Ubuntu – How to find out where in /dev the microphone audio input is going

sound

My microphone works properly (using the sound control panel, it shows bars when I talk, and it works with Google talk, etc). Now I want to use it for xvidcap, and it needs a file to read the audio input from. I tried /dev/dsp and /dev/snd as guesses, but they don't work. How do I tell for certain where my audio input is going?

Best Answer

Look into /dev/snd/ in order to find the individual devices. /dev/snd/ is a directory, not a file.

Which version of xvidcap do you use? Mine, 1.1.7, has no option to set the sound input other than the system default. Ideally, xvidcap should use PulseAudio for audio input, failing that it should use Alsa. The /dev/dsp and other files in /dev are remnants from OpenSoundSystem (OSS), which is no longer supported (since Ubuntu 10.10).

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