Hi
Amarok (beta 4) keeps the sound device opened when it is not playing (stopped).
This is a problem since any other program trying to use the sound device keeps blocked waiting for the device (if using gstreamer engine) or suffers noticeable lag (if using arts engine).
Please, make it to free the sound device when not playing

This has been discussed several times before.
For ALSA, try dmix (see Wiki) or fill/add a bug report.

Thanks Marcel,
I have refiled a bug, and I\'ll try the dmix thing to see how it works.

Regards.