Amarok doesn't output to 2nd soundcard consistently

Thanks for your report. Could you please include the information requested at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DebuggingSoundProblems

Thanks, Reuben.

for what it's worth, i have this problem too.

I also have this problem. Sometimes happens when switching from playing a radiostream to play a local stored mp3 or viceversa (is not reproducible though).

Here the cards I use. In the amarok the Alsa Device Configuration I have hw:Audio in the 'Stereo' field (i.e. the external USB card is the default). Sometimes amarok uses the IXP card (internal laptop sound card (laptop speakers)) though without notice.

jtocancipa@golem:~$ cat /proc/asound/cards
 0 [IXP ]: ATIIXP - ATI IXP
                      ATI IXP rev 1 with unknown codec at 0xb0003400, irq 17
 1 [Modem ]: ATIIXP-MODEM - ATI IXP Modem
                      ATI IXP Modem rev 1 at 0xb0003800, irq 17
 2 [Audio ]: USB-Audio - USB Audio
                      USB Audio at usb-0000:00:13.1-2, full speed

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
  APT prefers feisty-updates
  APT policy: (500, 'feisty-updates'), (500, 'feisty-security'), (500, 'feisty')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.18.1
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968)

Versions of packages amarok depends on:
ii amarok-xine 2:1.4.5-0ubuntu7 xine engine for the Amarok audio p
ii kdebase-kio- 4:3.5.6-0ubuntu20 core I/O slaves for KDE
ii kdelibs4c2a 4:3.5.6-0ubuntu14 core libraries and binaries for al
ii libart-2.0-2 2.3.17-1 Library of functions for 2D graphi
ii libaudio2 1.8-4 The Network Audio System (NAS). (s
ii libc6 2.5-0ubuntu14 GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii libfontconfi 2.4.2-1ubuntu1 generic font configuration library
ii libfreetype6 2.2.1-5ubuntu1 FreeType 2 font engine, shared lib
ii libgcc1 1:4.1.2-0ubuntu4 GCC support library
ii libgl1-mesa- 6.5.2-3ubuntu7 A free implementation of the OpenG
ii libglib2.0-0 2.12.11-0ubuntu1 The GLib library of C routines
ii libgpod1 0.4.2-0ubuntu2 a library to read and write songs
ii libice6 2:1.0.3-1build1 X11 Inter-Client Exchange library
ii libidn11 0.6.5-1build1 GNU libidn library, implementation
ii libifp4 1.0.0.2-3 communicate with iRiver iFP audio
ii libjpeg62 6b-13 The Independent JPEG Group's JPEG
ii libmtp5 0.1.3-0ubuntu2 Implementation of Microsoft's MTP
ii libmysqlclie 5.0.38-0ubuntu1 mysql database client library
ii libnjb5 2.2.5-4.1ubuntu2 Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox librar
ii libpng12-0 1.2.15~beta5-1 PNG library - runtime
ii libpq5 8.2.4-0ubuntu0.7.04 PostgreSQL C client library
ii libqt3-mt 3:3.3.8really3.3.7-0ubuntu5 Qt GUI Library (Threaded runtime v
ii libruby1.8 1.8.5-4ubuntu2 Libraries necessary to run Ruby 1.
ii libsdl1.2deb 1.2.11-7ubuntu1 Simple DirectMedia Layer
ii libsm6 2:1.0.2-1build1 X11 Session Management library
ii libstdc++6 4.1.2-0ubuntu4 The GNU Standard C++ Library v3
ii libtag1c2a 1.4-4build1 TagLib Audio Meta-Da...

I too have this problem. Set stereo device in amarok engine config to plughw:Headset, works for one track play then reverts back to the default sound card.

danny@danny-desktop:~$ cat /proc/asound/cards
 0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xfebf8000 irq 22
 1 [Headset ]: USB-Audio - Sennheiser USB Headset
                      Sennheiser Communications Sennheiser USB Headset at usb-0000:00:1d.1-2, full sp

Update: This only occurs if I change the track manually. The tracks play fine if I just let them play right through.

i can't even get it to work once. sound plays fine in Totem and Skype. noting in Amarok

Yes. I found this problem only occurs for me if crossfading is enabled.

Had the same problem occur - this clearly has to be related to a buggy crossfading routine.
Anybody know whether the same think happens in the upstream version also?

As of Amarok 2.0 Amarok is no longer handling audio output itself. Instead, it uses KDE/Qt's Phonon audio framework that handles sound output for all KDE apps. If you are still experiencing this bug with Amarok 2.0 or later, it is recommended that you file a bug against Phonon.

As Amarok 1.x is no longer being developed, the use of Phonon in Amarok2 is about the best solution to this bug that can be made.
Thank you.