Unfortunately, using a52encode as a device doesn't seem to work. I tried by a52encode and a52. lroom# /usr/bin/pulseaudio --system ALSA lib control.c:909:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL surround51:0 W: alsa-util.c: Unable to attach to mixer surround51:0: No such file or directory ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM a52encode E: module-alsa-sink.c: Error opening PCM device a52encode: No such file or directory E: module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "sink_name=ac3_encode device=a52encode rate=48000 channels=6"): initialization failed. E: main.c: Module load failed. E: main.c: failed to initialize daemon. lroom# /usr/bin/pulseaudio --system ALSA lib control.c:909:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL surround51:0 W: alsa-util.c: Unable to attach to mixer surround51:0: No such file or directory ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM a52 E: module-alsa-sink.c: Error opening PCM device a52: No such file or directory E: module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "sink_name=ac3_encode device=a52 rate=48000 channels=6"): initialization failed. E: main.c: Module load failed. E: main.c: failed to initialize daemon. default.pa: load-module module-alsa-sink sink_name=ac3_raw device=surround51:0 rate=48000 channels=6 load-module module-alsa-sink sink_name=ac3_encode device=a52encode:0 rate=48000 channels=6 .asoundrc pcm.a52encode { type a52 } pcm.front-spdif { type plug slave.pcm "iec958" } pcm.ac3_raw { type pulse device ac3_raw } pcm.ac3_encode { type pulse device ac3_encode } Jim Duda wrote: > Tanu, > > Okay, what you are describing makes sense. We route the 6 channels back through alsa and the a52 encoding, then out the > actual device driver. > > The front-spdif was leftover stuff in my asoundrc file. > > I also need to send the raw AC3, DTS stream from some applications to the external digital decoder (mplayer and xine). > Currently, I do this by using alsa:device=spdif in the applications which require this mode, instead of the stereo > upmix. > > So, to accomplish this, do I define two alsa-sinks? > > module-load module-alsa-sink sink_name=ac3_out device=a52encode channels=6 rate=48000 > module-load module-alsa-size sink_name=ac3_raw device=surround51:0 > > Then my .asoundrc has this: > > pcm.!default { > type pulse > device ac3_out > } > > pcm.passthrough { > type pulse > device ac3_raw > } > > pcm.a52encode { > type a52 > } > > The default would do stereo upmix from 2 to 6 channels through a52 encoder. > > The passthrough would send the raw ac3/dts stream out the hardware. > > Does this make sense? (I would test now, but I have to go off and build 0.9.8 first, since FC7 uses 0.9.6 currently). > > Thanks, > > Jim > > > "Tanu Kaskinen" <tanuk at iki.fi> wrote in message news:20080228205506.GA11317 at a9a.mannikko1.tontut.fi... >> On Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 03:09:45PM -0500, Jim Duda wrote: >>> I would like to use pulseaudio on a machine which I have the sound card attached to an digital decoder. I'm using >>> the >>> alsa A52 plugin to perform a stereoupmix from 2 channels to six channels such that I get the same stereo out of the >>> front and rear speakers. >>> Can I use the remap module to copy 2 channels to 4? The front speaker and sub woofer would be nice too. >> Yes you can, but there shouldn't be need for that. Since >> 0.9.8 PulseAudio has supported automatic up- and downmixing, >> which probably does what you want. If you have 0.9.8 and it >> still doesn't work, check that you haven't disabled the >> feature in daemon.conf by saying disable-remixing=yes. >> >> If I've understood your setup correctly, you would need to >> encode the output of PulseAudio to AC-3. I don't have any >> experience in that field, so the following is just my best >> guess how it would work: >> >> Your new ~/.asoundrc: >> >> pcm.!default { >> type pulse >> } >> >> pcm.a52encode { >> type a52 >> } >> >> # What's this for? >> pcm.front-spdif { >> type plug >> slave.pcm "iec958" >> } >> >> >> Comment out module-hal-detect and module-detect in >> /etc/pulse/default.pa. Add this line instead: >> module-load module-alsa-sink sink_name=ac3_out device=a52encode channels=6 rate=48000 >> >> -- >> Tanu Kaskinen