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)