This document explains how you can program/customize your SB Live (emuk10k1 chipset). So that you can route input to output-device and configure mixers using the tool emu-dspmgr.

It took me more than an hour to understand how everything is put together. And well, I still don't know everything, enough to do what I want anyway. There's nearly no information available on the net. The included script and the man-pages are cryptic.

Let's start by describing my situation at home. I recently bought a SB Live for the sole purpose of having more than 1 output-plug. I have my stereo and a seperate set of boxes which I both wanted to plug into my computer.

Since the SB Live can be programmed to route input to ouput and define HW mixers for each of these mappings, it was the right choice for me.

So I have my speaker-set connected to the Front-plug, my stereo speakers to the Rear-plug. I have a Hauppauge TV card pluged to my Line-in-plug.

On my computer I have 2 different sound-sources. I use a program called snackAmp to play audio-files. It isn't capable of using esound. Which made me opt to use /dev/dsp1 for snackAmp. Esound by default uses /dev/dsp and I left esound to its default. My SB Live has the following input channels:

Pcm L Pcm R fx2 fx3 Pcm1 L Pcm1 R fx6 fx7 fx8 fx9 fx10 fx11 fx12 fx13 fx14 fx15 Analog L Analog R CD-Spdif L CD-Spdif R in2l in2r Opt. Spdif L Opt. Spdif R Line2/Mic2 L Line2/Mic2 R RCA Spdif L RCA Spdif R RCA Aux L RCA Aux R in7l in7r And the following output channels:

Front L Front R Digital L Digital R Digital Center Digital LFE Phones L Phones R Rear L Rear R ADC Rec L ADC Rec R Mic Rec out6r out7l out7r out8l Analog Center Analog LFE out9r out10l out10r out11l out11r out12l out12r out13l out13r out14l out14r out15l out15r I can map the following mixers to any input:output combination:

vol bass treble synth pcm speaker line mic cd mix pcm2 rec igain ogain line1 line2 line3 dig1 dig2 dig3 phin phout video radio monitor First let's clear the current configuration and unload any DSP patches.


emu-dspmgr --clear --stop

Now let's start by configuring the soundcard to use its analog features. And add a 12dB boost to the Front speakers:


emu-config -a -B on

Then add the "Analog" (TV) input to my "Front" speakers and use mixer "Line":


emu-dspmgr -a"Analog L:Front L" -v"Analog L:Front L" -mline_l
emu-dspmgr -a"Analog R:Front R" -v"Analog R:Front R" -mline_r

Next add the "Pcm" (Esound) input to the "Front" speakers, using mixer "Line1":


emu-dspmgr -a"Pcm L:Front L" -v"Pcm L:Front L" -mline1_l
emu-dspmgr -a"Pcm R:Front R" -v"Pcm R:Front R" -mline1_r

Now add the "Pcm1" (snackAmp) input to both speakers, using resp. mixer "Line2" and "Line3":


emu-dspmgr -a"Pcm1 L:Front L" -v"Pcm1 L:Front L" -mline2_l
emu-dspmgr -a"Pcm1 R:Front R" -v"Pcm1 R:Front R" -mline2_r
emu-dspmgr -a"Pcm1 L:Rear L" -v"Pcm1 L:Rear L" -mline3_l
emu-dspmgr -a"Pcm1 R:Rear R" -v"Pcm1 R:Rear R" -mline3_r

And finally add a volume gain to snackAmp:


emu-dspmgr -l"Pcm1" -f$DSPPATH/gain_2.bin

If you'd like to set AC3 Pass-through for when you're playing DVDs, just do:


emu-dspmgr \
        -a"fx8:Front R" \
        -a"fx9:Front L" \
        -a"fx10:Rear R" \
        -a"fx11:Rear L" \
        -a"fx12:Front" \
        -a"fx13:Rear"

Now enable the emu10k1:


emu-dspmgr --start

And after configuring your gnome-volume-control, ie. naming your mixers and hiding unused stuff. You'll have this: