Multiple Sound Cards and aRts

Here's a little tip for KDE users with multiple sound cards in their computer. Suppose you've configured aRts to use ALSA and want aRts to playback on the speakers of your first sound card, but input from the microphone on a second sound card (perhaps a headphone set). Create the following ~/.asoundrc file:


pcm.BiPlex {
type asym
playback.pcm "default"
capture.pcm "plughw:1,0"
}


Then in the KDE Control Center under Sound & Multimedia | Sound System, go to the Hardware tab, check Override device location and enter BiPlex. Click Apply and enjoy.