Thread revive:
For now, we managed to get external DAC working through USB, by either MOC (text based player), or smplayer (full GUI for mplayer, available from repos, with possibility to define alsa output from GUI, amongst other things). BTW fpp, you may want to update opening posts on first page, as they only indicate MOC as solution (smplayer does the same thing but based on mplayer, is available from repos, GUI'fied, and overall, more user friendly).

Sadly, we're still not able to redirect pulseaudio (through this, MAFW output, HW assisted playback etc) to use different sound card, due to unknown glitches in Maemo's pulseaudio implementation.
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But, for now, I would like to push further usage of all this knowledge, for stereo recording from quality external microphones on N900. Theoretically, using Class Compliant multichannel mixing desks (build on chips known to ALSA) should be possible too, but lets start with stereo, first.

As said earlier in this thread: Considering, that N900 is full fledged linuxbox with great internal storage, it could assist in ultra-high quality recording (for example, show's bootlegs) for a fraction of price of dedicated recording devices, still beating them by modularity (possibility of using any class compliant usb sound card as input, quality microphones, etc). It's also scalable up to portable multitrack recording studio - as far as low latency isn't a must, as USB limits us here.
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Here goes my question - lets assume, that we have our shiny USB sound card already enumerated and acknowledged by ALSA, fully working for audio output. Now, we want to use card's line-in for stereo recording. From kernel point of view - no problem. But what about userland program to actually record true stereo (2 channel track)?

Does we have something already available from repos, or is there any obvious, lightweight thing, that we should get compiled and put there? If my understanding is correct, we need recording application, that alow defining different device as ALSA input (just like with ALSA output). Any ideas?

/Estel

// Edit

It seems, that audacity through Easy Debian works. Maybe it's time to port Audacity into Maemo, natively?