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Meechh

Member

Registered: 2024-09-01

Posts: 10

How can I play audio from both my Switch and my PC at the same time?

I'm currently using ALSA and I have an audio jack from my Nintendo Switch plugged into my computer as well as a speaker through which audio is played. On Windows, I was able to use both the audio from my computer and the console simultaneously through the use of Stereo Mix. Is there an equivalent way to play multiple audio sources through one speaker at the same time?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,447

Re: How can I play audio from both my Switch and my PC at the same time?

You can merge an input into an output with snd-aloop if you want to stay on ALSA land a couple of other methods with pulse and friends.

E.g. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Advanc … _snd-aloop

If you need more help than that we'd need to see your setup e.g. while having audio from the switch and playing out of the speaker post

sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/*
aplay -Ll
arecord -Ll
amixer -c0 #replace with correct index from card if not 0

And post these wrapped in  [ code ] [ /code ] tags without the spaces

Meechh

Member

Registered: 2024-09-01

Posts: 10

Re: How can I play audio from both my Switch and my PC at the same time?

Here is the output of the listed commands in order:

                      USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0:  Tree       1197 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC1:  Tree       1197 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC2:  Tree       1197 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC3:  Tree       1197 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC4:  Tree       1197 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC5:  Tree       1197 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/seq:        Tree       1195 F.... pipewire 

 null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, Sceptre M24
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
usbstream:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
usbstream:CARD=Capture
    FHD Capture
    USB Stream Output
usbstream:CARD=M799B
    M799B
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Loopback
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
usbstream:CARD=Loopback
    Loopback
    USB Stream Output
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [Sceptre M24]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC671 Analog [ALC671 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 5: Loopback [Loopback], device 0: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 5: Loopback [Loopback], device 1: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7 

 null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
usbstream:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC671 Analog
    Front output / input
usbstream:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Capture
    FHD Capture, USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Capture,DEV=0
    FHD Capture, USB Audio
    Front output / input
usbstream:CARD=Capture
    FHD Capture
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=M799B
    M799B, USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=M799B,DEV=0
    M799B, USB Audio
    Front output / input
usbstream:CARD=M799B
    M799B
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Loopback
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Loopback,DEV=0
    Loopback, Loopback PCM
    Front output / input
usbstream:CARD=Loopback
    Loopback
    USB Stream Output
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 2: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC671 Analog [ALC671 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 2: ALC671 Alt Analog [ALC671 Alt Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 3: Capture [FHD Capture], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 4: M799B [M799B], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 5: Loopback [Loopback], device 0: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 5: Loopback [Loopback], device 1: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7 

 Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
  Capabilities: pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback [off]
  Front Right: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'Headphone+LO',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Front',0
  Capabilities: pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback [on]
  Front Right: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Front Mic',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Front Mic Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Surround',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Center',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'LFE',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Line Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 3 [100%] [36.00dB]
  Front Right: 3 [100%] [36.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 31
  Front Left: Capture 31 [100%] [30.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 31 [100%] [30.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',1
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 31
  Front Left: Capture 0 [0%] [-16.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Capture 0 [0%] [-16.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Auto-Mute Mode',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Enabled'
Simple mixer control 'Channel Mode',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: '2ch' '4ch' '6ch'
  Item0: '2ch'
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Front Mic' 'Rear Mic' 'Line'
  Item0: 'Line'
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',1
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Front Mic' 'Rear Mic' 'Line'
  Item0: 'Front Mic'
Simple mixer control 'Loopback Mixing',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Disabled'
Simple mixer control 'Rear Mic',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Rear Mic Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB] 

I followed the method described in that section of the wiki using this command:

 ffmpeg -f alsa -i hw:5,0,0 -f alsa -i hw:2,0,0 -filter_complex amerge output.mp3 

and received the following output:

 ffmpeg version n7.0.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2024 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 14.2.1 (GCC) 20240910
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-static --disable-stripping --enable-amf --enable-avisynth --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-lto --enable-fontconfig --enable-frei0r --enable-gmp --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libdvdnav --enable-libdvdread --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libjack --enable-libjxl --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libplacebo --enable-libpulse --enable-librav1e --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtheora --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpl --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxcb --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-libzmq --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-shared --enable-vapoursynth --enable-version3 --enable-vulkan
  libavutil      59.  8.100 / 59.  8.100
  libavcodec     61.  3.100 / 61.  3.100
  libavformat    61.  1.100 / 61.  1.100
  libavdevice    61.  1.100 / 61.  1.100
  libavfilter    10.  1.100 / 10.  1.100
  libswscale      8.  1.100 /  8.  1.100
  libswresample   5.  1.100 /  5.  1.100
  libpostproc    58.  1.100 / 58.  1.100
[aist#0:0/pcm_s16le @ 0x5a7affcd5140] Guessed Channel Layout: stereo
Input #0, alsa, from 'hw:5,0,0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1727542448.378069, bitrate: 1536 kb/s
  Stream #0:0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s
[aist#1:0/pcm_s16le @ 0x5a7affcdadc0] Guessed Channel Layout: stereo
Input #1, alsa, from 'hw:2,0,0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1727542448.647524, bitrate: 1536 kb/s
  Stream #1:0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 (pcm_s16le) -> amerge
  Stream #1:0 (pcm_s16le) -> amerge
  amerge:default -> Stream #0:0 (libmp3lame)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[Parsed_amerge_0 @ 0x72e4700056c0] No channel layout for input 1
[Parsed_amerge_0 @ 0x72e4700056c0] Input channel layouts overlap: output layout will be determined by the number of distinct input channels
Output #0, mp3, to 'output.mp3':
  Metadata:
    TSSE            : Lavf61.1.100
  Stream #0:0: Audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16p
      Metadata:
        encoder         : Lavc61.3.100 libmp3lame
[out#0/mp3 @ 0x5a7affcdaf40] video:0KiB audio:3487KiB subtitle:0KiB other streams:0KiB global headers:0KiB muxing overhead: 0.006609%
size=    3487KiB time=00:03:43.14 bitrate= 128.0kbits/s speed=   1x    
Exiting normally, received signal 2. 

I turned my Switch on to test if the sound was working during the time ffmpeg was running and stopped it upon realizing that no audio was playing. I may have used the wrong card number but it seems unlikely.

Last edited by Meechh (2024-09-28 17:04:53)

Meechh

Member

Registered: 2024-09-01

Posts: 10

Re: How can I play audio from both my Switch and my PC at the same time?

I've switched to PulseAudio before and tried to use the simultaneous output it allows but it didn't work and I ended up with a faulty audio system (hang on "Establishing connection to PulseAudio" and I figured out it conflicted with pipewire. Tried to uninstall but it had too many dependencies and things using it so I decided against it and thought it'd be easier to just remove PulseAudio and stick to ALSA). MPlayer and FFmpeg haven't worked and I'm not sure if real-time simultaneous output from a console and a PC at the same time is even possible on Linux. If it is, I am not sure where to look...