Dtyjlui

Just getting around to updating an old Ubuntu machine. After the update to 18.04, my Focusrite Saffire 6 USB no longer works. With some tinkering in Pulseaudio and Alsa I have managed to get the device to populate in the Sound>Output Menu though it is listed as "Analog Surround 4.0 Output" even though it is a stereo setup.

This interface has worked for me in the past with Ubuntu 16.04 though even then it took some tweaking. I am noticing that when I select the USB audio interface via the sound devices tab, my video is also extremely choppy (as if it is moving frame by frame).This happens at the same time as the distorted audio. When I select the built in output, the video resumes as normal.

ALSA info output here showing the sound card recognized

Output of pacmd list-cards:

index: 2

name: <alsa_card.usb-Focusrite_Audio_Engineering_Saffire_6USB-00>

driver: <module-alsa-card.c>

owner module: 9

properties:

    alsa.card = "2"

    alsa.card_name = "Saffire 6 USB"

    alsa.long_card_name = "Focusrite Saffire 6 USB at usb-0000:07:00.0-1, full speed"

    alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio"

    device.bus_path = "pci-0000:07:00.0-usb-0:1:1.0"

    sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.3/0000:07:00.0/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/sound/card2"

    udev.id = "usb-Focusrite_Audio_Engineering_Saffire_6USB-00"

    device.bus = "usb"

    device.vendor.id = "1235"

    device.vendor.name = "Focusrite-Novation"

    device.product.id = "0010"

    device.product.name = "Saffire 6"

    device.serial = "Focusrite_Audio_Engineering_Saffire_6USB"

    device.string = "2"

    device.description = "Saffire 6"

    module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"

    device.icon_name = "audio-card-usb"

profiles:

    output:analog-surround-40: Analog Surround 4.0 Output (priority 700, available: unknown)

    off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)

active profile: <output:analog-surround-40>

sinks:

    alsa_output.usb-Focusrite_Audio_Engineering_Saffire_6USB-00.analog-surround-40/#0: Saffire 6 Analog Surround 4.0

sources:

    alsa_output.usb-Focusrite_Audio_Engineering_Saffire_6USB-00.analog-surround-40.monitor/#1: Monitor of Saffire 6 Analog Surround 4.0

ports:

    analog-output: Analog Output (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)

        properties:

output of aplay -l:

    card 2: USB [Saffire 6 USB], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]

  Subdevices: 1/1

  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Output of lsusb:

Bus 002 Device 005: ID 058f:6366 Alcor Micro Corp. Multi Flash Reader

Bus 002 Device 004: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 056a:0331 Wacom Co., Ltd 

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

Bus 007 Device 002: ID 1235:0010 Focusrite-Novation Saffire 6

Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

Bus 003 Device 002: ID 28e7:307a  

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Things I've tried:

Removing and Reinstalling Pulseaudio and Alsa-Utils - also tried just using alsa

Changing Sound profile settings for Pulse - tried changing from 4ch surround to 2ch stereo. I got a little feedback with the pacmd list-cards output changing but nothing audible

I have tried using pavucontrol and alsa mixer but can only select the device in pavucontrol without any control over it.

Installing Ubuntu Studio Packages - no changes

edit: I have also tried creating a .asoundrc file, and editing the .conf with the following code found from here but all it did was make pulse daemon fail to start. I'm thinking this page may be of use but I cannot fully grasp what to do with the information at hand.

Does anyone know where the issue lies? Pulseaudio sound profile or Alsa driver is what I'm thinking.

Will I need to create my own driver for this? If so any help? Eventually I will probably invest in something that is more updated to work out of the box but I would love to listen to some jams while I study some python!

Thanks in advance, please let me know if I can provide you with any more information. Happy Holidays!