ok, i guess you can tell me the truth now: does anybody really understand all those "items" appearing in alsamixer for the audiophile 2496 ? or am i the only ignorant? i only use the analog input and output, by the way. the card is simple enough, and for me it "just works", but i really have no idea about these: IEC958 --> you can switch between IEC958 I, Digital and H/W In from 0 to 7; what's all that supposed to mean? IEC958 Multi and IEC958 Multi 1 --> two sliders that don't do nothin' i can see/hear... IEC958 1 --> similar to the other one above, and equally mysterious. DAC and DAC 1 --> well, at least i understand those two... Deemphasis --> hmm... i don't understand this one either, but i don't care much for whatever it is. i think. H/W and H/W 1 --> switches between PCM Out0, H/W In 0 to 7, and IEC958 I; if i choose H/W In 0 i can monitor while recording but no playback, choosing PCM Out0 it's the opposite. H/W Multi and H/W Multi 1 --> sliders, no idea what. Multi to Multi 9 --> a series of sliders, also no idea. Multi Track Internal Clock --> switches between different clock rates, don't know what's its use. Multi Track Peak, Multi Track Rate Reset, etc --> another set of sliders of unknown nature. as you can see, alsamixer is mostly a complete and obscure mystery for me. could anyone explain what does all that mean? or point me to a document where it's well explained? what i would like to do, if possible, is: - being able to monitor both while recording and playback without having to change the mixer configuration - record (with arecord, for example) from soundcard output; that is, capture what's being reproduced. - control analog input volume while recording (i can only see playback volume). please excuse me that i'm being so ignorant and stupid, but i've been using linux for only six years, alsa for only five, and this card for only one year, so i'm still a newbie. best regards and thanks for your attention, lj --
