Recording sound files on the Pi

Previously, we wanted to set up a single default identifier for sound to ease the challenge of selecting speaker devices. However, when it comes to acquiring sound from microphones, we might need some more flexibility to individually address multiple microphones on our system. We altered our configuration a little to show some of the options you might want to explore. We have the Sewell USB Audio adapter connected to the USB hub that has multiple microphone inputs (stereo and mono) and a Line input. This device also supports up to a 7.1 sound although we are only using 2.1 here.

Also connected to the USB hub is the Microsoft Lifecam Studio, which has a really terrific stereo, high-gain, noise-cancelling microphone. This is a great microphone for voice command systems due to the good quality of audio with little echo or reverberation problems.

Using the lsusb and alsamixer commands in the Terminal, we can quickly look at connected devices with their capabilities...