KDE – Easily Switch Between Audio Outputs in KDE 5

alsakdekubuntupulseaudiosound

I currently have KDE 5 Plasma installed which I like a lot.

However, it is not possible to easily switch between Audio outputs from One Soundcard (SPDIF and analog) like it was possible in Unity.

Is there a way to accomplish this without going to this menu here:

I need like one setting for each

Digital Stereo + Analog Stereo Input
Analog Audio Stero + Analog Stereo Input

I want to change them here:

Is it possible?

Best Answer

Thanks to this answer I finally found a solution, see the below instruction

Show always HDMI output in the mixed We will create a new profile that link both profiles "Analog audio" and "HDMI audio".

From my understanding this file /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/default.conf list all mapping profiles between Alsa and Pulseaudio.

1.
Find the mapping that are related to your Analog profile and HDMI profile definition. (description: should match the Device Profiles shown in Audio Volume Kde setting module )

For me are the following:

[Mapping analog-stereo]
device-strings = front:%f
channel-map = left,right
paths-output = analog-output analog-output-lineout analog-output-speaker analog-output-headphones analog-output-headphones-2
paths-input = analog-input-front-mic analog-input-rear-mic analog-input-internal-mic analog-input-dock-mic analog-input analog-input-mic analog-input-linein analog-input-aux analog-input-video analog-input-tvtuner analog-input-fm analog-input-mic-line analog-input-headphone-mic analog-input-headset-mic
priority = 10

[Mapping hdmi-stereo-extra1]
description = Digital Stereo (HDMI 2)
device-strings = hdmi:%f,1
paths-output = hdmi-output-1
channel-map = left,right
priority = 2
direction = output

2.
On the base of the above Mapping definition I have created the following new profile that group both the above ones:

[Profile output:analog-stereo+output:hdmi-stereo-extra1]
description = All
output-mappings = analog-stereo hdmi-stereo-extra1
input-mappings = analog-stereo

3.
Restart pulse audio with this command:

pulseaudio --kill; sleep 1; pulseaudio --start

4.
Go to KDE phonon settings > Audio Hardware setup and select the new profile.

Now you should see both profile in the mixed and so you'll be able to switch easy:

I would suggest to use this plasmoid mixer: https://store.kde.org/p/1100894/

(extra step) Force both output enabled

If you don't mind having both computer speaker and TV output audio in the same time ( so basically you don't have to switch the audio output ever ).

You can select the below setting and then you'll have a new entry in the mixer

Related Solutions

Switch Audio Outputs from CLI in Ubuntu

Thanks to the discussion with @Thomas I realised the proper therms (key words) are profile and card. In the terms of the question profiles are the inputs and outputs. The cards are the audio devices. And the sink numbers are not so important, but we need them.

We can find all available profiles for each card name by the command pacmd list-cards or pactl list cards that outputs the same information:

$ pactl list cards

Card #0
    Name: alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1b.0
    ...
    Profiles:
        input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (sinks: 0, sources: 1, priority: 60, available: yes)
        output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 6000, available: yes)
        output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 6060, available: yes)
        output:analog-surround-21: Analog Surround 2.1 Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 800, available: yes)
        ...
    Active Profile: output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo
    ...

Card #1
    Name: alsa_card.pci-0000_03_00.1
    ...
    Profiles:
        output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 5400, available: yes)
        output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 5200, available: yes)
        output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 100, available: yes)
        output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 100, available: yes)
        ...
    Active Profile: output:hdmi-stereo
    ...

A certain profile can be set by command with format as this:

pactl set-card-profile output:hdmi-stereo <card name|number> <profile name>

According to the question for the four mentioned outputs the commands are:

pactl set-card-profile alsa_card.pci-0000_03_00.1 output:hdmi-stereo # LG ULTRAWIDE
pactl set-card-profile alsa_card.pci-0000_03_00.1 output:hdmi-stereo-extra1 # LG TV
pactl set-card-profile alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1b.0 output:iec958-stereo # Digital Output
pactl set-card-profile alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1b.0 output:analog-stereo # Headphones

As it is shown in this answer, when the new profile is set next things to do are:

 pacmd set-default-sink <sink number of the target profile>
 pacmd move-sink-input "$i" <sink number of the target profile> 
 # where $i is the index number of any active input: pacmd list-sink-inputs

According to my needs, described in the question, I've created the following script:

#!/bin/bash

# Name: /usr/local/bin/audioswitch
# Usage: audioswitch; audioswitch 1; audioswitch 2;  audioswitch 3; audioswitch 4

CARD_1="pci-0000_03_00.1"             ### HDMI Audio Controller of NVidia GTX 660
CARD_1_PROFILE_1="hdmi-stereo"          # LG ULTRAWIDE
CARD_1_PROFILE_2="hdmi-stereo-extra1"   # LG TV
CARD_0="pci-0000_00_1b.0"             ### Built-in Audio
CARD_0_PROFILE_1="iec958-stereo"        # Digital Output
CARD_0_PROFILE_2="analog-stereo"        # Headphones

# Read the user's input
CHOICE="${@}"
choice() {
    if   [ "$CHOICE" == 1 ]; then CARD="$CARD_1"; PROF="$CARD_1_PROFILE_1" # LG ULTRAWIDE
    elif [ "$CHOICE" == 2 ]; then CARD="$CARD_1"; PROF="$CARD_1_PROFILE_2" # LG TV
    elif [ "$CHOICE" == 3 ]; then CARD="$CARD_0"; PROF="$CARD_0_PROFILE_1" # Digital Output
    elif [ "$CHOICE" == 4 ]; then CARD="$CARD_0"; PROF="$CARD_0_PROFILE_2" # Headphones
    else
        echo -e "\nYou should choice between:"
        echo -e "\n\t[1] LG ULTRAWIDE\n\t[2] LG TV\n\t[3] Digital Output\n\t[4] Headphones\n"
        echo -n "Your choice: "; read CHOICE; echo; choice; # call the function again
    fi
}; choice # call the function

# Set the choosen card profile as sink
pactl set-card-profile "alsa_card.${CARD}" "output:${PROF}";

# Set the default sink to the new one
pacmd set-default-sink "alsa_output.${CARD}.${PROF}" &> /dev/null

# Redirect the existing inputs to the new sink
for i in $(pacmd list-sink-inputs | grep index | awk '{print $2}'); do
    pacmd move-sink-input "$i" "alsa_output.${CARD}.${PROF}" &> /dev/null
done

The script is ready to be used with custom keyboard shortcuts, because it can handle the value (1-4) of the first positional parameter. When it is called without additional paraneter it will ask for your choice:

$ audioswitch 

You should choice between:

    [1] LG ULTRAWIDE
    [2] LG TV
    [3] Digital Output
    [4] Headphones

Your choice: 1

Ubuntu – IEC958 (S/PDIF) not working

The answer is actually so simple that it's silly that it's not included in the default gnome audio control panel.

Step 1:

sudo apt install libavresample-dev pavucontrol libasound2-plugins-extra

Step 2:

pavucontrol

Step 3:

Tick all the boxes for the advanced audio codecs

Step 4:

Enjoy amazing sound over S/PDIF out (optical or coax) to a speaker set that supports it.

Best Answer

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Switch Audio Outputs from CLI in Ubuntu

Ubuntu – IEC958 (S/PDIF) not working

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