Kasound - A KDE frontend for .asoundrc
Version 0.5
Marc Brooker <marcbrooker <at> gmail <dot> com>
Eike Sauer <EikeSauer <at> t-online <dot> de>

BACKGROUND
==========
The Linux sound layer ALSA provides a very powerful interface which allows the user to tweak various soundcard settings, perform software mixing and resampling and assign surround channels to different speakers. While this interface is extremely powerful, it is also difficult to configure. This has lead to several myths about Linux's sound capabilities - for example that ALSA can't play many sounds simultaneously. 

KASOUND
=======
KASound aims to be a complete frontend for setting up .asoundrc. Currently it supports software playback mixing (dmix), capture multiplexing (dsnoop), resampling and format conversion (plug) and surroung channel mapping (route). 
We hope that this tool will make configuring a soundcard under Linux very easy.

Dmix and Dsnoop, combined with Asym, allow several programs to open the sound card device simultaneously. For example, enabling Dmix will allow your mail client to play it's notification sounds while you are playing music. Dsnoop allows several programs to access the data stream coming from a sound card.

Route allows configuration of which channels are sent to which speakers. This, for example, enables the user to duplicate a stereo source to all the other speakers in their 7.1 setup. Other simple operations, such as swapping stereo channels, are also supported by route.

HOWTO ENABLE DMIX
=================
In order to allow multiple programs to access the souncard simultaneously under ALSA, you need to enable dmix. Dmix allows multiple streams of audio data coming from multiple applications to be mixed in software. To enable dmix:
1) Open kasound
2) Choose the sound card you want to enable dmix for
3) Choose "Make card ALSA default" on the "Format Settings" page if you want ALSA applications to use this card by default
4) Select "Set ASym device as default" on the "Asym settings page
5) Select "Enable DMix for playback"
6) Go to the "Output" tab
7) Click "Update"
8) Click "Save" and save the file as .asoundrc (with the leading period) in your home directory

TODO
====
- Allow configuration of several surround devices (eg a 5.1 setup and a 2.1 setup)
- Enable the full power of route's channel mapping capabilities
- Enable route over asym without mangling the signal (maybe the ALSA guys could tell me how)
- Support LADSPA plugins
- Include a database of working configurations for arcane cards (like the ICE1712)
- Include better documentation - like a graphical soundcard setup guide

CONTACT
=======
Please contact me with any bug reports, suggestions, patches, etc.

USAGE
=====
Run the program
Configure cards
Goto the Output tab
Click update
Inspect Generated RC file
Click save
Save the file
Back up your current ~/.asoundrc, if it's there
Copy over your ~/.asoundrc

LICENCE
=======
See COPYING
