Question

0

Why is this sound device recognized but no software can record with it?

rated 0 times [ 0] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 2327 / 1 Year ago, tue, november 15, 2022, 5:30:27

I recently bought an Alesis iO4, a 4 microphone USB input device, which, according to this site works under Linux "completely", and was tested using Ubuntu 9.04. So I thought it was a good bet it would work with my 12.10 Ubuntu laptop.

When I connect it by USB to my laptop, it is recognized under the sound settings, and if I speak into the microphones I can see a response:

sound input

So far so good. However, in Audacity, when I press "record", I see no response whatsoever. My main concern is Audacity, but I tried also using Ubuntu's "Sound Recorder" utility, and it also showed no response in its level meter when I spoke into the mike, so I think this isn't just an Audacity problem.

I looked into Audacity's preferences, and under Host in the Interface section, the only option is ALSA. Under Device in the Recording section, there are four options. HDA:Intel is my on-board sound card. I'm not sure what the difference between pulse, default, and sysdefault is, but in any case, selecting any of them does not seem to change anything.

audacity settings

Why is my sound device seen by the OS but not by Audacity (or any other software)?

How do I set it up so that Audacity takes input from this device?

Update: According to a very helpful person on the Audacity forums, the problem I'm reporting here is most likely caused by a bug in ALSA. The current version of ALSA in the Ubuntu repositories does not seem to contain the necessary patch, so I'm hoping it will be updated soon.

Answers

Only authorized users can answer the question. Please sign in first, or register a free account.

istmasted

Add To Favorites

Follow

Total Points: 287

Total Questions: 130

Total Answers: 153

Location: Burkina Faso

Member since Thu, Dec 23, 2021

2 Years ago

istmasted questions

1 Is it possible to hide the workspaces thumbnails in the application launcher?

Sat, May 28, 22, 17:36, 2 Years ago

1 How do I make a Markdown table of two columns out of a list whose items alternate to each column?

Sat, Dec 24, 22, 17:24, 1 Year ago

1 Bash script file extension

Sat, Jun 19, 21, 16:54, 3 Years ago

1 I'm trying to understand these partitions

Tue, Mar 1, 22, 22:36, 2 Years ago

1 Internet stops working after installing ProtonVPN

Mon, Jan 31, 22, 22:55, 2 Years ago

View All

answered 1 Year ago tersle · Accepted Answer

Thanks to very helpful advice on the Audacity forums, and also a little lucky experimentation, I have discovered a workable solution.

The key is that the iO4 must be plugged in before the laptop boots. If I try to plug it in any other time after that, it does not work as described in the question. If I plug it in before booting, then it's very easy. Audacity can select the device independentaly of any other sound settings and will record all four channels.

I believe this might be a bug in that a USB device should be able to work even when plugging in after booting the computer (all my other USB devices work this way). But I will file a bug report for that. For the time being, I can at least use my device as intended, so the issue as originally outlined can be considered closed.

enter image description here