Configuring Sound Cards in Ubuntu
Generally speaking, your sound card shouldn’t require any additional configuration and should worknimmediately after you install Ubuntu. The icon for the volume control applet is located at the top right of the Ubuntu Desktop, and it offers a quick way to control the master volume.
However, if you want to change your balance or microphone level, or if your sound card offers more than stereo output, such as multiple-speaker surround sound, then it might be necessary to take some simple steps to allow full control of the hardware:
1. Click the volume control icon (the one that looks like a speaker). A simple volume control will open underneath.
2. Click Sound Preferences at the lower end of the window that opens.
3. The Sound Preferences dialog box appears. On most computers, you will have just one simple stereo sound card shown in the Hardware tab, and there won’t be much to configure. In the Output tab, you will be able to adjust the balance, should you ever need to, while in the Input tab you can unmute your microphone and adjust the input volume. If your computer has more than one sound card—for example, onboard sound and an external USB 5.1 sound card—you can set which card is active in the Hardware tab and then switch to the Output tab to adjust volume sliders for balance, fade, and subwoofer. On a notebook that has a sound card featuring pseudo-surround sound, we could add a control to alter the intensity of the effect.
4. When you’ve finished, click the Close button.
Figure . In Sound Preferences you can control all aspects of your sound card’s output
