This bug seems still there on Ubuntu 18.04 with a Jabra Speak 410 USB conference speaker/microphone, see attached screenshot of the top-right menu. Note that the output seems to work both when selecting 'Analog Output' or 'Digital Output (S/PDIF)'.
** Attachment added: "jabra_410.png" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-lib/+bug/1002952/+attachment/5404156/+files/jabra_410.png -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to alsa-lib in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1002952 Title: [meta-bug] Invalid extra "Digital output S/PDIF" device for USB cards Status in alsa-lib package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: === Read me first === = Symptom = If you have a USB headset, or other USB device that does not have any S/PDIF output, but yet sometimes there is an extra device called "Digital Output (S/PDIF)" for that device, you're suffering from this bug. This bug is only for USB devices - if you have an invalid digital output for some other type of device, please file a separate bug instead. = Workaround = If you're affected, please try this workaround: first check the output of "aplay -l" (lowercase L), or "arecord -l" if it's an input device, and grab the first of two name in brackets: Example: card 3: Headset [Sennheiser USB Headset], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio] here grab the name "Sennheiser USB Headset". Now edit the file /usr/share/alsa/cards/USB-Audio.conf (requires root permissions) Around line 40, you will find a line saying "Logitech USB Headset" 999 Add a new line after this line, so that there is now a new line called "Sennheiser USB Headset" 999 (including quotes, and replace "Sennheiser USB Headset" with whatever your particular card was named.) Save the file and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. = Already known devices = These card names are already in 12.04: "Blue Snowball" "Logitech USB Headset" "Logitech Web Camera" These card names are on their way into 12.04: "Logitech Speaker Lapdesk N700" "Logitech Wireless Headset" "Plantronics USB Headset" "Sennheiser USB headset" If you have one of the above four, please help out by testing the proposed repository and report back in bug 987163. If your name is not listed above, please add a comment to this bug, including your alsa-info: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/AlsaInfo - they will be collected for a SRU later on, or at least make it into the next release of Ubuntu. Thanks! To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-lib/+bug/1002952/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp