title: ALSA capture stream with 8 channels but opening stream as 4
body: <p>I'm writing an app for embedded device. The device is connected to an 8 mic board, so 8 channels are transferred into the board. In ALSA this device is visible as HW:3,0.</p>
  
  <p>I've opened the HW:3,0 stream and with:</p>
  
  <p><code>snd_pcm_hw_params_test_channels()</code></p>
  
  <p>I've checked the number of allowed channels. The output was 1 - 8.</p>
  
  <p>What happens, if I open the stream and set the number of channels to 4? Does ALSA drops the rest of 4 channels and I get a buffer of CH1 | CH2 | CH3 | CH4 samples or I get CH1 | ... | CH8 in a buffer?</p>
  
  <p>Thank you for help,
  Renegade</p>