New Sound Hardware Supported By The Linux 6.14 Kernel

Merged this week for the Linux 6.14 kernel were the various sound/audio driver updates. In addition to core API enhancements for better supporting the MIDI 2.0 specification, there is also support for some new audio hardware.

Some of the new sound hardware supported by Linux 6.14 includes the Allwinner Suinv F1C100s, Awinc AW88083, and Realtek ALC5682I-VE. Most notable of that is the ALC5682I-VE support contributed by Realtek engineers due to some minor calibration changes compared to the existing ALC5682I-VD device support. The Realtek ALC5628 is designed for multimedia and communication handheld devices.

Over in the USB audio space, the sound pull request adds support for the Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen 16i16, 18i16, and 18i20 interfaces. The Linux kernel already supported some Focusrite Scarlett mixers while these latest USB mixers are now supported thanks to a new Focusrite Control Protocol “FCP” driver.

These are high-end USB-C audio mixers with the Scarlett 18i20 retailing for above $600 USD.

Other sound changes for Linux 6.14 include support for pause operations with Sound Open Firmware (SOF), memory-to-memory operations for Freescale/NXP platforms, and TAS2781 SPI HD-audio sub-codec support. More details on these merged sound changes via this pull request.