[SOLVED] How to configure external USB soundcard (Focusrite Scarlett Solo) to play sound in Linux?

Hi.

I just have bought Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio interface and a pair of studio monitors. Now I am trying to configure it in Debian 9.

Almost all discussions I found in internet are among people who do some recordings and other professional musical stuff with guitars and microphones. So they are using some sophisticated professional software.
I need this audio interface only to play music in flac and to watch movies.
Usually people say that this audio interface is "plug and play" in Linux. But seemingly we understand "plug and play" concept differently since when I plug it, sound continue playing from internal laptop speakers (although I didn't expect anything else).
Words "Jack" and "ALSA" are used frequently in such discussions. Do I need them for my goals?
I don't know even what to do first. Could you please tell me what to do to make it work or give me some links?

Thank you.

I have an external USB audio interface. All of my audio software uses the 'first' audio interface by default. On my (laptop) computer that's the built-in. I have to tell audio software to use the other one. That's different for different programs. What does

ls /proc/asound

return? Do you have mplayer or sox?

I use a Focusrite Scarlett Studio for recording and playback. To check if it will work, just install Audacity, plug in your interface before opening audacity, when it opens select your interface from the microphone dropdown and speaker dropdown. Note: it will click on and off several times while initializing.

This interface has been so easy for me. For one I haven't seen any Linux that doesn't recognize it, I can even use it on my Raspberry Pi running Quirky(puppy).

I don't usually use it for playing sound(other than recording), but I have already. As mentioned above you need to set it as default for output.

Hope This Helps

Originally Posted by RandomTroll I have an external USB audio interface. All of my audio software uses the 'first' audio interface by default. On my (laptop) computer that's the built-in. I have to tell audio software to use the other one. That's different for different programs. What does ls /proc/asound return? Do you have mplayer or sox?

Thank you for your reply.
I will check at the evening when I get home.
Not sure about players you mentioned, need to check as well. So far I used typical VLC.

Originally Posted by Letrix Not sure about players you mentioned, need to check as well. So far I used typical VLC.

Just checked on my box. Plug your interface in before starting VLC, then switch to the interface via Audio(in menu bar) > Select Audio Device > Focusrite*

I too have USB sound with no problems, although I've seen distros that are temperamental in this respect! That's why you really do need to tell us which distro you're using. As the last poster said, players will usually enable you to set their device. To configure the system centrally will vary from distro to disto: look in the menu for a Configuration centre or for Sound under Preferences, Settings, or Administration.

I successfully configured VLC.
Now I am trying to configure Mozilla Firefox to use external soundcard.
Any ideas how to do it?

Originally Posted by Letrix I successfully configured VLC. Now I am trying to configure Mozilla Firefox to use external soundcard. Any ideas how to do it?

Firefox supports only pulse. If you don't have pulse, you won't get sound. What happens when you run pavucontrol?

Originally Posted by RandomTroll Firefox supports only pulse. If you don't have pulse, you won't get sound. What happens when you run pavucontrol?

It works! In pavucontrol I pushed "Set as fallback" (don't know what it means) near my audio interface and now everything works.

Thank you very much RandomTroll, Mill J and DavidMcCann.