Problems with .asoundrc and jack

[Lambolico]

Hello! I have problems running jack with a virtual Alsa device I created in .asoundrc file. Here's a bit of background:

I have Maudio Torq Xponent dj midi controller / sound card. I use it with Mixxx dj software on UbuntuStudio x64 on a Intel Core2Duo E7200 PC. I wanted to use Mixxx through Jack so I could connect it to other programs.

The problem is that Xponent soundcard's two output stereo channels appears in Alsa as two two-channels devices and not a single multichannel device, so I can't use both outputs with qjackctl.
So I created an .asoundrc file in my home directory with this content I found on some documentation, to create a virtual 4 channel device to use with qjackctl:

Code: Select all

# create a virtual four-channel device with two sound devices:
# This is in fact two interleaved stereo streams in
# different memory locations, so JACK will complain that it
# cannot get mmap-based access. see below.

pcm.multi {
        type multi;
        slaves.a.pcm "hw:1,0";
        slaves.a.channels 2;
        slaves.b.pcm "hw:1,1";
        slaves.b.channels 2;
        bindings.0.slave a;
        bindings.0.channel 0;
        bindings.1.slave a;
        bindings.1.channel 1;
        bindings.2.slave b;
        bindings.2.channel 0;
        bindings.3.slave b;
        bindings.3.channel 1;
}

# JACK will be unhappy if there is no mixer to talk to, so we set
# this to card 0. This could be any device but 0 is easy. 

ctl.multi {
        type hw;
        card 1;
}

# This creates a 4 channel interleaved pcm stream based on
# the multi device. JACK will work with this one.

pcm.ttable {
        type route;
        slave.pcm "multi";
        slave.channels 4;
        ttable.0.0 1;
        ttable.1.1 1;
        ttable.2.2 1;
        ttable.3.3 1;
}
# see above.
ctl.ttable {
        type hw;
        card 1;
}

Xponent's soundcard is hw:1 with hw:1,0 and hw:1,1 devices. Then I try to use virtual device ttable with qjackctl, and get the following errors:

Code: Select all

21:11:10.191 Patchbay deactivated.
21:11:10.198 Statistics reset.
21:11:10.205 ALSA connection change.
21:11:10.218 D-BUS: Service is available (org.jackaudio.service aka jackdbus).
Cannot connect to server socket err = El fitxer o directori no existeix
Cannot connect to server socket
jack server is not running or cannot be started
21:11:10.232 ALSA connection graph change.
21:15:58.853 D-BUS: JACK server is starting...
Cannot connect to server socket err = El fitxer o directori no existeix
Cannot connect to server socket
jack server is not running or cannot be started
21:15:58.863 D-BUS: JACK server was started (org.jackaudio.service aka jackdbus).
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: driver "alsa" selected
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Saving settings to "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Starting jack server...
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 85
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: Cannot lock down memory area (Cannot allocate memory)[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: Acquired audio card Audio1
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: creating alsa driver ... ttable|ttable|512|2|44100|0|4|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: ALSA: Cannot open PCM device alsa_pcm for capture. Falling back to playback-only mode[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: configuring for 44100Hz, period = 512 frames (11.6 ms), buffer = 2 periods
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: ALSA: final selected sample format for playback: 16bit little-endian
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: ALSA: use 2 periods for playback
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: Abort![0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: info.si_signo = 6[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: info.si_errno = 0[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: Segmentation Fault![0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: info.si_signo = 11[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: info.si_errno = 0[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: info.si_code  = 1 (SEGV_MAPERR)[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: info.si_addr  = 0x52524543[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[00]       = 0x00007faa3b2b7e48[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[01]       = 0x00007faa3b2b8278[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[02]       = 0x00000000ffffc000[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[03]       = 0x0000000000000246[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[04]       = 0x00007faa3b2b8278[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[05]       = 0x00000000004118ac[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[06]       = 0x0000000000000014[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[07]       = 0x0000000052524543[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[08]       = 0x0000000052524543[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[09]       = 0x00000000004118be[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[10]       = 0x00007faa3b2b7f70[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[11]       = 0x00007faa3b2b7f80[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[12]       = 0x0000000000000018[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[13]       = 0x0000000000000000[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[14]       = 0xffffffffffffffff[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[15]       = 0x00007faa3b2b7940[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[16]       = 0x00007faa3a05b1a4[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[17]       = 0x0000000000010286[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[18]       = 0x0000000000000033[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[19]       = 0x0000000000000004[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[20]       = 0x000000000000000e[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[21]       = 0x0000000000005a27[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: reg[22]       = 0x0000000052524543[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: Stack trace:[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR:  1: 0x7faa3a05b1a4 <_IO_vfprintf+7348> (/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6)[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR:  2: 0x7faa3a108d90 <__vsnprintf_chk+176> (/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6)[0m
Tue Feb 28 21:15:58 2012: [1m[31mERROR: End of stack trace[0m
21:16:01.090 Could not connect to JACK server as client. - Overall operation failed. - Unable to connect to server. Please check the messages window for more info.
21:16:01.182 D-BUS: JACK server is stopping...
Cannot connect to server socket err = El fitxer o directori no existeix
Cannot connect to server socket
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: ------------------
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: Controller activated. Version 1.9.7 (4236) built on Wed Sep 28 09:44:42 2011
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: Loading settings from "/home/ferran/.config/jack/conf.xml" using expat_2.0.1 ...
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting engine option "driver" to value "alsa"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: driver "alsa" selected
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting engine option "realtime" to value "true"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting engine option "realtime-priority" to value "85"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting engine option "verbose" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting engine option "client-timeout" to value "500"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for driver "netone" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for driver "alsa" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "device" to value "ttable"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "rate" to value "44100"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "period" to value "512"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "nperiods" to value "2"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "hwmon" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "hwmeter" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "duplex" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "softmode" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "monitor" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "dither" to value "n"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "outchannels" to value "4"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting driver option "shorts" to value "false"
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for driver "firewire" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for driver "loopback" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for driver "dummy" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for driver "net" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for internal "netadapter" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for internal "netmanager" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for internal "audioadapter" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: setting for internal "profiler" found
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: Listening for D-Bus messages
Tue Feb 28 21:16:01 2012: Ignoring JACK server stop request because server is already stopped.

Then qjackctl hangs showing the message "stopping".
ttable virtual device works fine if I use it directly with Mixxx.

Can someone give me a clue about what's wrong? Thanks for reading.

[Pablo]

I am not familiar with .asoundrc language but I think this could be a different problem, or problems.

First of all, there is a message of "cannot lock down memory area". Make sure the user who runs jack have rtprio and memlock privileges!! you can check via:

ulimir -r -l

memlock must be a good amount of RAM (the value shown is in kb) or "unlimited". In recent ubuntus, the only thing you have to do to get these privileges is adding the user to the audio group:

sudo adduser user_name audio

You need to restart the computer for this change to have effect. Run jack in realtime mode (although I don't think you need very low latency, so be conservative in the frames/period setting).

On the other hand, could you please show the terminal outputs of

arecord -l && aplay -l
uname -a
lspci | grep -i usb
lsusb

?

[Lambolico]

Hello, thanks for your reply Pablo.
My user is in the audio group.
I fixed memory lock setting, it was 65, I thought it was a percentage. Now I don't get memory lock error and ulimir -r -l outputs:

Code: Select all

real-time priority              (-r) 95
max locked memory       (kbytes, -l) 1328849

This is arecord -l && aplay -l output (it's in spanish but I think you can easily figure out everything.):

Code: Select all

**** Lista de CAPTURE dispositivos hardware ****
tarjeta 0: Intel [HDA Intel], dispositivo 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
  Subdispositivos: 1/1
  Subdispositivo #0: subdevice #0
tarjeta 0: Intel [HDA Intel], dispositivo 2: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
  Subdispositivos: 1/1
  Subdispositivo #0: subdevice #0
**** Lista de PLAYBACK dispositivos hardware ****
tarjeta 0: Intel [HDA Intel], dispositivo 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
  Subdispositivos: 1/1
  Subdispositivo #0: subdevice #0
tarjeta 0: Intel [HDA Intel], dispositivo 1: ALC888 Digital [ALC888 Digital]
  Subdispositivos: 1/1
  Subdispositivo #0: subdevice #0
tarjeta 1: Xponent [Xponent], dispositivo 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdispositivos: 1/1
  Subdispositivo #0: subdevice #0
tarjeta 1: Xponent [Xponent], dispositivo 1: USB Audio [USB Audio #1]
  Subdispositivos: 1/1
  Subdispositivo #0: subdevice #0

uname -a

Code: Select all

Linux ferran-studio 3.0.0-16-generic #28-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 27 17:44:39 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

lspci | grep -i usb

Code: Select all

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
04:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)
05:05.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 61)
05:05.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 61)
05:05.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 63)

lsusb

Code: Select all

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 010 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 059b:0275 Iomega Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0951:1621 Kingston Technology 
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c52f Logitech, Inc. Wireless Mouse M305
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 0763:2016 Midiman M-Audio RunTime DFU
Bus 010 Device 002: ID 1058:1123 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. 

Best regards

[Pablo]

Hi,

As the card has not capture devices, it could help that set up jack in "playback only" mode.
Also, try with 48000 Hz. And try with channels "default" (I think selecting the number of channels is not a good idea, but I might be wrong). I don't know the .asoundrc language so I am sorry I can't help here, but that seems to work as you said.

In any case, as a proof of concept, remove the .asoundrc file (I mean, rename it or move it to another safe place). And try starting jack from the terminal via:

jackd -dalsa -dhw:Xponent:0 -P

If it works, try in another terminal:

alsa_out -dhw:Xponent:1

And in another one:

jack_lsp

Or start qjackctl to see if this works.

At least, these tests will help to narrow down the sources of the problem.

Cheers, Pablo

[Lambolico]

Hello,
Qjackctl is setup in playback only mode. Changing to 48000Hz doesn't improves nothing. However, when I setup nº channels to default (both with 44100Hz and 48000Hz) I get this additional error about "plug" layer:

Code: Select all

Sun Mar  4 19:39:22 2012: creating alsa driver ... ttable|ttable|512|2|48000|0|0|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
Sun Mar  4 19:39:22 2012: [1m[31mERROR: ALSA: Cannot open PCM device alsa_pcm for capture. Falling back to playback-only mode[0m
Sun Mar  4 19:39:22 2012: configuring for 48000Hz, period = 512 frames (10.7 ms), buffer = 2 periods
Sun Mar  4 19:39:22 2012: ALSA: final selected sample format for playback: 16bit little-endian
Sun Mar  4 19:39:22 2012: [1m[31mERROR: You appear to be using the ALSA software "plug" layer, probably
a result of using the "default" ALSA device. This is less
efficient than it could be. Consider using a hardware device
instead rather than using the plug layer. Usually the name of the
hardware device that corresponds to the first soun[0m

I tried starting jack from the terminal with "jackd -dalsa -dhw:Xponent:0 -P" and got this errors:

Code: Select all

jackdmp 1.9.7
Copyright 2001-2005 Paul Davis and others.
Copyright 2004-2011 Grame.
jackdmp comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 10
control open "hw:Xponent:0" (No such device)
control open "hw:Xponent:0" (No such device)
audio_reservation_init
Acquire audio card Audio-1
creating alsa driver ... hw:Xponent:0|-|1024|2|48000|0|0|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
control open "hw:Xponent:0" (No such device)
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card
ALSA: Cannot open PCM device alsa_pcm for playback. Falling back to capture-only mode
Cannot initialize driver
JackServer::Open() failed with -1
Failed to open server

[Lambolico]

Should aplay -l show the virtual device I created on .asoundrc ? It currently doesn't.

Thanks for helping

[Pablo]

Should aplay -l show the virtual device I created on .asoundrc ? It currently doesn't.

I am not sure, but I think that it shouldn't.

I suggest getting rid of the .asoundrc file, as a test. Just rename so you can revert easily.

mv ~/.asoundrc ~/offasoundrc

or something.

[Lambolico]

Hello, .asoundrc is now renamed.

Here are the outpus of the commands you told me on your last post:

"jackd -dalsa -dhw:Xponent:0 -P" outputs that jackd cannot find the device (see previous post). I supouse you meant "jackd -dalsa -dhw:Xponent,0 -P" and this outputs the following:

Code: Select all

jackdmp 1.9.7
Copyright 2001-2005 Paul Davis and others.
Copyright 2004-2011 Grame.
jackdmp comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 10
ALSA lib conf.c:4514:(parse_args) Unknown parameter 1
ALSA lib conf.c:4647:(snd_config_expand) Parse arguments error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib control.c:882:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hw:Xponent,0
control open "hw:Xponent,0" (No such file or directory)
ALSA lib conf.c:4514:(parse_args) Unknown parameter 1
ALSA lib conf.c:4647:(snd_config_expand) Parse arguments error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib control.c:882:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hw:Xponent,0
control open "hw:Xponent,0" (No such file or directory)
audio_reservation_init
Acquire audio card Audio-1
creating alsa driver ... hw:Xponent,0|-|1024|2|48000|0|0|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
ALSA lib conf.c:4514:(parse_args) Unknown parameter 1
ALSA lib conf.c:4647:(snd_config_expand) Parse arguments error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib control.c:882:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hw:Xponent,0
control open "hw:Xponent,0" (No such file or directory)
configuring for 48000Hz, period = 1024 frames (21.3 ms), buffer = 2 periods
ALSA: final selected sample format for playback: 16bit little-endian
ALSA: use 2 periods for playback

With jackd still active I tried "alsa_out -dhw:Xponent,1" and just output:

Code: Select all

selected sample format: 16bit

With both first and second terminals still active I run "jack_lsp":

Code: Select all

system:playback_1
system:playback_2
alsa_out:playback_1
alsa_out:playback_2

Qjackctl is active after start-up.


Thanks for your help. Best regards.

[Pablo]

"jackd -dalsa -dhw:Xponent:0 -P" outputs that jackd cannot find the device. I suppose you meant "jackd -dalsa -dhw:Xponent,0 -P"

Yes, sorry.


OK, so you can access all the outputs now. You can type the alsa_out commad in qjackctl as "execute script after server starts" so you can get your studio up and running with just a few clicks.

Enabling an asoundrc file to join the two alsa devices should be possible, but it is very far from being user-friendly. I have no clue. Anyway, I don't think it is a better solution than alsa_out with regards to audio quality (although I am not an expert and I might be wrong).

Cheers, Pablo

[Lambolico]

Works flawlessly!
Thank you very much Pablo! Best regards.