[alsa-devel] What are subdevices?

[Clemens Ladisch]

dE wrote:
> typically cards have a single analog device but support multichannel
> output. So how does this work at the software level? If ALSA can't
> send multiple streams of audio to one device, then how does ALSA send
> separate output to different channels of the device?

The channels are not separate.  For a stereo devices, the samples are
arranged like LRLRLRLRLR...; for more channels, there are more
interleaved values: 123456123456123456123456...


Regards,
Clemens