Standard ALSA Control Names¶
This document describes standard names of mixer controls.
Standard Syntax¶
Syntax: [LOCATION] SOURCE [CHANNEL] [DIRECTION] FUNCTION
DIRECTION¶
| <nothing> | both directions | 
| Playback | one direction | 
| Capture | one direction | 
| Bypass Playback | one direction | 
| Bypass Capture | one direction | 
FUNCTION¶
| Switch | on/off switch | 
| Volume | amplifier | 
| Route | route control, hardware specific | 
CHANNEL¶
| <nothing> | channel independent, or applies to all channels | 
| Front | front left/right channels | 
| Surround | rear left/right in 4.0/5.1 surround | 
| CLFE | C/LFE channels | 
| Center | center channel | 
| LFE | LFE channel | 
| Side | side left/right for 7.1 surround | 
LOCATION (Physical location of source)¶
| Front | front position | 
| Rear | rear position | 
| Dock | on docking station | 
| Internal | internal | 
SOURCE¶
| Master | |
| Master Mono | |
| Hardware Master | |
| Speaker | internal speaker | 
| Bass Speaker | internal LFE speaker | 
| Headphone | |
| Line Out | |
| Beep | beep generator | 
| Phone | |
| Phone Input | |
| Phone Output | |
| Synth | |
| FM | |
| Mic | |
| Headset Mic | mic part of combined headset jack - 4-pin headphone + mic | 
| Headphone Mic | mic part of either/or - 3-pin headphone or mic | 
| Line | input only, use “Line Out” for output | 
| CD | |
| Video | |
| Zoom Video | |
| Aux | |
| PCM | |
| PCM Pan | |
| Loopback | |
| Analog Loopback | D/A -> A/D loopback | 
| Digital Loopback | playback -> capture loopback - without analog path | 
| Mono | |
| Mono Output | |
| Multi | |
| ADC | |
| Wave | |
| Music | |
| I2S | |
| IEC958 | |
| HDMI | |
| SPDIF | output only | 
| SPDIF In | |
| Digital In | |
| HDMI/DP | either HDMI or DisplayPort | 
Exceptions (deprecated)¶
| [Analogue|Digital] Capture Source | |
| [Analogue|Digital] Capture Switch | aka input gain switch | 
| [Analogue|Digital] Capture Volume | aka input gain volume | 
| [Analogue|Digital] Playback Switch | aka output gain switch | 
| [Analogue|Digital] Playback Volume | aka output gain volume | 
| Tone Control - Switch | |
| Tone Control - Bass | |
| Tone Control - Treble | |
| 3D Control - Switch | |
| 3D Control - Center | |
| 3D Control - Depth | |
| 3D Control - Wide | |
| 3D Control - Space | |
| 3D Control - Level | |
| Mic Boost [(?dB)] | 
PCM interface¶
| Sample Clock Source | { “Word”, “Internal”, “AutoSync” } | 
| Clock Sync Status | { “Lock”, “Sync”, “No Lock” } | 
| External Rate | external capture rate | 
| Capture Rate | capture rate taken from external source | 
IEC958 (S/PDIF) interface¶
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] Switch | turn on/off the IEC958 interface | 
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] Volume | digital volume control | 
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] Default | default or global value - read/write | 
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] Mask | consumer and professional mask | 
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] Con Mask | consumer mask | 
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] Pro Mask | professional mask | 
| IEC958 [...] [Playback|Capture] PCM Stream | the settings assigned to a PCM stream | 
| IEC958 Q-subcode [Playback|Capture] Default | Q-subcode bits | 
| IEC958 Preamble [Playback|Capture] Default | burst preamble words (4*16bits) |