Audio recording from USB

[Hans Petter Selasky]

On 07/06/18 02:00, Kevin Oberman wrote:
> Oops! Sorry of hte empty message made it through.
> 
> On Thu, Jul 5, 2018 at 12:47 AM, Hans Petter Selasky <hps at selasky.org>
> wrote:
> 
>> On 07/04/18 23:41, Kevin Oberman wrote:
>>
>>> I have an Audio-technia turntable with USB output and I want to use
>>> audacity to record from it. I have read the sound, mixer, and snd_uaudio
>>> man pages, but am still unable to get the configuration correct. sndstat
>>> shows the device (pcm4) but mixer only lists pcm0, the Conexant CX20590,
>>> which is marked as default in sndstat.
>>>
>>> Messages on connection:
>>> uaudio0 on uhub3
>>> uaudio0: <BurrBrown from Texas Instruments USB AUDIO  CODEC, class 0/0,
>>> rev
>>> 2.00/1.00, addr 3> on usbus1
>>> uaudio0: Play: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Play: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Play: 32000 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Record: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Record: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Record: 32000 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Record: 22050 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Record: 16000 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: Record: 11025 Hz, 2 ch, 16-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
>>> uaudio0: No MIDI sequencer.
>>> pcm4: <USB audio> on uaudio0
>>> uaudio0: HID volume keys found.
>>>
>>> Installed devices:
>>> pcm0: <Conexant CX20590 (Analog 2.0+HP/2.0)> (play/rec) default
>>> pcm1: <Intel Cougar Point (HDMI/DP 8ch)> (play)
>>> pcm2: <Intel Cougar Point (HDMI/DP 8ch)> (play)
>>> pcm3: <Intel Cougar Point (HDMI/DP 8ch)> (play)
>>> pcm4: <USB audio> (play/rec)
>>>
>>> mixer -f /dev/mixer4 shows:
>>> Mixer vol      is currently set to  75:75
>>> Mixer pcm      is currently set to  75:75
>>> No line or mic.
>>>
>>> I tried "cat /dev/dsp4.0" and got the expected stream of "junk" that looks
>>> like it is getting data from the turntable.  "junk" changes when I play
>>> something, so I think the hardware is all working to some degree.
>>>
>>> Can anyone suggest where to go from here?
>>>
>>
>> Did you try:
>> sysctl -a hw.snd.default_unit=4
>>
>> --HPS
> 
> 
> Yes, but...
>> mixer
> Mixer vol      is currently set to  75:75
> Mixer pcm      is currently set to  75:75
> 
> So mixer seems to "see" mixer4, but still only shows vol and pcm. No input
> device. Bringing up the mate sound preferences, I only see the on-board
> mic  for input, but see the USB device for output. I'm a bit baffled as to
> why the mixer fails to any USB input even though the connection message
> clearly shows that capability.

The mixer might not always have a node for input. You can try to dump 
the sysctl tree, grepping for pcm. There might be some hidden ones under 
.mixer .

--HPS