, for
each and every one of the 18 outputs  I can mix individually mix, in
any combination, any of the 18 Alsa outputs with any combination of
the 18 hardware inputs creating 18 individual hardware mixes. Each of
the 18 outputs has 36 input sources.

For example, I can have mplayer going to outputs 1& 2, aqualung going
to 3&4, ardour going to 5&6 and Xine going to 7&8. I can create any
mix of these that I wish and route it to any of the outputs. All mixes
are independant of all other mixes.

The HDSP 9652 supports 'hardware mixing' just fine.

- Mark



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