This tutorial explains how to set a specific default ALSA device for Amarok and Kaffeine. (This was tested in Amarok 1.4.9.1 and Kaffeine 0.8.6 both using xine on Kubuntu 8.04 [Hardy Heron]) The main advantage of this would be having your media go through one set of speakers and the system sounds going through another.
NOTE: This is currently only for mono and stereo sound.
AMAROK
1. Open up a terminal and type “cat /proc/asound/cards”. This will list all of the sound devices that ALSA has detected. In the list there should be a number for each card (on the left side) starting at the top with card 0, then card 1 and so on. Remember the number of the card you want to use for Amarok.
2.Open Amarok (if it isn’t already) and go to the settings menu and click on “Configure Amarok”. In that go to the “Engines” section found on the left column.
3. Now select “alsa” as the Output plugin and click apply. When you click apply, the fields in the “ALSA Device Configuration” should become editable.
4. In the “Mono” and “Stereo” fields put “hw:” and, without a space after the ‘:’, put the number of your device. Now click “OK”, and your done!
Kaffeine
1. Open up a terminal and type “cat /proc/asound/cards”. This will list all of the sound devices that ALSA has detected. In the list there should be a number for each card (on the left side) starting at the top with card 0, then card 1 and so on. Remember the number of the card you want to use for Kaffeine.
2.Open Kaffeine (if it isn’t already) and go to the settings menu and click on “xine Engine Parameters” and go to the audio section. Now click on the “Beginner Options” tab.
3. Now select “alsa” as the driver and click apply.
4. In the “Expert Options” tab scroll down to the two fields that show what the mono and stereo devices are. You can find things by looking at the right column where it shows the name and a description of each item. The two things you are looking for most likely say “default”. When you find the two fields, put “hw:” and, without a space after the ‘:’, put the number of your device. Now click “OK”, and your done!
Why would you want media going through one set of speakers and system sounds through another?
Who ever said someone would want it? This was done mainly out of curiosity for something along these lines.